Shikoku, Anyone?

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » May 30th, 2006 4:36 pm

Has anyone been to/is from Shikoku? That's the island I plan to visit when I go, and I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with the area. Thanks for your help.

Bueller_007 · Postby **Bueller_007** » May 31st, 2006 10:19 am

Outkast wrote:Has anyone been to/is from Shikoku? That's the island I plan to visit when I go, and I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with the area. Thanks for your help.

I'm also planning on doing Shikoku when I go back. It's the only one of the major four I haven't been to.

This is the classic route:
http://wikitravel.org/en/88_Temple_Pilgrimage

Iya Valley is also supposed to be beautiful.

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » May 31st, 2006 1:32 pm

Thanks for the link. If you're interested in the pilgrimage, http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com is good too.

I have a pen-pal in Tokushima who's teaching me the local dialect. It's interesting...

Bueller_007 · Postby **Bueller_007** » June 1st, 2006 7:14 am

Outkast wrote:Thanks for the link. If you're interested in the pilgrimage, http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com is good too.

I have a pen-pal in Tokushima who's teaching me the local dialect. It's interesting...

I really know quite little about Shikoku. It's not the most touristed area... I know there are some whirlpools there though. I think they're called the Naruto whirlpools.

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » June 7th, 2006 7:06 pm

I like it because it seems like it's still laid-back and more rural. The big cities are nice for partying in, but I like nature better for the everyday...

They have their own distinctive dialect on the island too. It's a mix of kansai and their own stuff. I know that the podcast had a girl from Tokushima on it a while back, but I never heard her use any of the Shikoku vocab though.

Bueller_007 · Postby **Bueller_007** » June 9th, 2006 11:29 am

Outkast wrote:I like it because it seems like it's still laid-back and more rural. The big cities are nice for partying in, but I like nature better for the everyday...

They have their own distinctive dialect on the island too. It's a mix of kansai and their own stuff. I know that the podcast had a girl from Tokushima on it a while back, but I never heard her use any of the Shikoku vocab though.

If you want nature, hit the Japanese Alps.

There's a six-day hike from Tateyama to Kamikochi that I did. It hits most of the major peaks in the Northern Alps. Simply AMAZING.

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » June 9th, 2006 1:00 pm

Thanks, that sounds cool.

lucasburns · Postby **lucasburns** » June 22nd, 2006 3:30 am

I have only been to Takamatsu adn Kotahira, both in Kagawa prefecture. If you go to Kotohira you should attempt to book yourself into the Nakano Udon Gakou (Nakano Udon School). It is a real hoot. I did go with some Japanese friends however, but I think you will have a good time anyway even if you can't speak Japanese yet. You get to make some udon noodles and eat them. The teachers are hilarious and the best part is when everyone puts their dough into the plastic bags and dances on them to the various songs that get played. It only cost 1600 yen, and if you know enough Japanese to be able to make a booking, you should be ok for the rest of the class. If you are lucky there will be other 'students' that might explain in English! Just be genki and have a good time regardless! In Kotohira there is also a huge walk up many stairs (some sort of pilgrimage trail), but I couldn't do it as it was raining too hard. I went to the sake museum and also the bunraku theatre museum in kotahira. It is the oldest bunraku theatre in Japan, and is used maybe once a year, in April I think.

In takamatsu, I recommend going to the Rutsurin Koen (Ritsuin park). It is one of Japan's finest formal gardens, and is absolutely stunning. Well worth it. I didn't really see much else in Takamatsu, as I did my trip to shikoku in only one day, from Osaka.

aniseed · Postby **aniseed** » August 4th, 2006 11:44 pm

Hi Outkast,

I spent a few days at my friend's uncle's in Ehime-ken, Shikoku. Talk about a remote place! The villagers had only seen one white person prior to me, and that was the local English teacher. Needless to say the place was totally void of tourists. There was a lot of farmland around there (my friend's uncle is a farmer, as are most people out there), and some impressive reclaimed land, reaching into the sea, used for farming. Moving inland, it soon gets quite hilly. I didn't speak any Japanese, but luckily my friend was at hand, else i would have been up the proverbial creek without a paddle...

The peace and quiet was welcome, because i had spent a few days in Tokyo before that, but soon I began to itch for more things to do and see. The way i saw it, I didn't come all the way to Japan to hang around in the countryside. Trains to ride, Skysrcapers to climb, shrines to visit and girls to oogle.

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » October 27th, 2006 9:30 pm

lucasburns wrote:If you go to Kotohira you should attempt to book yourself into the Nakano Udon Gakou (Nakano Udon School). It is a real hoot. I did go with some Japanese friends however, but I think you will have a good time anyway even if you can't speak Japanese yet. You get to make some udon noodles and eat them. The teachers are hilarious and the best part is when everyone puts their dough into the plastic bags and dances on them to the various songs that get played. It only cost 1600 yen, and if you know enough Japanese to be able to make a booking, you should be ok for the rest of the class. If you are lucky there will be other 'students' that might explain in English! Just be genki and have a good time regardless!

That is... wild. If it is still around, I will have to try that when I go.

aniseed wrote:The peace and quiet was welcome, because i had spent a few days in Tokyo before that, but soon I began to itch for more things to do and see. The way i saw it, I didn't come all the way to Japan to hang around in the countryside. Trains to ride, Skysrcapers to climb, shrines to visit and girls to oogle.

I know what you mean. There are girls in Shikoku though...

jonnyhilly · Postby **jonnyhilly** » March 13th, 2007 7:53 am

I visited a friend in Shikoku last year.
Its really picturesque, takign a train ride out over the endless bridges is an awesome way to start.
We stayed in an Onsen/ryokan in Kotohira, a small more traditional town.
Its on the pilgamage route.
Here is some more info on [url]http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Manga-Special-Box-Set/dp/492120506X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5631387-5062259?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173736484&sr=8-1
[/url].

If you are feeling energetic, you have to climb 1368 steps ! up the hill, Konpira San to the shrine, and stunning view from the top. (take a big bottle of water)

osekihan · Postby **osekihan** » March 14th, 2007 12:14 am

Wow, thank you so much for bringing up this topic. Shikoku looks amazingly beautiful and now I want to go there too.

Abrassart · Postby **Abrassart** » March 14th, 2007 12:21 am

Bueller_007 wrote:I really know quite little about Shikoku. It's not the most touristed area... I know there are some whirlpools there though. I think they're called the Naruto whirlpools.

The pilgrimage is quite famous. In fact, this year I red two french books about it, one of it was from a belgian girl who did the pilgrimage and told her experience in it. The other one was a french thesis about the history of the pilgrimage during the middle-age.

So, well, one of my dream now is to do Shikoku's pilgrimage. It seems possible to do it in a little bit more than one month by foot... :roll:

Outkast · Postby **Outkast** » March 30th, 2007 1:39 am

I'm still hoping to do it. For a more scholarly look at the meanings and mechanics of the Shikoku Pilgrimage itself, check out Religious Studies guy Ian Reader, He's done a bunch of work on the subject...

When I go to study in Oita in September, I definitely plan on taking a few ferry trips to visit the island.

Learn Japanese - JapanesePod101.com

Shikoku, Anyone?

Shikoku, Anyone?

Re: Shikoku, Anyone?

Conpira san