Takamatsu and around

Takamatsu’s one must-see sight, Ritsurin-kōen (栗林公園), is 2.5km south down Chūō-dōri from the JR station. The formal garden, Japan’s largest at 750,000 square metres, lies at the foot of Mount Shuin. Its construction began in the early seventeenth century and took several feudal lords over one hundred years to complete. The gardens were designed to present magnificent vistas throughout the seasons, from an arched red bridge amid a snowy landscape in winter, to ponds full of purple and white irises in early summer.

The East Gate is the garden’s main entrance but JR trains stop at least once an hour at Ritsurin-kōen Kita-guchi, close by the North Gate. At either entrance you can pick up a free English map of the gardens and buy tickets that combine entrance with tea in the Kikugetsu-tei Pavilion. From the East Gate you can either follow a route through the Nantei (South Garden) to the left or Hokutei (North Garden) to the right. The more stylized Nantei garden has paths around three lakes, dotted with islands with carefully pruned pine trees. The highlight here is the delightful Kikugetsu-tei, or “Scooping the Moon”, teahouse overlooking the South Lake. Dating from around 1640 and named after a Tang-dynasty Chinese poem, the teahouse exudes tranquillity, with its screens pulled back to reveal perfect garden views. Viewed from across the lake it’s just as impressive, swaddled in trees that cast a shimmering reflection over the water. The Nantei also has the less elaborate but more secluded Higurashi-tei teahouse, set in a shady grove.

Hokutei has a more natural appearance, and is based around two ponds – Fuyosho-ike, dotted with lotus flowers, and Gunochi-ike, where feudal lords once hunted ducks and which now blooms with irises in June. Keep an eye out for the Tsuru Kame no Matsu, just to the left of the main park building, a black pine tree shaped like a crane spreading its wings and considered to be the most beautiful of the 29,190 trees in the gardens. Behind this is a line of pines called the “Byōbu-matsu”, after the folding-screen painting (byōbu) they are supposed to resemble.

It may not have quite the same idyllic appeal as its smaller Inland Sea neighbour Naoshima, but thanks to its splendid natural scenery and a collection of worthwhile sights Shōdo-shima (小豆島) should still be high on any list of places to visit in Shikoku. The mountainous, forested island styles itself as a Mediterranean retreat, and has a whitewashed windmill and mock-Grecian ruins strategically placed in its terraced olive groves. But native culture also gets a look-in, since Shōdo-shima – which translates as “island of small beans” – promotes its own version of Shikoku’s 88-temple pilgrimage and its connection with the classic Japanese book and film Nijūshi-no-Hitomi (24 Eyes). This tear-jerking tale of a teacher and her twelve young charges, set on Shōdo-shima between the 1920s and 1950s, was written by local author Tsuboi Sakae. A trip to the island also offers a rare opportunity to visit a centuries-old soy sauce factory (see Naoshima), where traditional methods are still employed.

The living canvas for a dynamic ongoing art project, idyllic NAOSHIMA (直島) is home to three stunning Andō Tadao-designed galleries as well as several large-scale installations and outdoor sculptures from major international and Japanese talent. In the island’s main town and ferry port, Miyanoura (宮浦), is an amazing bathhouse, while around the southern Gotanji area there are sheltered beaches with glorious Inland Sea views – all making Naoshima a blissful escape.