The famous onsen for healing injuries

In Edo Period, traveling was restricted for common people. However, they were allowed to go on pilgrimages to pray at remote temples or shrines. As a result, many people visited shrines and temples.
The visit to Ise Grand Shrine in Mie was the most popular. The second most popular destination for commoners was Kotohiragu in Kagawa. Kotohiragu is also known as Konpirasan, and is situated halfway up Mt. Zozu. It is the head shrine of Kotohira shrines and Konpira shrines across Japan. Kotohiragu has been a popular tourist site since the middle of Edo Period, with 4,000,000 visitors a year.

A flight of stone stairs symbolizing Kotohiragu

One of the characteristics of the shrine is the approach comprised of a flight of stone stairs: 785 steps to the main shrine and in total, 1368 steps to the rear shrine. As you begin your ascent, you will find quaint buildings such as doll shops, souvenir shops selling Sanuki Daruma, and inns on both sides of the approach. These shops and inns have attracted visitors for many years.

785 steps to the main shrine for a total of 1368 steps to the rear shrine

Once passed the street of shops, you will see the historic buildings and stone monuments such as Tomyodo that is an important tangible folk-cultural property, the drum tower built in 1710, and the monument with the haiku by Issa Kobayashi engraved on it.
The climb up 785 steps, or 1368 steps if you go to the rear shrine, is very difficult. But, there is a sense of accomplishment when you reach the main shrine with its observation deck where you can see the Great Seto Bridge and Sanuki Fuji (Mt. I’ino) beyond the Sanuki Plain.
Enjoy all 1368 steps, finding pleasure in the landscape between the main shrine and the rear shrine, a harmony of the old and new.

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Freshly made noodles

Someone said their ”udon” ”has an edge”. The key phrase means their noodle is sharply cut and solid. It is a proof of the freshness, and texture, and is very highly regarded.
Yamauchi Udon is extremely famous as one of the must-eat ”udon” shops in Sanuki. As many as 500 customers come to the shop despite its remote location on a country road by the mountains.

Squid tentacle tempura, a popular accompaniment to “udon” !

Yamauchi Udon serves handmade noodles. They use natural mountain water and boil the noodle in a large pot on a wood burning stove. Firewood helps cook the noodles thoroughly, resulting in Yamauchi’s special ”edgy” ”udon”. The popular combo at the shop is ”udon” accompanied by squid tentacle tempura. It has been the most popular for years among the many variations of tempura.
Nakata tried ”udon” making, receiving instructions about how to make Yamauchi’s original ”udon”. He looked pretty good as he used his entire body into forming the famous ”udon”. We definitely recommend a visit to Yamauchi Udon when in the Sanuki area.

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soy sauce brewery on Shodo Island

Shodo Island is famous for soy sauce and olives. It is an interesting resort island with a Mediterranean ambience, mingled with the subtle sweet scent of soy sauce from the soy sauce breweries. Yamaroku Soy Sauce has maintained the traditional brewery with cedar barrels, wood pillars, soil pathways, and earth floors. The small-scale soy sauce brewery uses large cedar barrels that are over 150 years old. The essential bacteria for soy sauce brewing, such as lactic acid bacteria and yeast, have seeped through the barrels. At the brewery, even the barrels, pillars and walls serve as important components of the ecosystem for bacteria.

Reality of the food industry

Yamaroku Soy Sauce welcomes visitors because Yasuo Yamamoto, the fifth-generation head, thinks a producer and consumers should interact with each other.
He worked for a ”tsukudani” (preserved food made by boiling ingredients in soy sauce) manufacturer as a salesperson after graduating from university. He learned that buyers tended to negotiate the prices down even when a manufacturer provided excellent products. The food industry put importance on cost: inexpensive food with a long shelf life in attractive packaging is preferred, even if it uses additives and chemical seasonings.
Yasuo decided to succeed the family’s brewery, questioning the situation of the food industry.

Face-to-face communication between the seller and the buyer

Soy sauce brewing only generates small earnings despite the labor and cost. A single cedar barrel costs as much as 5,000,000 yen. He decided to make his brewery open to the public so people could see what they were all about. He felt consumers would be more inclined to buy their soy sauce if they understood how the soy sauce was made, and they got to taste and smell the soy sauce before purchasing.
He believes face to face communication can build a good relationship between the manufacturer and consumer. He told us that thinking about the customer’s expressions added to their motivation and seemed to even enhance the taste.

