More Shikoku – Iya Valley, Kotohira…and a Typhoon at Takamatsu

Today our final destination was Takamatsu, on the coast of the Inland Sea on Shikoku. The road took us north, to the lower part of the Iya Valley. There were some nice viewpoints but at this altitude no sign yet of the autumn leaves that had dazzled us yesterday.

We made one stop at a hotel to try their onsen, located at the valley floor far below. Access was via a cable car, and once there Aki and I both had our respective female and male baths to ourselves. The setting was idyllic, and since the water temperature was not too hot, we stayed for an hour enjoying the view.

Relaxed, and very clean, we set off again. The road finally left the mountains and arrived at the city of Kotohira, the site of Shikoku’s most popular shrine, Kompirasan, which is dedicated to seafarers. The approach to the shrine involved a steady climb up steep steps, initially past souvenir shops, cafés and food stalls, then more interestingly through torii and past hundreds of engrave granite columns.

After 785 steps we reached a very beautiful temple complex with views over the city and countryside.

Another 583 steps (making 1368 in total) took us to the temple’s inner shrine, which was disappointingly simple compared to the main temples lower down.

Our hike down was fast, and we arrived at the bottom just in time to visit Kotohira’s kabuki theatre before it closed. It is the oldest surviving one in Japan, and it was very interesting to visit all around – the place where the audience sits, the stage itself, and backstage.

From Kotohira it was another hour by car to reach Takamatsu. As before, finding our Airbnb flat required some time, and we had to message our host to say we were lost. She lived in the flat below and came out to show us the way. It was another very comfortable and large flat – which was just as well, because over the next two days the remnants of a typhoon passed over Japan and it rained hard continuously.
There are many things you can visit with Takamatsu as a base, but sadly most of them require good weather. We ventured out once under the rain to see the city’s small castle, before deciding that it would be better to invest our time catching up on email, washing clothes, exercise – and this blog.

In the evenings at least we had some great indoor entertainment – sampling Takamatsu’s famous Udon noodles. Good food is always the best answer to bad weather!

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