The destination of this trip is Kagawa Prefecture, a prefecture in the northeastern part of Japan's Shikoku Island and the smallest prefecture on Shikoku. The climate is mild and warm, with year-round rainfall, making it one of the lowest rainfall areas in Japan.
Kagawa Prefecture is little known to the people of Japan, although it is one of the country's most famous tourist destinations, boasting the beautiful Seto Inland Sea National Park, as well as the historic Yamato-ji Temple, Jindo Birao Shrine, Goshima Island, and Kuribayashi Park, among other places of interest.
Kagawa is one of the few niche destinations untouched by commercial tourism compared with well-known destinations such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hokkaido.
Five days and four nights, my little trip to Kagawa, Japan. I want to tell you how beautiful and quiet it is.
[Specific Itinerary]
Day 1 Itinerary: Shanghai Pudong Airport - Takamatsu Airport, Japan - Hotel Takamatsu
Accommodation: Leoma Edo Story Spa Hotel
Day 2 Itinerary: Golden Dagger Bijou Shrine - Nakano Udon Noodle School - Wakamizan Nabe Experience - Aeon Reikawa Store - Hotel Takamatsu.
Accommodation: Hotel Oriental Rei Takamatsu
Day 3Takamatsu Ikeda Port Ferry to Karuizuki Island - Karuizuki Island Olive Park - Soy Sauce Factory - Angel Road --Karigetsujima Hotel
Accommodation: Suzukishima Bay Resort Hotel
Day 4Karigetsujima 24th Elementary School Student Movie Village --Hanha Stream Gondola -- Kusakabe Port Ferry to Takamatsu - Takamatsu Lirin Park - Takamatsu Hotel
Accommodation: Takamatsu Kangyeon Hotel
Day 5 Grilled Fish and Drift Water Experience at Takamatsu Kangyeon Hotel - -Takamatsu Airport -Shanghai Pudong Airport -Home
Accommodation: At Home
[Flight Reference]
Departure Flight: Spring Airlines 9C8889 (08:45/ 12:00)
Return flight: Spring Airlines 9C8890 (13:00/13:55)
Shanghai-Takamatsu, a direct flight, the flight time is 1 hour and 50 minutes, but remember to buy a baggage ticket!
[Online reference]
Billion Links, unlimited traffic 5-day card, $25
Pre-departure preparation
It costs $328 for a single visa in Japan.
I went to the bank and changed 30,000 yen in cash.
[Japan visa]
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi, five places to register or five places to work.
1. Passport, original passport valid for more than six months.
2. Photo, 2 recent color photos, 4.5*4.5cm white background.
3. Photocopy of ID card: 1 copy,
4. Visa application form: 1 copy, printed on both sides.
5. Certificate of incumbency: it should indicate an annual salary of 100,000 yuan.
[Japanese Yen Exchange Rate]
RMB1 = 17.18 yen, the basic conversion algorithm is 100 yen X 0.06 = 6 yuan.
About time difference
It is one hour later than Japan. For example, 9 a.m. in China is 10 a.m. in Japan.
[Tips]
1, most drugstores can swipe VISA and CUP cards, as well as WeChat and Alipay, so you don't need to bring a lot of cash except for cash to buy water and snacks.
2, this time to live in the hotel, in addition to Takamatsu East REI hotel, the other three nights can be soaked in hot springs, do not miss. Looking at the stars and soaking in the hot spring, very cozy.
3, Kagawa is very quiet, not too many tourists. I went in early June, which is off-season for tourists. There are relatively more tourists during the spring cherry blossom season and the fall foliage season, but there are also far fewer than other Japanese tourist spots. It's less crowded and beautiful, and well worth a visit.
Day 1 Shanghai Pudong - Takamatsu, Japan - Leomar Edo Onsen Hotel
8:20am, Shanghai Pudong Airport, Spring Airlines, I'm sitting in front of the window looking out. Another flight to a strange place.
10:50 a.m. Outside the airplane window were low hills and a patch of oddly shaped farmland. The flight attendant's voice came from the cabin: our flight will be arriving soon.
At one o'clock, landing at Takamatsu Airport, the local time is twelve o'clock sharp. Hungry to feed, a bowl of beef udon noodles, start this trip to Kagawa.
