Moopon

Japan’s southern islands, Okinawa, is a favorite vacation spot for both Japanese and non-Japanese visitors.
 With its beautiful beaches, abundant natural beauty, an array of water sports and wildlife observation,
there are many things to be experienced here.
Among the Okinawa islands, Iriomote Island (西表島), Okinawa's second largest island is quite popular.
With nearly 90% of the island consisting of jungle and mangrove forest, visitors will have a chance to see natural beauty at its rawest stage.
 Visitors who are exceptionally lucky may be able to witness the Iriomote Yamaneko, an endangered species, which are only found on this island.
It is thought only about 100 of this nocturnal “wildcat” are still in existence. 

Iriomote has many beautiful beaches with the appropriate beach related water sports such as swimming,
snorkeling and diving.
Among these fabulous beaches, Hoshizuna no Hama is exceptionally special.
The name Hoshizuna consists of hoshi meaning star and zuna meaning sand.
 This beach has grains of sand shaped like tiny stars. In reality, the “star sand” grains are skeletons of small one-celled organisms that reside within the ocean’s plants.

Hoshizuna no Hama Beach is great for swimming and snorkeling.
With the water being shallow during low tide, it is easy to see the tropical fish swimming in and out of the coral.
 There are no public facilities at the beach other than a free parking lot.  Admission is also free.

Japan’s southernmost vacation paradise of Okinawa offers its visitors an array of different activities to make the most of the “Okinawa experience”.
One of the more touristy but fun experiences visitors can partake in is the Yubujima Suigyu Cart Ride.

Yubujima is a small island near Iriomote Island. A popular way to enter Yubujima is via water buffalo carts.
The cart rides are quite fun with the drivers explaining the island’s history and sharing interesting local gossip.
Some drivers will play the sanshin (Okinawa’s stringed instrument) to entertain the occupants of their carts.

Yubujima Suigyu Cart Ride 
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 
Closed: No closing days 
Fee:  adults (over 12 years old) 1400 yen includes entry to the island’s subtropical garden
     children (over 6 years old) 700 yen includes entry to the island’s subtropical garden
     children under 6 are free

Yubujima is a small subtropical garden island.  Within the garden, visitors can view many tropical flowers such as 30
varieties of the hibiscus in addition to fruit trees such as guava and papaya.
 Of course these plants and more can be viewed throughout the year!

Within Japan’s tropical paradise of Okinawa, visitors can enjoy water sports,
nature and wildlife that can only be observed here.
Within the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa is the 90% jungle/mangrove island of Iriomote.
And here, visitors may be able to see the endangered species of the Iriomote Yamaneko,
a type of “wild cat” which resides only on this island.

It is thought only 100 Yamaneko remain on the island. As such,
the Yamaneko Museum or Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Center is both a wildlife/eco museum as well as a refugee center for Iriomote
Yamaneko that have been rescued after being injured in a traffic accident. 

Visitors to the museum are able to learn about the ecology of the animals found on the island,including the Iriomote Yamaneko.
Explanations are provided in English throughout the museum.
As far as the rescued Iriomote Yamaneko, they can only be viewed via a live video feed.

Shuri Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Okinawa served an important role in Okinawa’s history.
Though presently a district of Naha, Shuri was the former capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom.  
Until Okinawa became a Japanese Prefecture in 1879, Shuri Castle was both the administrative center
as well as residence for the Ryukyu kings for several centuries.

The castle was originally constructed in the late 1300s.  
Destroyed many times through war and fires, the current buildings are a result of the reconstruction efforts from 1992.
To approach the castle, located on the top of hill, visitors need to pass through many gates, including the well known Shureimon Gate.

The castle’s main hall, the Seiden was the former venue for many governmental events. A landmark of Okinawa, the Seiden’s flamboyant decoration,
architecture and vermillion color shows the difference in castle style between Okinawa and mainland Japan. 

Visitors will find the Una Plaza in front of the Seiden.
Here many ceremonies were held. The Una Plaza is enclosed by the Hokuden (North Hall), Nanden (South Hall) and the Hoshinmon (Hoshin Gate).
The Hokuden and Nanden were administrative buildings which were also used as venues to welcome visitors from China and mainland Japan.

