With views of majestic mountains and the boundless sea, western Kagawa is blessed with spectacular scenery.
Featured in the New York Times, the beauty of this region is attracting worldwide attention.
Take your camera along to capture the shot of a lifetime.
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JR Takuma Station
- Time required
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1 day
JR Takuma Station- "Takuma Station" bus stop
- "Ohama" bus stop
- "Shiudeyama Tozanguchi" bus stop
- 50-minute walk (Summit) (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays: 30-minute ride on "Hearts Shuttle" bus)
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1Mt. Shiude
The Shonai Peninsula, at the northwestern tip of Kagawa Prefecture, offers remarkable views onto the island-dotted Seto Inland Sea. The best vistas can be enjoyed from the top of Mt. Shiude, a wooded peak where a scenic lookout provides views over both sides of the peninsula and across the sea toward Honshu, with Seto Ohashi Bridge in the distance. These views are particularly impressive in early spring, when the hundreds of sakura (cherry blossom) trees on the peninsula burst into bloom, painting the hillsides pink. In early summer, visitors can enjoy hydrangeas and azaleas blooming along the path to the lookout point.
Mt. Shiude has been a strategic vantage point since prehistoric times. Earthenware, weapons, and building foundations dating back to the Yayoi period (300 BCE–300 CE) have been excavated here. In later eras, sentries were able to monitor the busy Inland Sea shipping lanes, which remain major transport arteries today. The Mt. Shiude café, just beneath the lookout point, invites visitors to sit by its large east-facing windows, through which they can watch cargo ships passing in the distance using the binoculars provided.More Details
- "Shiudeyama Tozanguchi" bus stop
- "Takuma Station" bus stop
- "Chichibugahama" bus stop (This bus does not operate on Sundays or holidays.)
- (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays: 30-minute ride on "Hearts Shuttle" bus)
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2Chichibugahama Beach
Located in Mitoyo on the western coast of Kagawa Prefecture, Chichibugahama Beach has become extremely popular in recent years—especially among amateur photographers. The shallow beach, which is 1 kilometer long and up to 400 meters wide, looks particularly picturesque at low tide. When the sea recedes, water lingers in depressions and uneven spots on the beach, forming shallow pools. Pictured at a low angle, these pools function as natural mirrors when the water is calm, which it often is in the evening due to the shelter afforded by the nearby mountains. The best time for photos is at dusk during low tide, when the sun’s fiery rays from the horizon of the island-dotted Seto Inland Sea offer a spectacular backdrop to the myriad reflecting pools. After snapping away or watching fellow beach-goers pose by the pools, sightseers can grab a bite at one of the several cafés and restaurants that have sprung up at Chichibugahama, which now attracts more than 200,000 visitors per year. The beach is also a worthy destination for swimmers and sunbathers, who can look forward to smooth, virtually trash-free sands thanks to the efforts of local residents, who clean Chichibugahama daily throughout the year.
More Details
- "Chichibugahama" bus stop
- "JR Kan-onji Station" bus stop
- 25-minute walk
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3Kotohiki Park
Kotohiki Park in the city of Kanonji is famous for the mysterious Zenigata Sand Coin, a seventeenth-century sand sculpture said to bring long life and luck in money matters to anyone who lays eyes upon it. The sizable sculpture can be viewed from the park’s elevated vista point, which also offers a panorama of the Seto Inland Sea. The sculpture is illuminated at night. Besides the Zenigata Sand Coin, the park is noted for its seaside environment, which is part of Setonaikai National Park, and for its historic sites, including several Buddhist temples and a Shinto shrine.
Seen from the vista point, directly beyond the Zenigata Sand Coin is Ariake Beach, a 2-kilometer strip of white sand. The shallow waters near the shore are a popular wading spot. Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine stands on the summit of the forested Mt. Kotohiki nearby. A 381-step staircase leads up to the shrine from the main torii gate, located near the park entrance. Two Buddhist temples, Jinnein and Kannonji, which are the 68th and 69th temples on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, are located partway up the steps.
Zenigata Sand Coin
The Zenigata Sand Coin in Kotohiki Park is a massive coin-shaped monument molded directly out of the white sand of Ariake Beach. Said to bring long life and luck in money matters to anyone who lays eyes upon it, the sculpture is 345 meters in circumference, up to 122 meters wide, and surrounded by black pine trees. The origins of the artwork are not clearly recorded, but the most commonly cited story is that it was shaped by local residents in a single night in 1633 to welcome Ikoma Takatoshi (1611–1659), the daimyo lord of the Takamatsu domain.
The Zenigata Sand Coin is made entirely of sand, but its size and the pine trees around it make the sculpture relatively resistant to rain and wind. Local residents get together to repair it twice a year, in spring and autumn. This maintenance effort attracts hundreds of participants, many of whom join in for the opportunity to tour the interior of the sculpture, which is usually off limits to the public.
The sheer scale of the artwork becomes clear from the park’s elevated vista point on nearby Mt. Kotohiki. The vista point can be reached by car or a 15-minute walk uphill from the beach. The Zenigata Sand Coin is illuminated at night for additional effect. The lights are usually green, but are temporarily changed to other colors to mark special occasions—including the period of an annual year-end lottery, when the giant sand coin shines in shades of gold.More Details
- 15-minute walk
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4Jinnein Temple and Kannonji Temple
Jinnein Temple and Kannonji Temple, the 68th and 69th temples on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage circuit, are located just below the summit of Mt. Kotohiki in the city of Kan-onji in Kagawa Prefecture. What makes them unique is the fact that these are the only temples on the Pilgrimage circuit that are located on the same grounds. They even share the same chief priest.
Up until the Edo Period, which ended in 1868, the two temples were actually one and the same sanctuary. Historical documents from that period mention two places of worship on Mt. Kotohiki: Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine, which was a Shinto shrine, and Kannonji Temple, which was a Buddhist temple associated with Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine. At the time, Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine was the 68th temple on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage circuit, followed by Kannonji Temple.
While it may seem unusual for a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple to be associated, the fact is that, throughout history, the native Japanese Shinto religion and Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the 6th century, were always closely connected. That all changed with the arrival of a new government in the Meiji period after 1868. Japan suddenly opened up to the rest of the world after centuries of isolation, and the new government decided to draw a clear line between the two religions with the goal of unifying the nation spiritually for the new era.
This change in religious policy caused the Buddhist artifacts to be removed from Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine and transferred to Saikondo Hall on the grounds of Kannonji Temple. Saikondo Hall then became known as the main hall of Jinnein Temple. At that time, Jinnein Temple also replaced Kotohiki Hachimangu Shrine as the 68th temple on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage circuit. That is how the unique compound structure with both Jinnein Temple and Kannonji Temple located on the same grounds came to exist.
This particular site represents an essential part of Japanese cultural heritage, which is why the main hall of Kannonji Temple, known as Kondo Hall, has also been designated an Important Cultural Property.More Details
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