Come to Hokkaido and in the eyes of the Japanese it’s a bit like exploring the Wild West – some remote, forbidden frontier where most people just don’t go. Head to the very northern tip of Hokkaido and you are really living life on the edge – quite literally. Wakkanai is that kind of place – a long, often rather desolate, but then at times scenic excursion more or less directly north of Sapporo.
Beautiful sunset over the Sea of Japan, Ishikari, on the road to Wakkanai.But, so many things to worry about here !! They warn you about everything.Houses are completely different here in Hokkaido. They don’t look like this elsewhere in Japan.
We drove this ( almost entirely ) coastal route over a couple of days stopping along the way to take in any local attractions- most notably a wonderful little ( and very old ) sake distillery in the town of Mashike. Been around for well over a hundred years and was full of history. Lots of learning on sake – we knew it was a kind of rice-wine but did not know that it is distilled from only a very distinct kind of rice ( not the same as the stuff we eat ). Sadly, Japan’s “absolute zero %” blood alcohol rules meant I could not taste any ( Lois stepped in and did the honors ), having to accept instead a cup of their delicious sake- flavoured ice cream. Who’d have thought that would taste good ?
Historical Sake Museum in Mashike.Tasting Sake.The closest the driver gets to sake – sake flavoured ice cream !Typical coastal scenery on the drive north.The latitude crossings get some attention in these parts.
Approaching Wakkanai, we noticed something we had not seen anywhere else in Hokkaido – Russian language signs. Street names, town names, distance signs, they were everywhere. We know that in this corner of Japan anyway Russia is just a stone’s throw away but it’s not like there’s a lot of travel/commerce (nor probably much friendship ! ) between the two countries in this area. We could only think this was a historical vestige of the time ( 1905-1945 ) when Japan possessed the southern half of Sakhalin island ( at its nearest point, just 25kms away. Japan took it from Russia ( spoils of war from their successful 1904-1905 conflict with Russia ) and then the Russians ( somewhat understandably ) took it back at the end of WW2. There’s a fascinating museum in Wakkanai that details Japan’s experience in Sakhalin, well worthwhile for any avid history buffs. While nearby Sakhalin is no longer disputed, there are 4 islands in North Eastern Hokkaido that are disputed – but more on that next week.
Surprised to see the cyrillic alphabet on signs here – Russian influence ?Images from the Sakhalin museum in Wakkanai. The Japanese controlled the southern half for many years – it was known as Karafuto prefecture between 1905-1945.Images of Sakhalin during the Japanese years.An old obelisk marking the then boundary between Russia and Japan at the 50th parallel on Sakhalin.
Wakkanai ( and the area near it ) really seemed much like northern Canada – the buildings, the remoteness, stronger indigenous influence (Ainu, in Japan), the climate ( often windy, misty) and just the overall feel of the place. It was interesting to see and feel just how extraordinarily different it is from the rest of Japan. Most folks think of Wakkanai as the northern limit of Hokkaido but that honor belongs to nearby Cape Soya, just to the east. Not a lot of note there – REALLY windy, colder and a few markers and obelisks to let you know you are at Japan’s northern tip – unlike Wasilla, Alaska ( home to Sarah Palin ), from Cape Soya, Russia really IS visible on a clear day 😂.
Cape Soya, as far north as you can go in Japan. Russia just beyond.As always at such places, the generic signpost to practically everywhere !!An interesting marker at Cape Soya – a memorial to sailors lost in WW2 on both sides in waters around Cape Soya.
Southeast of Wakkanai and towards the centre of Hokkaido lies one of Hokkaido’s famous national parks- Daisetsuzan. Here our continued run of less than stellar weather limited some opportunities but we were able to traverse Sounkyo Gorge getting an excellent view of Ryusei and Ginga Falls and at least a short hike in before rain cut further plans short.
Not sure why but we got somewhat excited to see our first deer in the wild. We would soon see many more !As we headed east from Wakkanai we encountered many small, local ski hills. Had no idea there were so many in Hokkaido. And constant warnings to avoid brown bears.Approaching Daisetsuzan National Park.Lake Taisetsu, Daisetsuzan NP.Ryusei Falls, Daisetsuzan NP.Both falls. So many steps on the hike to the viewpoint…!And yet more brown bear warnings.