After lunch, check in to Kagawa Leioma Edo Onsen Hotel, a resort hotel with hot springs, amusement park and restaurant. Perfect for parents and children, as well as young adults~
"Play" and "Heal", this is Kagawa's dream kingdom: Leoma Resort.
Rooms are mostly family rooms, with three beds, just right for a family of three.
Looking out from the window of the room, there are bridges, wooden houses, windmills, distant mountains, near water. Very fresh.
Drop your bags and go play! Leomar Resort is the largest amusement park in Shikoku and China!
It's divided into the amusement park New Leomar World (NEW) and Hotel Leomar ()
The hotel amusement park has such a shuttle bus, it's kawaii. However, it takes ten minutes to walk from the hotel to the entrance of the amusement park.
The little train, cartoon characters, Ferris wheel . It was like entering a fairy tale world.
Flying Bird is the most classic ride in the park, flying in the sky like a bird.
That day, I felt as if I had returned to my carefree childhood and played to my heart's content.
Shinrai Omar World is a must-see attraction, as well as the Big Ferris Wheel. From the Ferris wheel, if the weather is clear, you can see the Seto Inland Sea.
There are also virtual reality (VR) rides, which are the most popular today. I experienced one such swing, immersing myself in a high-rise building as my friends screamed.
I also watched a live fairy tale song and dance show and sat among the children and interacted with them. It was full of laughter.
Another must-see attraction at New Leomar World is the Leomar Flower World. No matter what season you visit, you'll see colorful flowers.
A flower is beauty in its simplest form.
The corridors feel like the Middle East, reminding me of my wandering days in Iran.
The garden was full of flowers, but unfortunately I wasn't wearing a white dress.
Ideal for posing and taking photos, every scene was a great backdrop.
"Lei Oma Flower World" was quiet, flowers everywhere, but only a smattering of tourists. A couple sitting in the flowers, how beautiful.
There was an English garden inside that made me linger and not want to leave.
It's every woman's dream to have such a garden, with arched corridors filled with roses and smelling the flowers.
I wanted to order a cup of coffee and sit here all afternoon. I sat in an outdoor chair and watched it all in silence, my heart fluttering.
I had dinner at the hotel. There was an extensive dinner buffet. The hotel had bathrobes and many people ate lunch in the restaurant in their bathrobes.
Most of the locals come here for vacation, but very few foreign tourists.
The seafood here is fresh and the crab meat is sweet and satisfying to swallow in one bite.
I came across a tuna disintegration ceremony which was really interesting and ceremonial.
How does a tuna that only four big men can lift disintegrate on the spot? They carry a tuna, shouting "wow, wow" as they walk around the grounds.
It was a yellowfin tuna. It was really big. The chef's knife fell off and a chunk of the fish was separated.
This was probably the freshest tuna sashimi I've ever had. It melted in the mouth.
After dinner, I rested for a while and went to the playground at night, which was completely different than during the day.
The lights were mesmerizing and it was a more dreamy fairy tale world.
The buildings along the river were illuminated by the lights, and the coconut trees fluttered their leaves in the breeze.
Standing on the bridge, I forgot what day it was.
Countless colored lights dotted the playground. The summer wind blew my hair.
There was also a fantastic light show at night, reminding me of the time I stood in the Northern Lights.
The next day Golden Dagger Biro Palace - Nakano Udon Noodle Pie - Wazanabe making - Aeon Reikawa
The next morning, we took a bus to Golden Dagger Biro Palace.
Kanehira Shrine, located on the hillside of Mount Elephant in the western part of Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, enshrines "Kanebira". It has the power to cure illnesses, avert disasters, and bring good luck, so incense has flourished from ancient times to the present.
During the Muromachi period in the 14th century, when folk beliefs were in full swing, "Konpira Matsuri" was a popular event, and many people still come from all over the country to pay their respects.
On the way to Konpira Shrine, there are many small stores on both sides of the road, and anyone who wants to go in can do so.
The visit to the main palace, halfway up Elephant Head Mountain, has 785 stone steps and is full of new greenery along the way.
There are actually 786 total **** steps. The story goes that when it was built, they didn't think that was a good number and built a lower step, so it became 785.
