A simple drive through the coastal countryside.
The four prefectures of Shikoku are made up by Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime, and the busiest Kagawa. I rented a vehicle, a 2023 Honda Fit Sport to be precise, and started my journey from the Gateway to Shikoku… Naruto-Shi in Tokushima.
A smaller oceanside community that is known for the daily occurrence of whirlpools during the tidal shifts under the grand scape of the twin single-span bridges that connect to Awajishima and then the second to Kobe-Ken from Tokushima side of Shikoku. Naruto city and surrounding towns, with its blend of Japanese culture and hard-working agricultural families. Producing some of the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet with sustained farming for hundreds of years. These include Sweet Potatoes, Lotus root, Rice, Corn, Asian Pears (sugar sweet), Plums, Daikon Radish (which is the best flavored and texture, but suffers from the unfair foreign grown produce which degrades the ability to create nutrient rich foods against massive farming from foreign countries with low worker wages and suppliply chains that are state funded.)
There is a large community built formerly a large area was devoted to salt beds and beautiful sea salt productions. You can tell I am a fan.
The food culture you find is very exclusive to the region and has implications for menus all over Japan as well as the world. Udon noodles and BuckWheat (Soba) noodles are great examples and others that popped as I drove through the countryside searching for nothing. Finding everything I love about Japan unchanged by the global agendas destroying national identities one by one.
I am glad I had this chance to drive and wish that I could share every corner of this incredible island with you. Unfortunately, I am not a fun person to travel with as I am very introverted and overwhelmed by my brain overloads most of the time. So this is the best way to see what I see, I hope you enjoy.
I thank all of the residents and characters I came in contact with on my journey, I wear you all in heart and mind as I find a financial way of making this a yearly journey to find what is left of Japan and highlight it.
If granted I would even create streams to share the incredible arts that are one by one being lost as they are not skills that can raise a family or buy a house from the earnings. I see the complex nature of supplying illegal entrants to Japan’s dignity, but they should be documenting on a step-by-step and daily basis the inner actions and nuances of the mastery arts. Worth saving and sharing for the future of the whole world. These metallergic arts, textile arts, writing arts, katana blade sharpening arts.. all need functioning support as cultural heritage and world folk arts heritage, rather than a pipe fantasy about global climate and multi culturism. I truely believe in borders and cultural societies having a peaceful place to practice all beliefs. Politics aside, this is my journey in some detail. it is a waste of information that shoould be digitally catalouged for future generations to learn from and use.
Shikoku Island is known for it’s 88 temple pilgrimage which can be hiked, bicycled, driven, bussed, taxied, electric scootered… The 88 emensly beautiful and detailed temples are a place that Japanese are as a culture encouraged to visit at least once in their lifetimes. Most take the spiritual traveling experience in their senior years on bus tours, but there are still many very young to old walking the entirety of the journey throughout the full 88 temples, enjoying their individual artistry as well as teachings of the Buddha. I admire those who endure the rugged landscape of Shikoku to obtain what most will not ever even have knowledge about. I am not the authourity on these things, so I encourage you to research other sites that can give you better guidance and information
FROM GROK:
For general knowledge about the 88 Temple Pilgrimage on Shikoku Island, here’s a concise and reliable overview based on widely available information:
The Shikoku Pilgrimage, known as Shikoku Henro (四国遍路) or Shikoku Junrei (四国巡礼), is a historic, circular pilgrimage route spanning approximately 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) across Shikoku, Japan’s smallest main island. It connects 88 Buddhist temples associated with the revered monk Kūkai, posthumously called Kōbō Daishi, who founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Born in 774 in what is now Zentsū-ji (Temple 75) in Kagawa Prefecture, Kūkai is said to have trained or visited many of these sites during his lifetime, though the exact origins of the route are steeped in legend rather than precise historical record. The pilgrimage’s current form is believed to have solidified between the 16th and 17th centuries.
Pilgrims, called henro (遍路), undertake the journey for various reasons: spiritual growth, penance, health, or tourism. Traditionally completed on foot over 30 to 60 days, modern pilgrims often use cars, buses, bicycles, or motorcycles. The route doesn’t require visiting temples in numerical order—starting at Temple 1 (Ryōzen-ji) in Tokushima and proceeding clockwise to Temple 88 (Ōkubo-ji) in Kagawa is common (jun-uchi), but reverse order (gyaku-uchi) or segmented visits are also accepted. The four prefectures of Shikoku—Tokushima, Kōchi, Ehime, and Kagawa—symbolize stages of enlightenment: awakening, austerity, enlightenment, and nirvana.
Henro wear distinctive white clothing, conical hats (suge-kasa), and carry walking sticks (kongō-zue), symbolizing Kūkai’s spiritual presence. At each temple, pilgrims perform rituals like chanting sutras and collecting stamps (shuin) in a nōkyō-chō book. The culture of osettai—locals offering food, lodging, or aid—reflects Shikoku’s hospitality. Beyond the 88 main temples, 20 additional bekkaku temples are officially linked, and many unofficial bangai sites exist.
This pilgrimage, over 1,200 years old, blends ascetic tradition with cultural exploration, drawing about 150,000 participants annually. For a deeper dive, resources like the Shikoku Japan 88 Route Guide (an English-language guidebook) or websites such as henro.org and shikokutours.com provide detailed maps and practical advice. No single definitive “reference” exists due to its folkloric roots, but this summary aligns with consensus from reputable travel and cultural sources.
www.henro.org/shikoku-pilgrimage
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/shikoku-japan-pilgrimage-route-monk
https://wikitravel.org/en/88_Temple_Pilgrimage
https://shikoku88-japan.com/en/pilgrimage
After visiting some of these sites I have found that this is amazing travel information for touring Shikoku Island actually even if you do not participate in the Shikoku henro. I learned a lot from just scanning through quickly, a deep dive must be mind activating.
The matsuri of Shikoku prefectures are some of the most fun and unique. The freedom to participate and be immersed in the sound, dance, dress, and culture of Japan in a single event. This is the easy beauty of catching a festival.
One of the largest festivals in the whole of Japan occurs in the sleepy agricultural town of Tokushima City, the center of the Tokushima prefecture. The citizens have cherished the freedom of expression and in many ways rebelled to be equals with every person in attendance. Whether you are a poor farm worker, a businessman, a merchant, a hostess, a landlord, or a politician… all are equal to dance like fools or look like a fool for not dancing together as fools.
Here is a great example of the energy that is produced when the Taiko Crews come out at night to have a good time. Their combined unison is rich in tradition and drenched in the street culture attitudes common to the west. It happened to be raini g that night so the drums are covered in stretch tite wrap.
Awa Odori is a great way to find your way to the gateway to Shikoku, traveling across the bridges from Kobe and the Osaka port areas. You can arrive by bus, or there is an airport that receives many flights throughout the day from hubs throughout Japan.
Limousine coach buses are a luxurious way to see the road and catch the scenery of the Awaji Shima portion on the way into town. This is quickly becoming a recreational area for the Kansai area. The different action experiences as well as sport training facilities, are moving in and changing the economy in a positive but aggressive way.
I will create more writings in the future of specific foods or travel areas to visit, as I find that the road less traveled is the way to see real Japanese life.