Back to the coast, on to Abashiri and then another detour inland over the scenic Bihoro Pass took us to one of the prettiest parts of Hokkaido so far – Lakes Kussharo and Mashu, in Akan National Park. The scenic roads, high passes, quaint towns, foot spas and natural outdoor onsens in this area kept us busy for the rest of the week. We’d been told about this part of Hokkaido and it did not disappoint!
Hokkaido, in some parts, looks like one big farm ! Lots of wide open farmland here that you just don’t see elsewhere in Japan.View of Lake Kussharo, from Bihoro Pass.Males on the left, females on the right- a large rock in the middle for “privacy”.Delightful Kotan outdoor onsen, beside Lake Kussharo. We enjoyed it so much we visited twice.A beautiful evening camped with a few others at Sunaya Beach, Lake Kussharo. Hot springs came out of the beach here.Lush scenery on the road to Lake Mashu.Lake Mashu is a volcanic lake famed for its vibrant blue colour – on this day the sun was being shy so, while pretty, we did not get the full effect 😔.Came across quite a few of these – “foot spas”, this one near Lake Mashu. Incredibly relaxing !
A video look at our recent travels in 90 seconds…..
Random Musings on Japan:
Into month 3 of our stay in this wonderful country and thought I’d add a few general musings – the good ( almost everything ), the bad ( just a couple on that list ) and the ugly ( actually, nothing THAT bad so far ! ).
It’s easy to talk about the travel stuff, it’s always fun, so it’s here this week as usual but beyond that here are just some quirky visitor observations to share. I talk often about the good stuff, so a few lines about the minor annoyances first.
So, What’s Challenging About Japan?
Getting rid of garbage ! There are no garbage cans ANYWHERE here. It’s surprising there isn’t litter everywhere ( well, there is some ) since it’s so hard to get rid of stuff- without exception, every day as soon as we wake up, we start thinking about where we will be able to dump the garbage that accumulated the day before. We have never had to do this before. Anywhere. Ever ! We just met some Dutch people travelling in a rental motorhome, and we have also met some Singaporeans, and before that some Taiwanese all in rented vans and they all ask us the same question – where do you get rid of your garbage? It’s actually hilarious because we all burst out laughing at how ridiculously difficult it is here. For an incredibly advanced country it is beyond belief that there is no formal “public” garbage collection system ( they do collect from businesses and residences – you just generally don’t see regular garbage cans on the street as you do in every other country). It’s actually hard to believe until you come here and experience just how difficult this is.
Dealing with officialdom/bureaucracy is another challenge – they can be incredibly strict and inflexible here. The failed visa extension request was but one example. Our issue last week in getting on a ferry involved a ferry worker telling me we were mere centimetres over a pricing threshold and would need to pay extra. We were not, and this had NEVER been an issue on any other ferry or RoRo vessel ( and we’ve been on many!), but no amount of moral/logic/previous ferry history/reasonability arguing was going to sway this guy – they can just wear you down. Needless, pointless, but that is officialdom here. You cannot fight it. I should have known better – it was not my first time 😔.
So that’s about it for daily travel gripes here – pretty minor, really, in the scheme of things.
What’s Amazing About Japan?
Here I could fill a book.
1. Camping – is so easy. Almost without exception you can find a safe, flat, clean spot to camp for the night with clean toilets, and water available. Invariably at a MichiNoEki (roadside station ), but at times elsewhere as well. Removes a key stress element from travelling. There are few countries in the world where it is this easy.
2. People – incredibly welcoming, curious, friendly and generous ( more so than almost anywhere else ). People can’t do enough to help you and the government has rolled out so many things to make travel easy for foreigners – here, no complaints at all ! First class all the way.
3. Value – the Japanese have slayed inflation and prices have largely not changed in years ( decades in some cases – we know, we lived here 35 years ago ). Why can’t we manage that in Canada ? Next to no inflation here. No housing crisis here. Seems to be no ( material ) homelessness issue either. They are certainly doing a lot right. Japan is now excellent value where it was once always expensive. Food (always delicious), alcohol, restaurants, fuel, sights, all very reasonable. Expensive no more. As a result, tourism is exploding here – easy to see why.
