香川県 · Shikoku Region

Kagawa Hidden Gems

Kagawa is the smallest prefecture and one of the driest, sheltered from both weather systems by mountains, and the historic shortage of water is precisely why it became wheat country and then udon country — rice was difficult, wheat was not. There are on the order of six hundred udon shops here, many of them self-service operations in industrial units where you carry your own bowl, add your own broth and pay by the plate; some open at six in the morning and close by two. Kotohira-gu, the sea god's shrine, sits at the top of 785 stone steps and was one of the few pilgrimages ordinary Edo-period people were permitted to make, occasionally by sending a dog with the money. The Inland Sea islands off the coast — Naoshima, Teshima, Inujima — were depopulated and in some cases industrially poisoned before being rebuilt around contemporary art museums from the 1990s.

3 spots

Climate & Best Season

Dry and mild with low rainfall, sheltered by mountains on both sides. Pleasant year-round; the art triennale falls in 2028-cycle years.

Famous For (Food)

Sanuki udon
Olive-fed beef and hamachi
Honetsuki-dori
Wasanbon sugar

Signature Sights

Ritsurin Garden
Kotohira-gu's 785 steps
Naoshima & Teshima art islands
Zentsuji temple

When to Go

This is one of the driest and mildest corners of Japan: January highs near 10°C, little snow, and low rainfall throughout. Summers are hot above 33°C. The Setouchi Triennale runs across three seasons of its festival years and the island ferries are packed then; outside those years the same islands are quiet, and Naoshima's museums close on Mondays. Ritsurin Garden is worth a spring or autumn morning and opens near sunrise. Olives on Shodoshima are harvested in October and November. Ferry crossings are occasionally cancelled in winter wind or summer typhoons.

Getting Around

Takamatsu is reached by the Marine Liner from Okayama in about an hour, crossing the Seto-Ohashi bridge, which makes the Sanyo Shinkansen the practical approach from Tokyo or Osaka. Takamatsu Airport is 40 minutes from the city by bus. The islands run on ferries from Takamatsu and Uno — Naoshima takes about 50 minutes by car ferry or half that by fast boat — and the timetables are the real constraint on any island day, so build the plan around the last sailing. Kotohira is an hour by JR or the Kotoden private line. Shodoshima needs its own ferry and a car or bus once you land.

Local Food

Sanuki udon is the point: firm, square-edged noodles served kake with hot broth, bukkake with a splash of concentrate, or cold with soy, and the cheapest bowls run to a few hundred yen. Many of the best shops are hard to reach without a car, which is why udon taxi tours exist. Shodoshima has grown olives since 1908 and produces oil, plus olive-fed beef and yellowtail. Honetsuki-dori is a whole grilled chicken leg, heavily peppered, from Marugame. Wasanbon, a fine-grained sugar refined by hand here, is pressed into small moulded sweets for tea.