Thinking about it, the Japanese are really too meticulous in their work, even getting so hung up on the number of steps.
This is the 1,368th floor of the shrine, and you can see the Qilei Plain from the front of the main palace. If you can't walk, you can also take a palanquin in front of the main gate in the middle of the shrine.
I met a little brother with birdseed in his hand, motionless, waiting for the birds to fly in and eat it. What kind of patience is that.
There weren't many tourists, and there were many cherry blossom trees planted. Standing under the trees, I imagined how beautiful the cherry blossoms would be in full bloom in spring.
Multiple traditional ceremonies are held throughout the year at Kimbilogu Shrine and are organized according to ancient rituals. The "Cherry Blossom Festival" is held on April 10 every year. Under the blooming cherry trees, clergymen, goddesses, worshippers and others. each dressed in traditional ceremonial garb and holding a cherry blossom, stroll through the quiet streets.
If you've been to a lot of places, you'll realize that the more you've never been. If you go somewhere in the summer, you'll think about coming back in the spring and fall, and you'll have more and more destinations growing grass in your heart.
The world is too big for a lifetime. The landscape I encounter is my landscape.
Before worship, wash your hands and rinse your mouth. There is a series of prescribed actions that are interesting.
After 785 steps, I finally reached the main hall and saw the "Golden Pillow".
In China, blessing bands are red. Here, they are covered with white wishing slips, tied in a knot and left here.
Many of the ship's photographs hang high and are protected by the Kimpiro.
Getting down the hill and spending an hour or so browsing the little stores was my favorite way to spend the day.
Buy a local Internet celebrity's "huh three plates" of ice cream and a refrigerator sticker at the souvenir store. You don't have to rush.
The people here are laid back, no fast pace, everything is slow. The staff are super welcoming, smiling and saying "welcome" in Japanese.
Of course, Kagawa Prefecture is famous for its udon noodles ()! The classic Japanese udon noodle recipe involves beef and broth. The noodles are smooth and soft, and the miso soup is rich.
For lunch, we taught ourselves how to make udon noodles at Nakano Udon Noodle School.
Wearing aprons and gloves, everyone gets a brick-shaped piece of dough.
Do you really not realize that udon noodles are stomped out?
There was a lot of fun, accompanied by music, as everyone stomped on the udon noodles.
This is Mr. Udon Noodle, the udon noodle teacher, making his own udon noodles.
Udon noodles are one of the most distinctive Japanese noodles, and are an essential protagonist in Japanese restaurants. It has a texture between noodles and rice noodles, and is relatively soft.
For lunch, we made our own udon noodles. To eat or not to eat?
In the afternoon, we went to the neighborhood experience and made three pots. It's only about ten minutes away from the Nakano Udon School.
Three pots is a type of sugar native to the eastern part of Shikoku, including Kagawa and Tokushima prefectures in Japan. It is pale yellow in color and has uniformly fine grains. And the molds used to make the three pots are handmade and quite delicate.
Putting on aprons and gloves, a teacher shows us how to make them.
Selecting one or four favorite molds, we drew a scoop and got to work. I chose a bird, a snowman, a shell, and a flower, so cute!
Look at what I produced.
Everyone gets a box to take home. It's very memorable. It takes half a month for this candy to get hard.
After making three pots of sugar, experience the matcha.
One piece of sugar, one mouthful of matcha. The sweet sugar mixed with the bitterness of matcha is a strange flavor.
Coming to Japan without buy buy seems to be incomplete.
We spent the rest of the day at the Aeon Ayakawa store of buy buy. It took more than two hours and I was too busy swiping my credit card to take photos.
Stayed at REI hotel in Takamatsu Higashi for the night. The room is not big but very comfortable. I felt like I was in the city when I stayed there.
Walking around Takamatsu city, it is clean and tidy. There are a lot of bicycles on the side of the road here for people to get around.
It's time to get off work and stand at the intersection to see the people who live here.
Takamatsu City () is a port city located on the northeast coast of Shikoku Island, Japan. It is the capital of Kagawa Prefecture and is close to the Seto Inland Sea. It is well developed commercially and is the center of land and water transportation on Shikoku Island.