4. The Sights – beauty lies everywhere here and seldom do we look when driving that something pretty can’t be seen. Nice.
5. OK, I could add many more things but I simply can’t ignore the public toilets ( since, as travellers, we use them often ). It’s unbelievable how the Japanese manage to consistently deliver the most perfectly clean ( and I mean, pristine ! ) public toilets everywhere you go. They are everywhere, they are well stocked, they are often heated, always with soap, always with electric hand dryers and ALWAYS spotless. They play music for you, the seats are heated, and you have a bidet option. Never, ever, any graffiti. They are incredible. You just don’t see that attention to detail in most other places, yet it seems to be a matter of civic pride here. If you happen to go early in the morning you can rest assured that the two toilet rolls ( always two rolls ) will be full and ( quite often ) the first sheets will have folded corners just like in a fancy hotel – I kid you not ! Yes, in a public toilet…
It was a long drive to get up here, and we dealt with a most frustratingly ridiculous issue getting our van on the ferry ( more on that later ), but once the door was lowered and we drove off the ramp into the streets of Hakodate, calm was restored and thoughts of where we might go and what we might do next came to the fore. Hokkaido, in Japanese terms anyway, is big and travel options are many !
Route so far in Hokkaido.
Most ferries to the island arrive in Hakodate and if that generally obscure city name rings a bell it’s with good reason – it captured global headlines and inflamed Cold War tensions way back in 1976 due to the defection of a certain Soviet Air Force pilot named Viktor Belenko. Viktor, you see, chose not just to defect, but brought his (then) state of the art MiG 25 with him ! Disillusioned with Soviet military life, he took off from Vladivostok on what was meant to be a routine training flight, then took his MiG 25 down to sea level and sped east to Hokkaido, eventually finding Hakodate airport, with just 30 seconds of fuel to spare. If an old Cold War story tickles your interest, read more about it here but it’s safe to say this pretty, small port city has not seen more excitement since !
We enjoyed a couple of days here and in the surrounding area. It’s an easy city to like- compact, with all the attractions close together, and a mountain backdrop that gives stunning views over the whole city and it’s impressive harbour. The sunny weather helped, weather which, over the coming weeks would sadly be rather scarce.
Waterfront district, HakodateSelfie, Hakodate.Scenic view of Hakodate.
Travelling initially east, then north along the coastal route took us through Mt. Esan, Mori and Oshamambe before turning away from the coast and heading up past Lake Toya to Hokkaido’s ski areas of Niseko ( hugely popular with Aussie skiers ) and Rusutsu. They, like Hakuba, surprised us by the fact that there was till some snow around.
Cape Esan, outdoor seaside onsen. Japanese surfers, near Mt. Esan.Jomon era archeological site, near Mori.Jomon ruins. They even provided an English speaking guide.At some locations you can cook from the thermally heated stoves!Scenic road near Niseko.Bumped into a nice Japanese couple in Niseko who had just bought this camper. They were curious about ours so we did the obligatory reciprocal inspections !Ditto.
Between the ski hills and Sapporo lay one of Japan’s most well-known onsen towns, Noboribetsu. Not only are the hot pools large, there are lots of them with a range of therapeutic qualities, all fed from the thermal activity underground. Noboribetsu was wonderful, and the pools amazing – just one of those places where it all came together; nice weather, great walks, fantastic hot pools, great food and a wonderful place to park up right in town arranged by a friendly parking guy sympathetic to the challenges of finding same in places like Noboribetsu. To top it off we were fortunate to be there on the night of a very colorful local festival- icing on the cake!
Thermal area, Noboribetsu.Ditto.A wonderful night of music and dance, NoboribetsuStunning Lake Kuttara, Noboribetsu.
The drive on to Sapporo took us through some of the area’s prettiest lakes, made more enjoyable by another of our rare sunny days – sadly, not to last. Sapporo itself surprised us – much bigger than we thought but easy to navigate since it ( along with a few other Hokkaido cities ) is on a conventional “grid” layout not commonly seen elsewhere in Japan. Among other sights, a real highlight in Sapporo was the chance to tour the Sapporo Brewery and learn about the history of beer in Japan – actually quite fascinating !