Brewery tour experience and soy sauce sweets well received

The soy sauce brewery tour is very popular. Visitors can take a break after the tour to enjoy snacks using the soy sauce at Yamaroku Chaya, located next to the brewery. Popular items are soy sauce pudding and ice cream topped with soy sauce, both of which have an unexpected yet pleasant mix of salty and sweet flavors.

Preservation of traditional methods

Yamaroku Soy Sauce newly introduced 12 wood barrels in 2009. Not many soy sauce breweries add new barrels. Their barrels are very robust and last for several generations because they use quality wood. There are only four artisans who can make cedar barrels in Japan. The brewery got new barrels partly because they wanted to preserve the traditional method of producing soy sauce using barrels.
People know little about soy sauce brewing although it is a very familiar seasoning that is used daily. You may discover something new about soy sauce here.

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The only sake brewery on Shodo Island

Morikuni Shuzo was founded in 2005. The opening of the relatively new ”sake” brewery became a focus of attention because it was reviving local ”sake” brewing after 35 years.
Since the only ”sake” brewer closed, there were no ”sake” breweries for over a quarter century. The new ”sake” brewery gave great hope to Kagawa citizens as well as the islanders. Morikuni Shuzo was able to meet and exceed their expectations.

Spring water from Mt. Hoshigajo

Morikuni Shuzo used to make ”sake” under a different trade name at another location in Kagawa. Their ”sake” brewing business has continued for 140 years.
Why did they abandon their long history for Shodo Island? They have a simple answer. They wanted to make more delicious ”sake”.
Morikuni Shuzo is very particular about the water. The pure clean spring water on Mt. Hoshigajo at Shodo Island was the answer to their quest for quality water. Rice is important too. However, it is the water that draws out the deliciousness of rice. Good water enables the production of rich and exquisite ”sake”.

The gathering place

They opened Morikuni Forest Garrary (translator’s note: the spelling Garrary follows their website) to promote their ”sake” and other specialties of Shodo Island. The cafe and bar also helped draw people’s attention. The 70-year-old building used to be a food factory. It is a casual, retrospective yet modern space with an unusual, artsy atmosphere.

Shodo Island’s delicious food and sake

On the first floor, visitors can enjoy local ”sake” and food based on special products of the island. The gallery on the second floor is used for exhibitions and live events.
Today, many tourists come to Shodo Island to visit the cafe and bar. In the evening, the bar attracts local people as well as tourists. You should try the sake from Morikuni Shuzo that is popular on and off the island.

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Famous for Kamatama udon

Kamatama ”udon” is available all over Japan because of the Sanuki ”udon” boom. Mix ”udon” with an egg, and add ”dashi” and soy sauce. It is a standard item at ”udon” shops. Freshly boiled ”udon” should be served without washing (udon is usually washed after boiling). Mix well to completely coat the ”udon” with egg and ”dashi”. The slightly warmed egg, creating a perfectly mild taste.
The golden coloring from the egg yolk is visually attractive.
Kamatama ”udon” originated at Yamagoe Udon. They are famous for long lines of fans waiting to get inside. During Golden Week, there was a 1.5 km line of cars waiting to try the ”udon”. Only open from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm, customers form lines early in the morning. As a courtesy for their enthusiastic fans, the udon shop has umbrellas for rainy days, and straw hats for sunny summer days for customers as they walk from the parking lot to the shop.

Great tasting udon made on site

Originally, Yamagoe Udon is a noodle-making factory. The shop owner two generations back used to run a restaurant, but the previous owner converted the business into a noodle-making factory that sold noodles mainly to wholesalers. Since the Sanuki ”udon” boom in the 1990s, the shop began attracting many customers. At Yamagoe Udon, customers cook the noodles themselves, because it is not a restaurant but a factory. Choose a menu item. Add toppings. Make a payment. Then, go outside, pour ”dashi” and soy sauce over the ”udon”. Find a seat in the garden to enjoy.
Items are available for purchase to take home, such as uncooked ”udon” and a mixture of ”dashi” and soy sauce. Their products are also available for online purchase.
However, it’s best to visit the shop and enjoy very hot Kamatama ”udon”. The flow of customers is quite quick as it generally doesn’t take long to have a bowl of ”udon”. Don’t be discouraged by the long lines as it won’t take very long to get in.

