Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's four main islands and the least visited by foreign travellers — a quiet, mountainous, mostly rural island south of the Inland Sea, with a population of about four million spread across four prefectures. That quietness is part of the appeal: away from the crowds of Kyoto and Tokyo, Shikoku moves at a slower pace, the food is excellent, and the landscape is a mixture of steep forested mountains, rocky coastline, small castle towns, and terraced rice fields. For many Japanese it is the most traditional-feeling part of the country.
Shikoku's most famous feature is the 88-Temple Pilgrimage (Shikoku Henro), a 1,200-kilometre loop of Buddhist temples that follows in the footsteps of Kūkai (also known as Kōbō Daishi), the 9th-century monk who founded Shingon Buddhism and was born here. Completing the full circuit traditionally takes two months on foot, though most modern pilgrims drive it in a week. You will see the white-clad pilgrims (ohenro-san) on the roads and at temple gates all over the island, walking sticks in hand and conical hats against the sun.
Each of the four prefectures has its own capital city and its own character. Takamatsu in the north-east is the busiest gateway, with the magnificent Ritsurin Garden (one of the finest landscape gardens in Japan). Matsuyama, in Ehime on the north-west coast, is the largest city and home of Dōgo Onsen, the oldest hot spring in Japan (said to be 3,000 years old). Kōchi on the south coast has one of only twelve original Japanese castles still standing, and a lively Sunday street market. Tokushima in the east is famous for the Awa Odori, an enormous dance festival held every August, and for the Naruto whirlpools in the narrow strait between the island and Honshu. Smaller towns worth seeking out include Kotohira (with its famous mountain shrine), Uwajima (castle town, sumo for bulls), and Marugame.
