Where to go in Shikoku Island

Few cities wear their history quite so comfortably as Matsuyama. Matsuyama Castle, one of only a dozen originals left standing in Japan, looks down from its hilltop perch over a town that still revolves around Dōgo Onsen, a hot spring so old it appears in eighth-century poetry and so atmospheric it's widely believed to have inspired the bathhouse in Spirited Away. The evening ritual here is worth savouring: slip into a yukata, clatter down the shopping arcade in wooden geta sandals, and soak in the alkaline waters. By day, the literary thread continues. The haiku poet Masaoka Shiki was born here, and Natsume Sōseki set his beloved novel, Botchan, amidst the city's streets. Beyond town, the beautifully preserved wax-merchant houses of Uchiko make for a lovely half-day interlude, and the Shimanami Kaido – 70 kilometres of island-hopping cycling across the Inland Sea – starts just up the road in Imabari.

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.

Kagawa's laid-back capital earns its keep as far more than a ferry terminal to the art islands. Ritsurin Garden, an exquisite stroll through 300-year old hand-pruned pines, is reason enough to linger and at its loveliest in the soft light just after the gates open at sunrise. From the port, boats slip across the Inland Sea to Naoshima, where Tadao Ando buried an entire museum underground to house five Monet Water Lilies in pure natural light, and to Teshima, home to what might be the most moving art space on the planet. Takamatsu is also proper udon country – Kagawa even rebranded itself the 'Udon Prefecture' and with 600-odd shops serving laden bowls, the only difficulty is choosing which queue to join before breakfast. Shodoshima island, a short ferry hop away, adds 400-year-old soy sauce breweries and olive groves to the mix. Delightful and delicious!