Historic Clocktower, Sapporo.Downtown Sapporo.Downtown Sapporo.Hokkaido Jingu ( Shrine ), Sapporo.Kimono clad Japanese ladies, Sapporo.Sapporo Beer factory.Sapporo Beer Museum 😊.
From Sapporo the next stage of our Hokkaido adventure takes us to Japan’s northern extremity, Wakkanai.
The added bonus of making our way up to Kanazawa, while otherwise quite out of the way, was the fact that we were now at the base of the Noto peninsula, a region of Japan especially popular for its scenery, historic thatched-roof housing, and some of the country’s best lacquerware production ( among other traditional crafts). The plan from here was to explore Noto, leave the west coast to divert inland through the Japan Alps, and then make a beeline up the northwest coast of Honshu for the ferry crossing to Hokkaido. Most of this worked out well, some – not quite so well ! Read on….
Our route north.
Not far up the western side of Noto ( shown as “A” on the map above ) we started to notice some strange things on the landscape. The roads were quite severely buckled in places, and the further north we went the more buckled they became. In other places, the electrical poles were not standing vertical and then in many areas there was damage to the roofs of houses which had been temporarily repaired with blue tarpaulins. Suddenly, not the kind of precisely manicured homes and landscapes we had become accustomed to in Japan. Then, it dawned on us, there must have been an earthquake in this area. In fact, a quick Google search revealed there was a very severe earthquake back on January 1st, killing almost 300 people- we had, quite by chance, just stumbled onto this, and there was still a significant amount of un-repaired damage. Once we realized it, we felt quite guilty that we were even in the area. After a brief visit to the city of Wajima, and learning that roads further north were in any event cut, we simply headed back down the peninsula and made our way towards the Japan Alps, where we were looking forward to exploring Nagano, Hakuba, and the castle city of Matsumoto.
Coastal scenery, Noto Peninsula.Earthquake damage, Noto Peninsula.Some houses were affected, some not. One on the left of the picture was flattened while houses nearby were untouched.Others completely flattened.Terraced rice fields near Wajima.
While it’s not ski season here, the Japan Alps is a beautiful region any time of year, and we did want to scope out the area with a view to one day returning for a ski trip. Hakuba was definitely the pick for us – compared to Nagano, just a little smaller, a much more local feel, and we just happened to have better visibility of the high peaks while we were there. A very slight detour between the two cities leads one to the famous castle town of Matsumoto, a worthwhile detour since this castle is black in contrast to most of the Japanese castles, which are white. While in the region, we took the opportunity to challenge the Shibu – Toge Pass, which at 2127m is the highest in the Japan Alps ( in fact, the highest point you can drive in the whole country ). We had heard the views were worth the merciless grind to the top – indeed, it was a bit of a grind getting the big van up there but once up the views made it all worthwhile . Caught up with a bunch of Japanese motorcyclists who had just done the trip on their exotic European bikes – they were soaking in the view when we arrived. It would definitely have been more fun ( and much easier ! ) to do it on a big Moto Guzzi, or Ducati, than a Sprinter van !
Shibu- Toge Pass, near Nagano at 2,172m. A hard climb and cold up there !The Shibu-Toge Pass ( highest pass in the Japan Alps ) is a favourite for motorcyclists. Here admiring a couple of exotic European bikes and nice Kawasaki. Getting to the top was much easier for them !View to the Japan Alps from our camp spot in Hakuba, one of our best.We were surprised to see this much snow in June.Ditto.Matsumoto-jo, the black castle.European style alpine village, Shiga Kogen, Japan Alps. Passed by on the way to Shibu-Toge Pass.
Once through the alps, and after a few short hikes, it was pretty much just a few days of solid driving, mostly along the coast, up through the city of Niigata and Akita ( from where the eponymous dog breed originated ), before reaching Aomori at the very top of Honshu. The shortest ferry to Hokkaido actually left from Oma, further north again, so we made the trek up there. It had been very windy and we figured the shorter the sea crossing the more comfortable it might be. Interesting to observe a very, very distinct change in housing style and urban landscapes as we reached northern Honshu ( a trend that would be even more evident once we got to Hokkaido ); streets became wider, sidewalks began to appear where previously there were none, farms grew larger, and the houses began to look far less traditionally Japanese; in fact, we both commented that, were we not actually in Japan, one could be excused for thinking you were now in another country ( yes, it changed that much ).