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Large and Sweet! A product of coincidence

You may be surprised by a kiwi fruit costing 1000 yen. It is generally 100 yen or so at supermarkets, and yet this kiwi fruit sells for 1000 yen. It is Kiwi Bird from the farm run by Shimada.
Their kiwi fruits look entirely different from ordinary ones. It is about 1.5 times as large as Hayward, the dominant variety, and has a much higher intensity of sweetness.
Kiwi Bird is the Koryoku variety which was created by accident when a plant was raised from seed on an experimental farm in Kagawa. It was a chance seedling due to unintentional breeding.
Kiwi Bird is a product of chance, not cross breeding for breed improvement. There are other well known examples of chance seedling such as Nijisseiki pears and Kogyoku apples.

Carefully growing trees and keeping records

The sugar content of Koryoku is 14 to 15, which means the fruit is very sweet, compared with Hayward with a value of around 11.　Shimada conducted research at the kiwi fields day and night to further increase the sugar content. His efforts resulted in Koryoku with the extremely high sugar content of 18. That is Kiwi Bird.
The brand has become a popular gift item, gaining in popularity. It is very difficult to maintain the quality of the fruit. Shimada keeps cultivation records for each tree to ensure thorough quality control.
He also is involved in distribution and sales as well so that he can monitor the best condition of the fruits until they are delivered to the customer.
The delicious taste is addictive. We definitely recommend you try the meltingly delicious sweet kiwi fruits at least once.

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From a French restaurant to an auberge

The Taira clan was brought to an end at Yashima in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian Period. Yashima is a plateau with a flat top, facing the Seto Inland Sea. It is a popular tourist spot with a warm climate and beautiful landscape. A french cuisine chef runs Auberge de Oishi with five guestrooms at the bottom of Yashima. It used to be a French restaurant, which was converted into the auberge in 2005. The elegant inn overlooks the sea, and is surrounded by greenery. Guests can enjoy tranquility at the hotel, as if they were staying in a rural part of South France. The interior decoration of the guestrooms is simple, sophisticated and calming.

Superb cuisine based on local food

Their specialty is food because they are an auberge. The chef goes to the Uoshin market every morning to get the best seafood in Takamatsu. The restaurant keeps about 100 natural wines from France and other countries that do not include antioxidants or other additives. The sommelier will choose the most suitable wine for dishes or according to guests preferences.
They serve homemade bread and jam that preserves the natural taste of the ingredients. The honey they use is from the beekeeper Nakata Yohojo in Takamatsu. The chef prepares nouvelle cuisine based on seasonal ingredients from Yashima. Local people love to come to the restaurant to celebrate special occasions.
The auberge has carefully selected everything at the inn, such as furniture and amenity goods. Guestrooms do not have a TV, so guests can retain the soul of a traveler. (TVs are available on request.) The inn is perfect for those who want to relax in a minimalistic but luxurious space.

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Art Museum Built on a Hill on Naoshima Island

The Chichu Art Museum is located on the south side of Naoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea, across from Benesse House. Chichu Art Museum” may sound like a strange name, but the architecture immediately makes sense. As the name suggests, the entire facility is subterranean. In order not to affect the landscape, the above-ground portions of the building are kept to a minimum, with natural light coming in through the ceiling windows. The building was designed by Tadao Ando. Only the works of Claude Monet, Walter de Maria, and James Turrell are exhibited there, so that visitors can experience them as an integral part of the architecture and space.
One of the attractions of the museum is that although it is underground, it is well-lit, so visitors can view the works in natural light. The natural light allows the works to be seen in different ways at different times of the day, making this a rare museum where the space itself functions as art.

A leisurely tour of the museum

The first thing you see when you enter the museum is the ticket center. From the ticket center to the museum, a 70-meter stretch of “Monet’s Garden,” featuring plants favored by Monet, a painter who loved Japan, leads to the museum. This is a heartwarming way to experience the beauty of nature that Monet depicted in his paintings.
After passing Monet’s Garden, visitors descend deeper into the earth past a space cut squarely toward the sky and a concrete wall tilted at an angle, where Walter de Maria’s work appears in a somber atmosphere. A black sphere with an ever-changing expression from sunrise to sunset. After a short viewing of the works, visitors will be presented with James Turrell’s “Open Sky” and “Open Field,” both of which use light as a motif. The sky and the wall seem to merge into one, and the space seems to expand endlessly with no sense of perspective, a strange sensation. The two artists’ works were created simultaneously with the architecture, which explains why the space is used to its fullest.
The last room is the Monet Room. Five works from Monet’s final years, including “Waterlilies,” are quietly displayed in a space paved with white marble. In this museum, light, water, plants, and even birdsong are used as supporting elements to enhance the art. It is truly a museum where one can experience art with all five senses.