Visitors are welcomed to view the interior of these historic halls.
 The interiors of the Hokuden and Nanden are like modern museums with informative displays about Ryukyu Kingdom as well as
the Okinawa’s history with the Japanese mainland and China. Visitors can also view local historic artifact as well as cultural replicas received during foreign trade.

The Seiden has been reconstructed in its original style.
The richness and fine furnishing the Ryukyu kings were accustomed to are displayed in the Seiden.
Visitors can even view a replica of the king's throne and crown are among the exhibits.

Facility Information:
Hours: 8:30 to 19:00 (until 18:00 from December to March, until 20:00 from July to September) 
**Last Entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
Closed: First Wednesday and Thursday of July
Admission: 820 yen
Level of English: Good

Shikinaen, located in Okinawa, was the second residence of the Ryukyu kings.
It was constructed in the 18th century.
The building were relatively simple, wooden palace buildings incorporating the Chinese red tile roofs
with a spacious Japanese garden and its a central pond.
The garden is meant to be viewed as visitors stroll around.
With both the Chinese and Japanese influence, visitors can appreciate Shikinaen’s truly unique Okinawa style.

Shikinaen was completely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa of 1945.
However, a 20 year restoration plan began in 1975.
 In 2000, it was among the sited registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the title Gusuku Sites
and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu.

From the forest, visitors walk along a stone-paved road, made from Ryukyu limestones to the main entrance.
From here, visitors will stroll along a 300 meter circular path to view the garden.
There are many interesting parts of the garden, not limited to…
**Ikutokusen—the spring filled with clear water.
 It is designated as a national monument as it is the birthplace of the red alga
**Stone Bridge: There are two stone bridges which connect to the palace as well a small islet in the middle of the water.
**Udun Palace:  built in the 17th century, before the garden and pond, this spacious palace has 15 rooms
**Rokkaku-do: a Chinese-style hexagonal pavilion located on a nearby island

Facility Information:
Hours: 9:00 to 18:00 (until 17:30 from October to March) 
**Last Entry is 30 minutes before closing
Closed: Wednesdays (or following day if Wednesday is a national holiday or falls on June 23) 
Admission: 400 yen

Kadoya  one of the art house project

Kadoya was the first art house completed. This nearly 200-year old house was restored using Japanese plaster, smoked cedar board, and traditional tiles. Artworks on display include a LED display set in a pool of water, a window turned into a digital display and an unconventional Japanese scroll painting.

Works:Tatsuo Miyajima
Closed : Mondays  Open on Mondays for national holidays but closed the next day
Hours: 10a.m-4:30p.m
Admission: 410yen

Minamidera 
Architecture by Ando Tadao, Artwork by James Turrell
Minamidera, built on the former site of a temple, is a new structure designed by Ando Tadao, the star architect who also designed the art museums on Naoshima. Inside is James Turrell's "Backside of the Moon", an intriguing art piece that plays with your perception of light.

Go'o Shrine (護王神社)

Designed by Sugimoto Hiroshi
Go'o Shrine is an old Shinto shrine enshrined from the Edo period that has been restored with a modern makeover by Artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. An optical glass staircase leads from the worship hall to an underground chamber that represents the unity of heaven and earth. Visitors may enter the underground chamber from a narrow side entrance.

Hiroshi Sugimoto
He was born in Japan in 1948. A photographer since the 1970s, his work deals with history and temporal existence by investigating themes of time, empiricism, and metaphysics.

Closed: Mondays  Open on Mondays for national holidays but closed the next day
Hours: 10a.m - 4:30p.m
Admission: 410 yen

Ishibashi (石橋)
Artwork by Senju Hiroshi

One industry in Naoshima about a century ago was salt making.Ishibashi was originally built around 100 years ago as the home of a prosperous salt merchant. It has since been restored and houses two large paintings by Senju Hiroshi. One is painted onto the sliding doors of the main building, while the other, a large painting depicting a spectacular waterfall, hangs in the adjacent storehouse.

Hiroshi Senju
Born in Tokyo, 1958. PhD, Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music. Honorable mention in painting category, 46th Venice Biennale (1995).