Coastal scene, near Oma.
We’d heard great things about Hokkaido and the changing landscape in Northern Honshu only intrigued us as to what more was to come once we got off the ferry in Hakodate. More on our arrival in Hokkaido in the following blog.
Till next week….
PS: Oh, and a short video clip of the week. Enjoy…!
First port of call as we arrived back on the main island of Honshu was the city of Hiroshima. Known the world over for that fateful day on August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped, it has since grown into a thriving and vibrant city ( if you have a Mazda car, they are made here ).
A Bomb Dome, Hiroshima.Street life in Hiroshima prior to August 6, 1945.The day after….Peace Park, Hiroshima.
Despite the attractions of nearby Miyajima and other area sites it’s the very well done Peace Museum that brings visitors in droves – it was absolutely packed the day we were there but it’s extremely well organized and they can handle the crowds easily. We noticed it’s been updated and expanded over the years and there are a few displays we noticed this time that we’ve never seen before. It really is an eye-opening experience to visit this site. We always leave with a little prayer, in the hope that the world never sees another city hit with an atomic bomb.
Nearby Miyajima Island is known for the beautiful orange/red Tori gate that sits just offshore and is possibly the most photographed subject in Japan – well, right up there with Kinkaku-ji anyway ! The island is very pretty with quaint stores and has a very interesting history.
Tori gate, Miyajima.Ditto.Shrine, Miyajima.A particularly nice camping spot, in the trees, right by the marina, near Miyajima.
From Hiroshima, our travels took us back in an easterly direction along the very congested, southern shore of Western Honshu, basically following Route 2 all the way to Japan’s most famous, and indisputably most beautiful, castle in the city of Himeji. It’s the kind of castle that just captivates you at first glance and is immaculately well-maintained throughout. Predictably it was a very busy day there, and once again, we were astounded by the number of ( obviously ) foreign tourists we saw – literally as many foreigners as there were Japanese. Added to the appeal of Himeji was the fact that it was an absolutely perfect day to enjoy it and photograph it.
Kurashiki, a small city just east of Himeji, is renowned for its well kept village area, so we made time to explore it – embarrassing to say it’s less than an hour from Kobe and we’d never visited during our time living here. Well worth a stop…!
Kurashiki’s fame and wealth was built by cotton merchants whose large homes are nicely restored.Delightful willow-lined canals of Kurashiki.Lois, backstreets of Kurashiki.En route to Kurashiki we connected with Min, a young Korean traveller who was motorcycling around Japan – we had first met on the Korea to Japan ferry.
Fortunately, since our last ( flying ) visit we’d sorted out some longer term parking in Kobe ( so we could stay a while this time ! ). In so doing, we sort of “killed two birds with one stone”, as it were. During the last blog, I mentioned that our inquiries about a Japanese visa extension got us nowhere while we were in Shikoku, so it was time to look at a “plan B”. A short return trip outside the country would restart our 90 day visa. While we feel three months will be an adequate amount of time to explore all that we want to see in Japan, we cannot count on a ship being available for our vehicle exactly when our travels finish. That could take some weeks, so we definitely needed a little more time in the country. Parked up at Kobe airport ( which allowed us time to revisit the city), it was an easy and quick 90 minute flight to Seoul – and very nice to have a wonderful night there in a nice hotel. Back in Japan the next day.
Kobe’s trendy Kitanocho district.One of the historic foreign residences at Kobe’s Ijinkan. As one of Japan’s earliest cities to open to foreign trade in the mid 1800’s, Kobe has a foreign ambience that attracts many Japanese tourists.Downtown Kobe.Seoul’s enormous and modern airport. Everything super fast and easy here.
On the road again, our final destination for this week was Kanazawa. Located on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, and right at the base of the Noto Peninsula, Kanazawa is home to what is widely considered Japan’s most beautiful Japanese garden – KenRokuen. Indeed, the garden is spectacular and we’d have to agree with the Lonely Planet author’s assessment, placing it just above Ritsurin Park in Shikoku. Splitting hairs, though, I suppose – both are pretty awesome !
