3.1 Scenic Spots

3.1.1 Ritsurin Park

Ritsurin Garden is a stroll-type landscape garden in the traditional style, located in central Takamatsu and recognized as a "national treasure" garden. Mt. Shiun provides the backdrop for the park's six ponds and 13 hills, complemented by cherry blossoms in the spring, verdant green in the summer, fall colors, and snow-dusted scenery in the winter.




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3.1.2 Kotohiragu Shrine, Kotohira

Dedicated to the guardian god of the sea, the ancient Kotohiragu Shrine in Konpira is nationally renowned. Every year many pilgrims make the journey to Konpira, where reaching the main shrine requires a hike up 785 stone stairs, or 1368 to the farthest shrine.
Visitors to the shrine also enjoy the nearby kabuki theater “Kanamaru-za”, the oldest of its type in Japan. Konpira onsen is another popular spot.

3.1.3 Kankakei, Shodoshima Island

This gorge cutting through the center of Shodoshima is a scenic site of natural beauty. The fall colors are especially popular, and visitors can look down on them from the ropeway that runs to the top of the mountain.

3.1.4 Seto Ohashi Bridge

The dual-purpose road and rail Seto Ohashi Bridge spans 9.4 kilometers. Its six bridges leapfrog between five islands across the Seto Inland Sea. Seen from the Seto Ohashi Memorial Park on the Shikoku side, the bridge stretches majestically across the ocean-blue strait.

3.1.5 Marugame Castle

Marugame Castle was built at the end of the 16th century by the warlord Ikoma Chikamasa. It is famous for its dynamic stone walls, which are sometimes described as a fan-shaped slope. The castle is a designated place of national historic interest.

3.1.6 Yashima

Yashima - the “roof island” - is a roof-shaped lava plateau rising out of the Seto Inland Sea as a peninsula. The view from the observatory on top is spectacular, presenting a panoramic view of the Seto Inland Sea and its many islands.

3.1.7 Kotohiki Park

Kotohiki Park’s white sand and green pines are well-known scenic spots in Ariakehama. Inside the park is a large sand sculpture of a coin known as “zenigata”, with a circumference of 345 meters.

3.1.8 Tsuda-no-matsubara

Kinrin Park is known as “Tsuda-no-matsubara”. It includes thousands of pine trees more than 600 years old, and lovely views of the sharp contrast between white sand and azure sea. The beach is very popular with sunbathers and swimmers in the summer.

3.1.9 Shionoe hotsprings

Referred to as the “inner parlor of Sanuki”, Shionoe is one of the region’s most popular hotsprings - or "onsen" - destinations. With its proximity to Takamatsu city and the airport, and a number of valleys and other scenic spots, Shionoe is a great place to enjoy being nestled in the mountains.

3.1.a Tamamo Park.jpg

Tamamo Park is a small park built on the former site of Takamatsu Castle. The castle itself faces the Seto Inland Sea on the north, and is bounded on the three remaining sides by a moat filled with seawater, a rarity in Japan.