Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [506]
The best accommodation option is at Yakuō-ji’s shukubō (77-1105; fax 77-1486; per person with meals ¥7300; ). The tatami rooms here are spacious and well kept, and filling meals are served. It’s in a modern building across the road from the temple.
South to Muroto-misaki
A short train ride south from Hiwasa is the sleepy fishing town of Mugi (), where the winding streets of the old fishing port make an interesting stopover if you’ve a few hours to spare on your way south. A 45-minute (3km) walk along the coast past the fishing port is Mollusc Mugi Shell Museum (; 0884-72-2520; admission ¥400; 9am-4.30pm, closed Mon), where there’s an impressive collection of shells and tropical fish in an idyllic setting on a quiet beach. There is an old Hachiman shrine in the centre of the town, and boats run out to the off-shore island of Teba-jima ().
The JR line ends at Kaifu (); the private Asa Kaigan line runs further south to Shishikui () and Kannoura ().
This stretch of coast is ‘surf central’ as far as Shikoku is concerned, with several good beaches and some great scenery. Surfing equipment is available for hire at numerous places in the laid-back, one-street beach-bum town of Ikumi (), where you’ll find most of the best places to stay. For money, there is a post office with an international ATM in Kaifu, and another in Kannoura.
Glass-bottomed boats tour the waters around Takegashima island near Shishikui, run by Blue Marine (; 0884-76-3100; cruises ¥1800; 9am-4pm, closed Tue). Sea kayaking (; 0884-76-1401; per person ¥2500; 10am & 2pm) is available at the same place, inside the Marine Jam Building.
There are plenty of places to stay along the coast. At Kannoura, Shirahama White Beach Hotel (; 0887-29-3344; www.wbhotel.net, in Japanese; per person from ¥6000) is a slightly faded modern resort hotel that’s directly on the beach. In the summer, camping is available on the beach next to the hotel. For food and a beer, try nearby Aunt Dinah (0887-29-2080; meals ¥750-1500; 9.30am-9.30pm, closed Tue), where there’s old-time country music and a range of curries available (such as seafood curry for ¥890).
In Shishikui, Western- and Japanese-style rooms are available at upmarket Hotel Riviera (; 0884-76-3300; fax 0884-76-3910; www.hotel-riviera.co.jp, in Japanese; per person with meals from ¥12,000), where nonguests can use the sea-view onsen baths (¥600; from 11am to 10pm).
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The henro trail Paul Warham
The walking pilgrim is one of the most distinctive sights of any trip to Shikoku. They’re everywhere you go, striding along busy city highways, cresting hills in remote mountain valleys, and tapping their colourful walking sticks – lonely figures in white, trudging purposefully through heat haze and monsoonal downpour alike on their way from temple to temple. Who are these people, and what drives them to leave the comforts of home for months at a time in order to make a journey of more than 1400km on foot?
Before I set off on a dilettante trip of my own – a mere dipping of toes into the holy waters – I have a vague idea of them as modern-day renunciates, otherworldly figures on a solitary quest for enlightenment. It’s not long before I’m relieved of this idea. Among the first henro (pilgrims on the 88 Temple circuit) I meet is a young student couple from Tokyo. We arrive at our temple lodgings at the same time, and the woman who checks us in allocates the youngsters separate rooms at opposite ends of the compound. The next morning I’m standing under the eaves of the temple waiting for the rain to stop when I see the two young lovers emerge from the same room and set out under a shared umbrella for the next temple.
I meet only one person who comes anywhere close to meeting my initial expectations: a man from Kawasaki with a bald head that glistens like