Shikoku

Shikoku's name means "four provinces" — Awa, Sanuki, Iyo and Tosa, the ancestors of today's Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime and Kochi. Its most famous son is the monk Kukai, born in Sanuki in 774, who founded the Shingon school of Buddhism on Koyasan. The circuit of 88 temples associated with him grew over the following centuries and became a popular pilgrimage in the Edo period.

The island was remote and hard to govern. In the 12th century defeated Taira warriors are said to have fled into the Iya valley, and in the Warring States era the Chosokabe clan of Tosa briefly united almost all of Shikoku before Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced it to submit in 1585. Under the Tokugawa, the island was divided among domains whose castles survive at Matsuyama, Kochi, Marugame and Uwajima, and Tokushima's lords grew rich on indigo dye.

Tosa played a key role in the fall of the shogunate: Sakamoto Ryoma, a low-ranking samurai from Kochi, helped broker the Satsuma–Choshu alliance before his assassination in 1867, and remains the island's great hero. In the modern era Shikoku stayed rural and was tied to Honshu only by ferry until the Great Seto Bridge opened in 1988; the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge completed the route via Awaji in 1998 and the Shimanami Kaido followed in 1999. The bridges brought easier travel but also drew young people away, and the island's population has been falling for decades.

The pilgrimage shapes Shikoku's identity. Henro walk the circuit in white vests, sedge hats and with a wooden staff, and local people practise osettai, giving pilgrims food, drink, small gifts or a bed for the night as a way of sharing in their merit. Most pilgrims now travel by car or bus, but thousands still walk the whole loop, which takes around six weeks.

Each prefecture has a distinct character. Kochi takes pride in its Tosa samurai heritage, while Tokushima is known for commerce and dance. Tokushima's Awa Odori, held over Obon in mid-August, fills the streets with troupes dancing to shamisen, flutes and drums, and Kochi's Yosakoi festival, founded in 1954, has spread across the country.

Crafts include Tokushima's indigo dyeing, Imabari's towels, Marugame's round fans, and Kochi's washi paper. Matsuyama is proud of the haiku poet Masaoka Shiki and of Natsume Soseki's novel Botchan, set in the town, and bull-fighting between bulls, without matadors, survives in Uwajima.

About 3.6 million people live on Shikoku. Matsuyama, with around 500,000, is the largest city, followed by Takamatsu with about 400,000, Kochi with about 320,000 and Tokushima with about 250,000. Outside the capitals the population is small and ageing, and parts of the interior have lost most of their residents; in the Iya valley, some near-empty villages have become known for old houses restored as guesthouses.

The economy leans on agriculture, fishing and small manufacturing: citrus in Ehime, which is known for its mikan, shipbuilding and towel-making around Imabari, pharmaceuticals and LED makers in Tokushima, and paper in Ehime's Shikokuchuo. Tourism has grown with the art islands of Kagawa and cycling on the Shimanami Kaido.

Life is slower than on Honshu. Mornings in Kagawa often start at an udon counter, the Sunday market in Kochi stretches along a main street, and trains between towns run hourly or less. Depopulation, the future of rural rail lines, and preparing for a Nankai Trough earthquake are the big local concerns.

Kagawa is Japan's udon prefecture. Sanuki udon — thick, firm wheat noodles — is served in hundreds of simple shops, often self-service, with toppings such as tempura and a light dashi broth, and locals may eat it more than once a day. Shodoshima, off Takamatsu, grows olives and has a long soy-sauce and somen-noodle tradition.

Kochi's signature is katsuo no tataki, bonito briefly seared over a straw fire and eaten in thick slices with garlic, salt or citrus, and Kochi grows much of Japan's yuzu. The Hirome Market food hall is the place to try it with local sake. Ehime is citrus country, known above all for mikan, and its taimeshi is rice cooked or served with sea bream; Uwajima has jakoten, a fried fish cake made with the bones.

Tokushima is known for sudachi, a small green citrus squeezed over fish and noodles, naruto kintoki sweet potatoes, and a rich brown pork-bone ramen topped with raw egg. Iya valley specialities include buckwheat soba and dekomawashi, skewers of potato, tofu and konnyaku grilled with miso.

The 88-temple pilgrimage begins at Ryozen-ji in Tokushima and circles the island clockwise through all four prefectures. Key stops include Zentsu-ji, Kukai's birthplace in Kagawa, and Ishite-ji in Matsuyama. In Kagawa, Takamatsu's Ritsurin Garden is one of Japan's largest strolling gardens, the shrine of Kotohira-gu sits at the top of a long flight of stone steps, and Naoshima's museums and outdoor art sit on an island in the Inland Sea.

In Ehime, Matsuyama has its hilltop castle and Dogo Onsen, whose Honkan bathhouse is one of Japan's best-known hot springs, while Uchiko keeps an old merchant street and a kabuki theatre. The Shimanami Kaido crosses the islands from Imabari towards Onomichi, with views from the Kurushima Kaikyo bridge. Mount Ishizuchi is the highest peak in western Japan.

In Tokushima, the Naruto whirlpools churn below the Onaruto Bridge, and the Iya valley has the vine bridge at Nishi-Iya, the gorges of Oboke and Koboke and steep terraces of thatched farmhouses. Kochi has its original castle, the beach at Katsurahama with a statue of Sakamoto Ryoma, the Shimanto River, known as one of Japan's clearest, and the wild Pacific capes of Muroto and Ashizuri.