SHIKOKU TRIP | JAPAN.GG

The Iya Valley is one of those places that doesn't photograph the way it exists. The gorge drops 200 metres straight into a river the colour of old jade, and the vine bridges — kazurabashi — sway across it the way they have for 800 years. Three of them survive. The original builders were Heike clan survivors hiding from defeat at Dan-no-ura; they made the bridges easy to cut, in case anyone followed. Every August, the Awa Odori festival takes over Tokushima city — 1.3 million visitors, Japan's most chaotic street dance, four days straight. At Naruto Strait, tidal whirlpools up to 20 metres across form where the Pacific and Seto Inland Sea collide through the narrowest gap on the coast. The 88-temple Ohenro circuit — 1,200km honouring Kobo Daishi — starts here at Temple 1.

Kochi is where Japan runs out of road and drops into the Pacific. The prefecture covers the entire southern face of Shikoku — bigger than it looks on a map, emptier than it should be, and quietly extraordinary. Cape Ashizuri at its southwestern tip is sheer white cliffs into open ocean, with a pilgrimage temple clinging to the edge above them. The Niyodo River is measured as the clearest river in Japan — the water reads a blue so saturated it doesn't look real from a drone. Kochi Castle is one of twelve original Edo-period fortresses remaining in the country. And Hirome Market in the city — open daily, long communal tables — serves katsuo tataki seared over rice straw in front of you. Go at lunch on a weekday and you will eat alongside people who drove two hours to be there.

Matsuyama Castle sits on a 132-metre hill in the middle of the prefecture's capital and requires a cable car or a twenty-minute walk. It is one of twelve original Edo-period castles remaining in Japan — not a reconstruction. Fifteen minutes on foot from the base is Dogo Onsen, the oldest hot spring in continuous operation in the country; the main bathhouse dates to 1894 and its architecture is directly referenced in Spirited Away. You can still bathe in it. The third reason to come is the Shimanami Kaido — 70 kilometres across six Seto Inland Sea islands via suspension bridges, ending in Onomichi on the Hiroshima side. Rental bikes are at every island. The full crossing takes six to eight hours and is one of the genuinely great cycling routes in Asia.

Japan's smallest prefecture by area has an unusual density of things worth a detour. Sanuki udon is the reason Kagawa is called Udon Prefecture — people here eat it for breakfast, and the shops open at 6am to serve fishermen have lines before they unlock the door. Kotohira-gu at Kotohira demands 785 stone steps to the main shrine; the inner sanctuary is 583 more. The views justify every step. Offshore, Naoshima is what happens when a single company decides to turn a farming island into a permanent art installation over thirty years. The Chichu Art Museum — buried underground, lit only by natural light, housing five Monet water-lily paintings and permanent works by James Turrell and Walter De Maria — is the most serious art building in Japan. Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu takes two hours to walk properly and deserves both of them.