Japan Beyond Tokyo: Five Reasons to Cross the Bridge to Shikoku
Ancient hot springs, mountain temples, and vine bridges offer a side of Japan most visitors never see
Japan has four main islands, and most visitors never make it past the first one. Honshu — home to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka — draws the vast majority of international travellers. But the smallest of the four, Shikoku, sits just across the Seto Inland Sea with a fraction of the crowds and some of the country’s most remarkable cultural landmarks.
Shikoku covers roughly 18,800 square kilometres and is home to about 3.6 million people. It is divided into four prefectures — Ehime, Kagawa, Tokushima, and Kochi — each with its own character. The island is perhaps best known as the setting for the 88 Temple Pilgrimage, a 1,200-kilometre walking route that has drawn Buddhist pilgrims for over a thousand years. But beyond the pilgrimage trail, Shikoku holds Japan’s oldest hot spring, one of just twelve original Edo-period castle keeps, a Shinto shrine reached by climbing 785 stone steps, and a mountain valley so remote that defeated samurai once hid there for generations.
What makes Shikoku particularly appealing for slow travellers is the pace. There are no bullet trains here. The cities are compact and walkable. Rural areas remain genuinely untouched by mass tourism, and locals are often visibly pleased to see foreign visitors making the effort to cross the bridge. If you have already explored Tokyo and Kyoto and want to see a quieter, more traditional Japan, Shikoku is where you should go next.
In This Email:-
Japan Beyond Tokyo: Five Reasons to Cross the Bridge to Shikoku - This week, we are crossing the Seto Inland Sea to explore five of Shikoku’s finest destinations — from a 3,000-year-old bathhouse to a vine bridge suspended above a mountain gorge. We have also included a practical five-day itinerary, transport guidance, and the best months to visit.
Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama
Ritsurin Garden, Takamatsu
Kotohira-gu Shrine, Kotohira
The Iya Valley and Kazurabashi Vine Bridge
The Naruto Whirlpools
A suggested five-day itinerary - Japan Beyond Tokyo: Exploring Shikoku
When to visit and how to get there
Japan Beyond Tokyo: Five Reasons to Cross the Bridge to Shikoku:-