The historic fishing village of Obama, just south of Kanazawa.Exploring Kanazawa’s backstreets ( old town ) and stumbled across this most awkwardly named cafe.Ok, we give up. In Japan our van is just always going to be classified as a “bus” ( certainly, based on size at least ) 😔. One benefit is you sometimes get preferred parking ( undercover, no less ! ) right near the attraction ( here in Kanazawa ).Kenrokuen, Kanazawa.Ditto.Ditto.
Hopefully the route that ultimately leads us to Hokkaido will provide an opportunity for us to revisit Kobe given our short time there this go around, but for now the smallest of Japan’s four main islands lays ahead – Shikoku. Probably the most overlooked ( and hence least travelled ) of Japan’s big four islands, Shikoku certainly lacks the more recognizable attractions of the other three. It’s predominantly rural (making it a bit easier to navigate), but still boasts one of Japan’s top three gardens, a highly regarded castle, and some of the wildest coastline in the country – we decided it was worth the detour.
Route through Shikoku.
Leaving Kobe to the west one does not drive very far until the amazing new Akashi bridge comes into view – it connects the Honshu mainland to the island of Awaji, which in turn forms a land bridge between Honshu and the island of Shikoku. The bridge itself is a world-renowned feat of engineering and is truly stunning just to look at. It was a particularly windy day as we crossed, and the combination of being so high up, the gusting winds, and the high profile of our van design made for a bit of a wobbly crossing. At the south end of Awaji island, where tidal waters rush in and out of the Inland Sea, one can observe the whirlpools of Naruto. These become very intense at high and low tide and attract many tourists. Unfortunately they were not at their most intense as we passed by , although we did venture up to the lookout just to take in what is a pretty impressive view of the surrounding landscape and the immense bridge itself. Memorably, we spent one night camping on the island of Awaji at a beautiful beach-side spot along with a dozen other local campers, and experienced one of the best sunsets we’ve seen so far in Japan – a little bonus we had not expected.
Bridge over the Straits of Naruto, unfortunately we did not cross near high/low tide so the whirlpools were not strong.Perhaps this is why our van is considered so large in Japan. A “small” camper here is really small -this one seen near NarutoSunset, Gungeko seaside park, Awaji Island.
A couple of other smaller bridges connect Naruto to mainland Shikoku. One normally arrives in the Takamatsu area next but we detoured southwest to Awa to the “Earth Pillars”an attraction supposedly similar to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon in the US. Well, if there was a resemblance, it was only passing- they are simply not on the same scale. Fortunately, it was not a significant detour that we made.
Awa earth pillars. These were somewhat over-rated we felt. We were more impressed by the nearby Bando POW camp that we stumbled upon while driving to Awa.
En route to the earth pillars, and quite by chance, we stumbled upon an unusual (and I suspect little known) historical WW1 memorial. History buffs will know that Japan actually fought on the side of the allies in World War1, so when 3,900 German soldiers ( who were protecting German settlements in China ) were taken prisoner during the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914, it was left to the Japanese to find a place to house them somewhere in Japan. The Bando Prisoner of War camp, near Takamatsu, was the largest of such camps, holding over 1,000 soldiers. It’s a little known quirk of World War I history that I didn’t know about and found it fascinating to walk around the ruins of the camp and talk to a couple of local Japanese who appear to be maintaining it. Click on the link here for more details on this rather interesting story. Two things stood out for me; firstly, how well they were treated ( in stark contrast to prisoners in the next war ) and secondly, the fact that over 170 of them chose to settle permanently in Japan after WW1 where their descendants live to this day.
Arguably Shikoku’s primary attraction, stunning Ritsurin Koen( Park ) more than compensated for the disappointment of the earth pillars. We’d both seen it before, long ago, but enjoyed it just as much this time and it is still as beautiful as ever. Of all the tourists we saw in the week we spent on Shikoku, 90% of them were probably at this location – it’s that well known here.