Closed: Mondays  Open on Mondays for national holidays but closed the next day
Hours: 10a.m-4:30p.m
Admission: 410yen

 Haisha【はいしゃ】
Architecture and Artwork by Otake Shinro
Haisha (literally "dentist"), once the home and office of a local dentist, has been completely transformed by artist Shinro Ohtake into a sculptural or graphic artwork some of which can be viewed from different floors of the two storied house. The artworks include a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Otake also designed the I Love You bath house. Dreaming Tongue, the title of the artwork, represents the process of calling to mind a dream from the tastes and aromas of a morsel in one's mouth.

Shinro Ohtake
He is a Japanese artist who was born in Tokyo and lives in Uwajima, Japan. He paints, creates installations and designs record covers and book covers. He has published dozens of books, such as a dream diary, a picture book, essays and art books.

Closed: Mondays  Open on Mondays for national holidays but closed the next day
Hours: 10a.m-4:30p.m
Admission: 410yen

Looking like a forested hat in the Seto Island Sea, Ogijima Island (男木島) is a charming island with strong traditional as well as artistic connections. Ogijima is the brother island of Megijima. A rather small island, the length of the island is 2 kilometers long with a width of 1 kilometer.  The ferry terminal is located on the southern end of the island with a lighthouse located on the northern end.  Within the mountain, visitors can a famous shrine.  And along the paths are many cats.

Famous for being one of the venues of the Setouchi Triennale Art Festival, visitors can view the pieces during the festival. In addition, 10 art pieces from the 2010 and 2013 festival have a permanent home on Ogijima.  The artwork range from indoor pieces to outdoor pieces which incorporate entire homes.  
Note:  Many of the artwork cannot be seen on weekdays or in the winter.

Ogijima is also home to 200 villagers and visitors can walk through the village, with its traditional wooden houses and confusing narrow streets.  Halfway up the mountains on this small island, visitors can find the Toyotamahime Shrine.  Many people visit Toyotamahime Shrine to pray for a safe childbirth. 

Access Information:
From Takamatsu Port, board a ferry.  There is one ferry every two hours.  The one-way journey takes about 40 minutes and the fare is 510 yen.

On the base of Yashima Mountain in Takamatsu City, Kagawa prefecture, lies an open air museum Shikoku Mura (四国村). Among the artwork displayed here are traditional building and structures from within Shikoku Island, farmhouses and storehouses from the Edo and Meiji Periods, as well as a small art gallery.

Visitors can explore the outdoors museum on the mountainside, viewing bridges, a light house and even a kabuki theater.  Among the most popular is a vine suspension bridge modeled after the ones in Tokushima Prefecture’s Iya Valley.  The bridges are made of vine and wood with reinforcements by steel cables.

Hours: 8:30 to 17:30 (until 18:00 from April to October)
Closed: Opened All Year Round
Admission: 800 yen (1000 yen combined ticket includes entrance to the gallery)

Access Information:
Via Kotoden:
Board a train from Takamatsu-Chikko Station to Kawaramachi Station. The journey should take about 5 minutes.  Transfer to the Shido Line and disembark at Kotoden Yashima Station. The journey here should take about 15 minutes. From the station, it should take about 5 minutes on foot to Shikoku Mura.
Note:  Though there are many trains from Takamatsu-Chikko Station to Kawaramachi Station, from Kawaramachi Station to Kotoden Yashima Station there are only 3 trains every hour.

Via JR:
From JR Takamatsu Station, board a local train to Yashima Station. The journey should take 15 minutes.  From the station, it should take about 15 minutes on foot to Shikoku Mura.
Note:  There are only 1 or 2 trains every hour.

Lying along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea in Kagawa Prefecture is the Takamatsu Castle. This castle, also known as the Tamomo Castle, is one of the few castles built along the water.  The moat of the Takamatsu Castle actually draws directly from the sea.

Built in 1590 by Ikoma Chikamasa, the Ikoma Clan were the original rulers of this castle. Relatives of the Tokugawa Shogun, the Matsudaira Clan overtook the castle 54 years later. The Matsudaira Clan ruled for the rest of the Edo Period.  During the Meiji Period, the castle main keep was torn down.  Currently, there is a strong movement to reconstruct this castle, known as one of the three Great Waterfront Castles in Japan.