In the evening, I had dinner with my friends. It was very tight.
A large portion of snapper sashimi was delicious. The plate was also exquisite.
Every time I eat Japanese food, I am always impressed by the beauty of these bowls, plates and platters. Every bit of it is like a work of art.
Day 3 Ferry to Karuijima - Olive Park - Soy Sauce Factory - Angel Road
That day, I left Takamatsu and went to Karuijima.
Karuijima is sandwiched between Shikoku and Honshu. Of the 3,000 islands in the Seto Inland Sea, it is the second largest and a popular vacation island.
Otaru Island lives up to its name, being just a bit large at 170 square kilometers. However, almost every corner of the island is filled with tourist attractions.
We took a ferry from Takamatsu-Ikeda Port to the floating island.
This ferry had rainbows painted on its hull and there was even a giraffe on the ferry deck. How cute!
The ferry had a cafe where you could chat leisurely. It was a cloudy day and the sea was gray. If it had been clear, it would have been beautiful.
First stop, I went to Olive Tree Park in Karuijima.
The scenery is much like the Mediterranean coast, with olive tree plantations, herb gardens, and Greek-style windmills. There is an olive tree memorial in the park.
This was the first time I saw an olive tree in bloom.
At the Olive Tree Memorial, you can get a broom for free and go to the windmill to take pictures of broom riding. It's a classic look from the Japanese manga "The Witch Returns Home".
Olive Tree Park has a beautiful park that is very quiet.
There are huge sculptures of trees and books that you can walk into.
At the Olive Tree Memorial, you can also choose a postcard, put a stamp on it, and put it in that beautiful mailbox.
Take a classic photo of yourself riding a broomstick on a windmill, and have fun dancing and grooving with your buddies.
Originally cool look that turns into a female psycho in a second.
Leaving Olive Tree Park, it was time to forage for food again.
Otaru Island is rich in olive oil. Before lunch, we mixed our own bottle of olive oil at the Nakasagi flavor gate. It turns out there is so much to learn about olive oil.
Traveling is really a long learning curve.
This is a unique bottle of olive oil in the world because I made it myself. You can also take it home. This experience was great.
Lunch at Nakazo Weimen in Azukijima, where I tasted the specialty olive oil dishes. Olive oil, olive oil pasta, olive oil ice cream . Every dish here has olive oil.
Also bought some olive oil hand creams and tried them. They were very moisturizing.
Otaru Island is also rich in soy sauce. It is the home of soy sauce. You can go to a soy sauce factory and brew it in wooden barrels. The air smells of soy sauce.
Soy sauce is the internet celebrity food here. Can you guess what flavor this kelp soy sauce ice cream is?
It still tastes like ice cream. Not too salty. Good flavor.
Evening is good for a sunset on Angel Road. It's just a shame that the clouds were too thick that day.
Angel Road, located in Yimbopu, Tujang Township, Kodo County, is about 1.5 kilometers long on a sandy road that appears in the sea twice a day at low tide.
It is widely known as a "holy place for couples". It is said that if you walk this path hand in hand with your significant other, angels will come to the sandbar and grant your wish.
There is a black cat lying on a rock. It's used to being a star. Everyone who passes by takes a picture to pet it.
Many wishes are written on seashells and hung on branches by the sea. Is the person you made a vow with still with you?
With the regret of not being able to see the sunset, stay at the Bay Resort Hotel in Karuizima. It's also a spa hotel, with family rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, and beautiful ocean.
Eat a buffet dinner at the hotel in the evening, go back to the room to rest, go to a hot spring. Japanese hot springs are separate for men and women, and they are nude.
The island is quiet at night. If it's a clear night, you can see the stars. It's like being cut off from the outside world and can make you forget about the outside world.
Day 4Twenty-four Elementary School Students' Movie Village - Xiahanxi Gondola - Ferry - Takamatsu Lilin Park
It was a rainy day. I had a transparent umbrella.
In the morning, I went to the "24 Eyes" movie village.
"24 Eyes" is a very classic movie, and most Japanese people know the plot of the movie. This is because "24 Eyes," a movie about the friendship between teachers and students, was preserved here for scene filming, and Japanese elementary school students love to hike here.