A pilgrim we met travelling ( on foot ) to Shikoku’s 88 revered Buddhist temples. One sees many of them walking by the road all over Shikoku, dressed in a white coat, familiar conical hat and a walking stick. Over 150,000 people a year are thought to do the 1200 km circuit that rings the island. It’s known as the Shikoku Henro.Shikoku Henro Route.Ritsurin Koen, Takamatsu.Ditto.While parked at a Michi no Eki in Takamatsu a fellow traveller, camping nearby for the night, approached us, introduced himself, and INSISTED we accept this giant bottle of sake as a gift. He just liked our van and was impressed that we had shipped it to Japan. We’d never met before and likely never will again – this has now happened three times. Moderately embarrassing but very typical of spontaneous Japanese hospitality and generosity.Vine Bridge, Central Shikoku.Selfie, Vine Bridge.Vine Bridge.
South west of Takamatsu Route 32 takes travelers through the Yoshino River valley, a particularly scenic stretch of road with white water rapids tumbling through the bottom of the valley, 50 or 60m below the narrow road which clings to the mountain side in most places. Didn’t challenge the rapids, but we did detour east to the historic Vine Bridge that is a pitstop on most travellers’ journey through the centre of Shikoku. Another narrow, hilly, and very windy detour, but well worth it to see the area and walk on the bridge.
A calm section of the river along Route 32. It was a most intense green.
Over the next few days, we travelled south to Kochi, and then on down to Cape Ashizuri, famed for some of Shikoku’s best coastal scenery. Alas, photography moments were fleeting here as rain and drizzle interrupted quite a bit of this part of our journey. The good bits were great, but no matter where you are when it’s raining it’s hard to get excited about the scenery, pretty though it was.
Coastal view near Cape Ashizuri.Ashizuri lighthouse.
That all cleared up by the time we reached the west side of the island. Staying predominantly coastal, our route north took us via the cities of Uwajima ( where I was delighted to catch the Shidenkai Museum ). and Matsuyama where ( in a moment of sheer panic ) we could not locate our parked vehicle – it ended well, but it was frantic for a couple of hours ! Matsuyama, a pretty city and known for an impressive castle, was for us, one of those disaster travel days that come along every once in a while; the drama of not being able to find our vehicle, hours wasted at the immigration office ( only to be told a visa extension was not possible ) and finally missing a visit to the aforementioned Matsuyama castle as we found it closed having arrived late after wasting so much time on the other stuff ! Fortunately, so far anyway, such days have been rare.
The “Shidenkai” fighter plane, raised from the bay nearby in 1979 where it had rested since 1945 after ditching in the final months of WW2. Considered a better fighter than the more well-known “Zero”, which had become obsolete by that stage of the war.Shidenkai fighter.It was dusk by the time we located our van in Matsuyama. Never been so happy to see it !Lois, filling in paperwork for a visa extension. All for nought. No extensions unless we were sick in hospital, they said.As close as we would get to Matsuyama castle, sadly. Not a huge stress, since Japan’s most impressive castle ( Himeji ) was on our itinerary next week.
Part of the attraction of Shikoku is getting there ( and leaving ) via the interconnecting small islands that dot the Inland Sea so we chose that route out – in at the eastern end, out at the western end. Some impressively engineered bridges, a few scenic rural islands, and a short final ferry ride later we were back on the main Island of Honshu at the port of Mihara. Much more of Honshu to come !
Rest stop at a Roadside Station on Ikuchi island as we made our way across the island/bridge chain connecting Shikoku to Honshu at the western end of Shikoku.A rarity in Japan ! While one can dispose of recycling “garbage” ( plastic bottle, cans etc ) without much difficulty in Japan, it is unbelievably rare to see a simple garbage can ( for food waste, wrappers, fruit skins etc ). Here, the two on the end are for regular garbage. Hard to believe, but true. Absolutely EVERY camper we know of struggles with it. One traveller we know used to burn his garbage ! Yes, that hard to dispose of sometimes 😔.
And finally, a short video clip of our week, condensed into just over a minute. Enjoy…..
We are Lois and Jeff, of Kelowna, BC, Canada. Recently retired with a serious overlanding travel bug, we hit the road in our truck camper in May 2019, initially tackling the Pan American highway. The PanAm completed in April 2022, and truck camper sold, we plan to continue exploring again later in 2022 in our Sprinter 4×4!
