Kochi Trips & Tours

Shikoku's southern province is a place where the Pacific crashes against dramatic capes, rivers run undammed, and the locals have a well-earned reputation as Japan's most enthusiastic drinkers. The Shimanto River, the country's last free-flowing waterway, is crossed by 47 low-slung bridges built without railings so floodwaters simply wash over them, a typically Kochi approach to coexisting with nature rather than fighting it. At Hirome Market, not far from the castle, stallholders sear thick slabs of bonito over roaring rice-straw flames and strangers wave you over to share tables and toast with crisp Tosa sake. Refusing isn’t an option! Sunday mornings belong to the Nichiyōichi, a kilometre-long street market that has run continuously since 1690, and a detour to Kitagawa Village reveals the only garden outside France legally bearing Monet’s name. This is the Japan that few visitors see, and it's all the better for it.