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People often ask me why I moved to Japan, and I try to formulate a response that covers my various reasons in a relatively short statement. But I usually fail to keep my…
By Burcu Basar
When Blue Brew Taproom opened in October 2020 in Kochi’s Niyodogawa-cho selling the artisanal beers of Mukai Craft Brewing, it marked a major milestone for Ken Mukai. It had taken Mukai 18…
By Vicki L. Beyer
Foodie or not, a trip to Kagawa prefecture means inhaling as many udon noodle bowls as possible while in the Udon Kingdom. Going on food-focused tours you can even learn to make…
By Zoria Petkoska
Most visitors to Japan will travel right past the island of Shikoku as they ride the bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima. By taking a less-traveled path outside of Japan’s top destinations…
By Nick Narigon
Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park, located in Shikoku’s southernmost tip, is the epitome of what makes traveling through Japan so endlessly fascinating. Known as Ashi-Uwa to the locals, this sprawling park is an example…
By Lucy Dayman
Kochi, on the southern coast of Shikoku — the smallest of Japan’s four major islands — is young, as Japanese cities go. The city was founded in 1601 when Lord Yamauchi Kazutoyo…
From a bird’s-eye view, “Why,” Kamikatsu’s famed recycling facility and zero waste center, looks like a question mark. The recycling center and related facilities curl into a semi-circle with a tail, while…
By Lisa Wallin
The Setouchi islands, located off the coast of Kagawa Prefecture, are famous for their beautiful, landscapes and one very popular outdoor museum. But did you know that Kagawa is also known for udon? The…
By Weekender Editor
Otama village, a bucolic little settlement at the foot of Mount Adatara in Fukushima Prefecture, made national headlines in January when its residents stood defiant against government plans to erect more photovoltaic…
By David McElhinney
With the Tokyo Olympics coming up in 2020, you are for sure to witness an immense increase in human population not only in Tokyo, but in Japan as a whole. With even…
While Kagawa and Tokushima have shared a long history and kept positive relations since ancient times, Tokushima has set out to differentiate itself from Kagawa and the other Shikoku prefectures by shining…
By Jordan Green
Oshima, an idyllic art island existing in a lonely stretch of water on Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, has a reputation unlike any other. It is Japan’s only island leprosarium; an island inhabited…
Most first, and even second-time travelers, to Japan visit what has been dubbed The Big Three – Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto – leaving other areas of Japan largely untapped. One of Japan’s best…
I first laid eyes upon the art islands during the 2019 Setouchi Triennale. It was early August and I was standing at the port in Takamatsu, a coastal city in northern Shikoku,…
So you love art, but you love your very young children just as much. Sure, you know they’d adore you if you took them to Disneyland, but it’s so typical and kitsch…
By Phineas Arthur True
When author Alex Kerr first discovered Japan’s Iya Valley in the 1970s, he was so entranced that he bought an abandoned 300-year-old thatch-roofed farmhouse and made a home here. When you visit,…
By Annemarie Luck
Address: 661 Tosayama-Higashigawa, Kochi-shi, Kochi, Shikoku Prefecture Website: www.orienthotel.jp/tosayama/en/ Tel: 088-850-6911
Address: 20-8 Yunomachi, Matsuyama, Ehime Website: www.yamatoyahonten.com Tel: 089-935-8880