The "24 Eyes" movie village is small but literary. Many of the scenes are vicarious.
At the beach, you can take a photo of your visit here.
That day was the sea. Looking at that sea, I suddenly felt so alone.
This is the classroom where the movie was made, and it still looks the same. I stood on the podium and played the teacher once.
I've been to Rainy Lane. Do you remember me?
There are twelve statues of teachers and students in the square with the caption "Teacher, play!"
Otaru Island is also where The Eighth Day Cicada was filmed. I just finished the book a while ago. In the book, Kaoru and his mother's original home where they live in seclusion is Otaru Island.
I've only read the book, but haven't seen the movie. I want to go home and look for it.
Natsukan-kei, located in the central part of Karasui Island, is a famous maple-viewing spot, and it is one of the three most scenic canyons in Japan, along with Maiya-kei in Kyushu and Miaoyi in Kanto.
A five-minute ride on the Natsukankei Gondola. Imagine how beautiful it must be when the mountains are full of red leaves in the fall. So I thought, maybe come back in the fall?
If the weather is clear, you can get a full view of the Seto Inland Sea from the observation deck.
At Natsukankei, I had lunch. It was a simple meal, but it was exquisite.
After lunch, I said goodbye to Otaru Island, went to Kusakabe Port, and then took a ferry to Takamatsu. The seat at the bow of the ferry was nice to watch the sea out of the ugly and close my eyes for a lunch break.
Kuroshio Park is one of the most famous parks in Japan, Michelin-starred park and a must-see in Takamatsu.
After returning to Takamatsu from Karuijima, I went straight to Lilin Park.
At this small store, you can book a kimono experience. Walking through Leebayashi Park in a kimono is the right way to open it.
It took over 40 minutes to put on the kimono, it's so complicated!
The Itaburi Forest Park consists of six ponds and thirteen rockeries, with a variety of sceneries and styles throughout the seasons.
There are so many red maple trees in the garden that it makes me imagine standing here in the fall again. And this summer, there is green everywhere.
This place was once one of the most famous "Eiyo-style prestigious families" in Japan during the early to mid Edo period more than 300 years ago.
The park is quiet and not many visitors. After the rain, the air is so fresh that you always want to take a deep breath.
This is the most famous scene. My travel companion took it and it's my favorite photo of the trip.
I was standing on the bridge looking at the view. The people looking at the view are looking at me from the hill.
At night, I stayed at the Takamatsu Kang Yeon Hotel, a pure Japanese tatami room, and loved it. Make a straw mat and change slippers when you enter the room door.
In the evening, I have a barbecue at the Kang Yeon Hotel and gather with friends for drinks and conversation.
The meat here, both beef and wild boar, is great.
Day 5 Grilled Fish and Water Experience - Takamatsu Airport - Shanghai Pudong Airport
This is a day to sleep in and take your time going downstairs for breakfast, exquisite.
Gangyeon Hotel is a type of agriturismo in China, with many interesting experiences.
After breakfast, my friend and I went to catch fish. It is said that this kind of fish is only found in Japan.
Kill the fish and then stick a bamboo stick through its mouth to its tail. It was honestly stressful!
Especially seeing the fish spasm before it dies, isn't it? A little heavy on the flavor?
Salt it and bake it for about half an hour. It's really tasty.
While we waited for the fish to bake, we went for the running water.
Pick it up, there are about 20 meters of bamboo with clear water flowing through it. The noodles are in the flowing water, depending on how fast you put down your chopsticks.
No, there are fruits such as pineapple, yellow peaches and oranges that flow with the noodles. Otaru Island Noodles are handmade and really delicious.
Eating noodles with running water is not really about the noodles, it's about the thrill of fighting for them.
When we left the Hotel Kang Yeon Takamatsu, the owner and service staff waved red flags to bid us farewell. The five-day, four-night trip to Kagawa, Japan, was coming to an end.
The hotel is a short drive from Takamatsu Airport.
"We always speak of hopelessness, of souls raging before reality. We always avoid expectations, thinking that wanting nothing is the greatest pursuit in life."
Stay true to your expectations, where you want to go, and start right away! Don't leave too many regrets.