Kagawa Prefecture

Kagawa is Japan's smallest prefecture, but a vacation in Kagawa Prefecture takes more time than its size would suggest. It has more udon restaurants per capita than anywhere else, one of the country's most beautiful gardens, the mountain shrine of Kotohira-gū, and, just offshore, the art islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

Landscape and Islands

The prefecture lies in northeastern Shikoku between the Sanuki Mountains and the Inland Sea. The Sanuki Plain is dotted with cone-shaped hills and thousands of irrigation ponds, because the climate is dry and sunny. Takamatsu, Marugame, Sakaide, Utazu, Kanonji, and Mitoyo lie along the coast. Around 110 islands belong to Kagawa, including Shōdoshima, Naoshima, Teshima, and Megijima.

Sights in Kagawa Prefecture

Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu was laid out over more than a hundred years by the lords of Takamatsu. Six ponds, artfully pruned pines, and a teahouse set against Mount Shiun are considered by many to be more beautiful than the three officially designated great gardens of Japan. In Kotohira, 785 steps lead to the main hall of Kotohira-gū, which is sacred to seafarers; if you keep climbing, you reach the inner shrine after a total of 1,368 steps. At the foot of the mountain stands the Kanamaru-za, the oldest surviving kabuki theater in Japan. Zentsū-ji, the birthplace of the monk Kūkai, is one of the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage. In Kanonji, a huge sand drawing of an old coin is laid out on Ariake Beach, best viewed from above. At low tide, Chichibugahama Beach in Mitoyo leaves mirror-like tidal pools, where visitors photograph the sunset. Marugame has a castle with high stone walls and an original main keep.

Art on the Islands

Thanks to the Benesse Foundation, Naoshima has become a destination for contemporary art. The Chichū Art Museum by Tadao Andō lies almost entirely underground and shows Monet's water lilies in natural daylight. At the harbor and on a pier stand Yayoi Kusama's polka-dotted pumpkins. On Teshima, water drips across a concrete hollow at the Teshima Art Museum, while Shōdoshima is known for its olive groves, soy sauce breweries, and the Kankakei Gorge. Every three years the Setouchi Triennale takes place, with artworks created on more than a dozen islands.

Food and Drink

Kagawa calls itself the "Udon Prefecture." Sanuki udon are thick, square-cut, and chewy; you eat them cold with soy sauce, hot in broth, or as kamatama with a raw egg. At self-service shops you pick your own noodles and tempura toppings, often for just a few hundred yen. Honetsuki-dori, grilled bone-in chicken leg with garlic, is a specialty of Marugame. Wasanbon, a fine sugar, is pressed into small sweets, and olive beef cattle are fed the pressed leftovers from olive oil production.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Express trains connect Okayama with Takamatsu in just under an hour via the Seto-Ōhashi Bridge. Takamatsu Airport has domestic flights and connections to Seoul, Taipei, and Shanghai. Ferries run to the islands from Takamatsu and from Uno in Okayama. Spring and fall are considered the best times to visit, which is also when the Triennale usually takes place. Summers are hot and dry, winters mild.