Took a two week trip to Japan in December and figured I’d share my experience in some lesser-visited prefectures.
A close friend of mine I met in Seoul is from Tokushima, and offered to take me and my friends in for a few days and show us around. We came by Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kobe, then taking an hour long express bus to Tokushima. We stayed for 3 days and traveled primarily by my friend’s car. The complete trip was Tokyo-Tokushima/Kagawa-Osaka-Hiroshima-Fukuoka. I’ll highlight some places we visited and my feelings about them.
**Otsuka Art Museum**
Japan’s largest art museum (and maybe largest museum period? not sure). This museum features over 1000 transfer printed replicas of various works of western art. This goes beyond paintings, but features a life size replica of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, as well as dozens of caves, tombs, and houses of worship. My friend had worked there for almost 20 years, and estimates that it takes about 4 hours to see every single work in the museum, we saw probably less than 10%. The museum was founded to give Japanese who can’t travel abroad a chance to see western art.
**Indigo Dye**
Tokushima is the home of Aizome, Japan’s take on indigo dying. Several stores sell indigo dyed goods and offer you the chance to try the art yourself for relatively cheap. We dyed some handkerchiefs at [Nagao-Orifu](https://awa-shijira.net), it only costs 1100 yen. If you’re looking for a wide selection of indigo dyed goods, [Okumura](https://maps.app.goo.gl/xrE5tkMj7EFYy369A) is the place to go.
**Shodo Island**
We took a trip out to Shodo Island on the second day. One of the best ferry rides I’ve ever been on. Such a peaceful trip, and a pretty empty boat road, primarily daytrippers and local residents. There’s even a tatami mat area with a few sleeping grandpas. We relaxed with some udon for the hour long ride. The ferry terminal offers English language maps illustrated with the highlights of the island. We hit angel road, a partially submerged sandbar leading out to an island. Afterwards we took a trip to the olive farm, nothing to write home about, but an interesting historical connection with Greece, who apparently sent the first olives to the island as a gesture of friendship. Lastly we visited the Hoshoin Temple, centered around a 1000 year old tree, to watch the sunset as islanders walked home for the day.
Unfortunately we only visited Shodo, but there are several other islands connected by ferries to Takamatsu. Teshima and Naoshima are famous for their art museums and public art.
**Downtown Takamatsu**
Takamatsu is a quintessential midsized Japanese city. There is nothing essential here, but if you’re interested in taking ferries out to the various surrounding islands, it’s a great hub. It will also give you a taste of the urban life outside of the major cities. We met with another friend at her clothing boutique and had dinner in Minamishinmachi. This area has the most action and is a good place to eat, take a walk, etc.
**Toyatomi Coffee**
Super cool local coffeshop in Tokushima City. The owner has traveled the world working on his coffee formulas. He has several photo albums of his travels all over the coffee belt, and he can speak a decent amount of English.
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I wish I had more to say, but unfortunately I was only there for 3 days! Hope this helps anyone traveling in the area 🙂
by alvvaysthere