shikokukagawa
Kotohira and Takamatsu
Takamatsu is the port capital of Kagawa prefecture, in the Shikoku region, on the Seto Inland Sea an hour from Okayama, and Kotohira is the shrine town in the hills 30 kilometres to its south-west, home to the sea shrine of Konpira-san.
- Prefecture
- Kagawa
- Region
- Shikoku
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A lord's garden by the sea, and a mountain shrine for those who sail.
Kagawa is the smallest prefecture in Japan, a plain of rice fields and small conical hills facing the Inland Sea, and for a traveller it offers two of the great sights of Shikoku. In Takamatsu, the lords of the Matsudaira family spent more than a century shaping Ritsurin Garden against the forested slope of Mount Shiun, and it is still counted among the most beautiful strolling gardens in the country. In Kotohira, the shrine of Kotohira-gu, known to all of Japan as Konpira-san, has drawn pilgrims for centuries to pray for safe passage at sea.
Takamatsu was a castle town of the Edo period, and the stone walls of its castle still stand in a moat of seawater at the harbour's edge. It is also the gateway to the art islands of the Inland Sea, with ferries to Naoshima and Teshima from its port. Kotohira grew around the long stone stair that leads to its shrine, with inns, sake breweries and the Kanamaruza, a kabuki theatre of 1835 that still stages performances, along the approach.
Kagawa is also the home of Sanuki udon, the firm, glossy wheat noodles that the people of the prefecture eat at any hour, in small shops where the noodles are cut and boiled as you watch. The coast and the hills between the two towns shelter temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage, including Zentsu-ji, the birthplace of Kobo Daishi, founder of the pilgrimage.
see and do
What to see in Kotohira and Takamatsu
Ritsurin Garden
A strolling garden of 75 hectares, its flat garden of six ponds and thirteen artificial hills laid out over more than a century and finished in 1745, with a thousand pines trained by hand and Mount Shiun as its backdrop. It is designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty.
Kikugetsu-tei
The tea pavilion of Ritsurin, built over the South Pond in the seventeenth century, where matcha and a seasonal sweet are served on tatami with the garden framed in its open walls.
Kotohira-gu, Konpira-san
The shrine of the guardian of seafarers on the slopes of Mount Zozu, reached by 785 stone steps to the main hall and 1,368 to the inner shrine, with the Sanuki plain and the Inland Sea spread below.
The shoin of Kotohira-gu
Reception halls within the shrine precinct whose sliding doors were painted by Maruyama Okyo in the eighteenth century, tigers and cranes and waterfalls, among the most admired screen paintings of the Edo period.
Kanamaruza
A kabuki theatre built in 1835 at the foot of the shrine stair, the oldest still standing in Japan, its trapdoors, revolving stage and rope-pulled lighting windows all worked by hand, and still used for an annual season of kabuki.
Takamatsu Castle, Tamamo Park
The ruins of a castle built in 1590 on the shore, one of the three great water castles of Japan, its moats filled from the sea so that sea bream swim beneath the stone walls.
Yashima
A flat-topped volcanic plateau on the eastern edge of Takamatsu, the site of a celebrated battle of the Genpei War in 1185, with the pilgrimage temple of Yashima-ji on its summit and views over the islands of the Inland Sea.
Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum
The studio, home and stone yard where the sculptor Isamu Noguchi worked in the village of Mure, kept as he left them with his unfinished stones in the yard; it opens by advance application only.
Zentsu-ji
The seventy-fifth temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage and the birthplace of Kobo Daishi, a great precinct with a five-storey pagoda and a dark passage beneath the founder's hall walked in prayer.
Marugame Castle
A small castle on a hill in Marugame, its keep one of only twelve in Japan surviving from the Edo period, raised on curving stone walls that rise more than 60 metres from the moat.
experiences
The best of Kotohira and Takamatsu
The garden with a gardener
A morning walk through Ritsurin with someone who knows its pines and its history, ending with tea in Kikugetsu-tei, and a boat across the South Pond steered by a boatman in a straw hat.
The stair at Konpira-san
The long climb to Kotohira-gu taken at your own pace, with stops at the shops of the approach and in the shrine's halls, or carried part of the way in a palanquin as pilgrims once were.
Udon, the Sanuki way
An hour with an udon maker, kneading and cutting the noodles by hand, then eating them at the counter in a bowl of clear dashi.
An afternoon at the Kanamaruza
A private walk through the old theatre with a guide who opens the trapdoors, the passages beneath the stage and the rope-pulled skylights, so that you see how kabuki was lit by daylight.
plan your visit
Kotohira and Takamatsu on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights suits most journeys: a day for Takamatsu and Ritsurin, a day for Kotohira and its shrine. Takamatsu is also an easy base for a day on the art islands.
- Getting there
- By the Marine Liner rapid train from Okayama to Takamatsu in about an hour, crossing the Seto Ohashi bridge. From Tokyo, Takamatsu airport is about an hour and twenty minutes by air. Kotohira is about an hour from Takamatsu by train, or forty-five minutes by car.
- Pairs well with
- Takamatsu is the gateway to Shikoku and the Inland Sea islands: Naoshima lies across the water, the Iya Valley two hours inland, and Okayama and Kurashiki an hour back across the bridge.Naoshima and the Seto Inland SeaIya ValleyOkayamaKurashikiNarutoMatsuyama and Imabari
journeys
Kotohira and Takamatsu on a private journey
We bring guests to Kotohira and Takamatsu on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Kotohira and Takamatsu: questions answered
How do you get from Okayama to Takamatsu?
By the Marine Liner rapid train, about an hour across the Seto Ohashi bridge. Okayama is on the Sanyo Shinkansen, a little over three hours from Tokyo and under an hour from Kyoto.
How many steps are there at Konpira-san?
785 stone steps to the main hall of Kotohira-gu, and 1,368 to the inner shrine. The climb to the main hall takes most people around forty minutes at an easy pace.
How long do you need at Ritsurin Garden?
About two hours lets you walk the main circuit of the garden and take tea in Kikugetsu-tei; half a day allows the boat on the South Pond and the northern garden too.
Is Ritsurin Garden one of the three great gardens of Japan?
No. The three great gardens are Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, Koraku-en in Okayama and Kairaku-en in Mito, but Ritsurin is larger than any of them and is often ranked alongside them.
What is Sanuki udon?
Sanuki udon is the thick, firm wheat noodle of Kagawa, the old province of Sanuki, served in a clear dashi broth or chilled with a dipping sauce, and eaten in Kagawa more than anywhere else in Japan.
Can you visit Naoshima from Takamatsu?
Yes. Ferries run from Takamatsu port to Miyanoura on Naoshima in about fifty minutes, and high-speed boats take about thirty, so a day on the island is easy from Takamatsu.
Can Kotohira and Takamatsu be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Kotohira and Takamatsu included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Kotohira and Takamatsu, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Kotohira and Takamatsu, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.