Within the castle grounds, there are only a few of the castle’s original buildings.  Originally twenty, only two turrets, the Ushitora Yagura and the Tsukimi Yagura, remain today. Visitors can also see the Asahimon Gate as well as the moats and walls to imagine how glorious Takamatsu castle was in its heyday. The castle garden is well maintained and visitors can appreciate the beauty of Japanese gardens here.

Hiunkaku building lies in the center of the castle park.  With its large tatami mat rooms, this building is used as an exhibition space/community hall.  Tea ceremony and flower arrangement classes are held here.

The hours of entry to the castle vary according to the month.
April to May: 5:50 to 18:30
June to August: 5:30 to 19:00
September: 5:30 to 18:30
October: 6:00 to 17:30
November: 6:30 to 17:00
December to January: 7:00 to 17:00
February: 7:00 to 17:30
March: 6:30 to 18:00
Closed: December 29th to 31st
Admission: 200 yen

Access Information:
Takamatsu Castle is located next to Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station.
It is also a short walk from the JR Takamatsu Station.

Takamatsu Shopping Arcade is the long, covered shopping street from Takamatsu Castle to Ritsurin Koen.  Known in Japanese as a shotengai, these shopping streets consisting of small family businesses were an important part of life in Japan in the past. Said to be the longest covered shopping arcade in Japan, Takamatsu Shopping Arcade is nearly 2.7 kilometer in length.

With the passage of time, more and more shopping arcades in Japan are moving away from small family businesses to large corporate chain stores.  The northern end of the Takamatsu Shopping Arcade (near Takamatsu Castle) was been redeveloped into an upscale shopping plaza with tenants such as Louis Vuitton and Coach.  Hungry visitors best visit Lion Dori, a street running parallel to the main shopping street.  Here visitors will find an array of eateries, including places which serve the local delicacy, Sanuki Udon.

Hours:  varies from store to store.  In general, most stores are opened from 11am to 7pm or so.
Holidays:  varies from store to store.  Many stores are opened every day.  Some stores are closed once a week, typically on a Monday or Wednesday.

Access Information:
From JR Takamatsu Station or Takamatsu Castle, it is a 10 to 15 minute walk. 

The Kankakei Gorge located at the center of Shodoshima Island, Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku, is one Japan's three most beautiful gorges. It is said the gorge was formed over a time period of over 2 million years. The rocks in the gorge have been shaped by the wind and rain. A must-visit site for hikers and naturists, the gorge attracts many visitors, especially in autumn with its array of fall colors.  

Visitors visiting Kankakei Gorge can approach the peak via ropeway, car or on foot.  The ropeway provides beautiful views of the gorge as the cable car ascends to the top. From the observation located near the upper ropeway station, visitors are greeted with views of the gorge, Seto Inland Sea, and Shodoshima Island, itself.
Kankakei Ropeway
Hours: 8:30 to 17:00 (during the fall foliage season, the first ropeway ride begins at 8:00; in the winter, the last ride is at 16:30) 
Departures every 12 minutes
Closed: Opened All Year Round
Admission: 750 yen (one way), 1350 yen (round trip) 
A 10 percent discount coupon is available online

There is a road connecting the ropeway stations. With both stations having parking lots, approaching the peak via car is an easy option.  And for more energetic visitors, there are two easy but steep trails leading to the top.

The western trail is about 2 kilometers in length.  The uphill climb takes about an hour and it is 30 to 45 minutes descending. The eastern trail is about 3 kilometers long.  Both trails are through the forest.

Access Information:
Via bus
From Kusakabe Port, there are 4 buses daily to the lower ropeway station. 
The buses operate daily during the spring holidays, Golden Week, summer holidays and foliage season.
The buses operate on the weekends, national holidays from mid March to early December.  
There are no buses during the winter.
The cost is 360 yen (one way) and the journey takes about 15 minutes. 

Via car 
From Kusakabe Port to the lower ropeway station, it is a 15 minute drive.
From Tonsho Port to the upper ropeway station, it is a40 minute drive.
From Obe Port to the upper ropeway station, it is a 20 minute drive.
From Fukuda Port to the upper ropeway station, it is a 30 minute drive.