Kagawa Prefecture is in the center of the Seto Inland Sea region, and has been a key junction of transportation for a long time. With the completion of the Seto Ohashi Bridge and Takamatsu Airport, and improvements to the expressways crossing Shikoku, Kagawa’s importance as the portal to Shikoku can only grow.

The Seto Ohashi Bridge stretches 9.4 kilometers from Sakaide in Kagawa to Kojima in Okayama. It is made up of several different types of bridges, including suspension, truss, and cable-stayed. Its two separate levels serve as an expressway for cars (upper level), and tracks for a railway (lower level), making it possible to reach Okayama in less than 10 minutes. In addition to being a valuable amenity for both regional industry and local citizens, the bridge is an important asset to tourism.

Appropriate to the “sky portal of Shikoku”, Takamatsu Airport was built with scale and function in mind. A total area of 154 hectares includes a 2500 meter runway which can accommodate large passenger jet planes, as well as technologically advanced “intelligent buildings” including the terminal, cargo facilities, and parking lot. Since it opened in 1989 Takamatsu Airport has seen a steady increase in the number of scheduled and charter flights domestically and worldwide.

Kagawa Prefecture is linked with other major cities on Shikoku by Japan Railways (JR) lines. The dual-purpose Seto Ohashi bridge joins Kagawa to the mainland via road and rail and makes this prefecture the center of Shikoku’s transportation infrastructure. The local Kotohira Dentetsu (or Kotoden) line facilitates travel between Takamatsu City and its suburbs and is used extensively by daily commuters.

The Trans-Shikoku Expressway forms a figure-eight on Shikoku, crossing Kagawa Prefecture. Direct links between major cities (Takamatsu, Tokushima, Matsuyama, and Kochi) provide for a travel time of around two hours to any of them. Thanks to a connection with the Seto-Chuo Expressway (which traverses the Seto Ohashi Bridge to the mainland) and plans for even more links, Kagawa Prefecture is playing an ever greater role in the transportation of goods and people.

Kagawa’s principal ports include Takamatsu, Sakaide, Marugame, and Takuma. There are regular and high-speed ferries between Shikoku and Honshu, and there are always cargo ships, tankers and others going to and fro.

Takamatsu Port has long functioned as the sea gateway to Shikoku, and is now one of the country’s most-used ports. It also ranks high for number of ships docking and cargo carried.
The Takamatsu Port container terminal was finished in 1997, and opened the doors to international container ships from Pusan in Korea. The 11000m2 site includes free-moving cranes.
Implementation of a 2-ton berth and associated terminal buildings was completed in 1999, allowing for large passenger ships to dock in Takamatsu.

The newly redeveloped JR station building at Takamatsu Port, dubbed “Sunport Takamatsu”, is intended to be a central point of transit by land and sea, and to meet the needs of this age of internationalization and computerization. The facility realizes the beauty of the Seto Inland Sea while providing for the further development and progress of Takamatsu.