あわせて読みたい

“Benesse House” Spending time surrounded by art Fusion of an art museum and a hotel Nao Island is a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, full of artistic factors, such as Benesse House, Chichu Art Museum, …

あわせて読みたい

“The Art House Project” Art based on empty houses The art project on Nao Island On Nao Island, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, Benesse Holdings, Inc. and Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation have c…

The post Chichu Art Museum” on Naoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea, where you can experience art / Naoshima Town, Kagawa Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

The art project on Nao Island

On Nao Island, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, Benesse Holdings, Inc. and Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation have conducted various activities related to contemporary art.
The Art House Project is one of the activities that also includes Chichu Art Museum and Benesse House. (For more details of the facilities, see the related section.) The series is collectively called Benesse Art Site Naoshima.
The Art House Project is a permanent exhibition in the Honmura district on Nao Island.

Combination of art and empty houses in the village

To get a clear image of the project, imagine yourself as a resident of the village. All of the villagers have lived there for years, including you, and everyone is very familiar with the community. Some families have left the village and their houses are now vacant. The project uses the empty houses to create works of art.
In other words, the private houses are art pieces. Each piece incorporates a lived-in feel expressing the many years people spent in that house, filled with memories. The art are like members of the community.
Your daily life has not changed just because the empty houses have become art. However, if someone asks you for directions, you can show them the way. You can also help out with maintaining the art pieces. In Honmura, art is an integral part of everyday life.

Street and art coexist

In the Art House Project, all of the titles are taken from places you can find on a map: Kadoya, Minamidera, Kinza, Go’o Shrine, Ishibashi, Gokaisho, and Haisha. Kadoya is based on a 200-year-old building that was restored using plaster. Haisha (dentist in Japanese) uses a house with a dentist’s office that was decorated with sculptures and pictures. Go’o Shrine is a shrine that was founded in the Edo Period. The reconstruction work was an art project in which the flight of stairs to the main shrine was built with glass, and the staircase was designed to allow light to shine into the basement. The dramatic art pieces preserve tradition while introducing something new.
Many of the artwork look like ordinary houses, matching the landscape of the village. The work blends in so well, at first glance, it looks like just another rundown street.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you enter any of the art pieces, where a totally unexpected world awaits. The contradiction is cutting edge.

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Shimayado Mari, the Top Hot Springs Hotel in Western Japan

Shimayado Mari is an inn that stirs up nostalgic and heart-fluttering feelings of travel. The relaxed, laid-back atmosphere blends perfectly with the scenery of Shodoshima, a mountain range surrounded by blue skies. The inn offers three perfect features: courteous hospitality, comfortable and relaxing guest rooms, and kaiseki cuisine that makes the most of Shodoshima ‘s local soy sauce (a specialty of Shodoshima). It has been selected as the top hot spring hotel in “The Best Selection of Hot Spring Inns in Western Japan” published by Shobunsha.

Old private house designated as a cultural asset

The main building, a renovated 90-year-old private house, is a historic building designated as a cultural asset. The beams transferred from a soy sauce warehouse, the barrel baths in each room, and other subtle Shodoshima touches will soothe the hearts of travelers.
All of the eight guest rooms have different interiors. The names of the rooms are “Hishi,” “O,” “De,” “Momo,” “Te,” “Na,” “Su,” and “Satoh. Two of the rooms are detached, the “Hishi” room is in a renovated storehouse designated as a national tangible cultural property, and the “O” room is a two-story special room in a detached building with the largest area.

あわせて読みたい

Auberge de Oishi (translator’s note: the website of the auberge says Oishi, not Ooishi), serving … From a French restaurant to an auberge The Taira clan was brought to an end at Yashima in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian Period. Yashima is a plateau…

An old private house featuring “hishio” hospitality

As the name “Hishio de Omotenasato” (hospitality with Hishio) implies, the essence of “Shima Yado Mari” is “Shoyu Kaiseki” using Shodoshima’s specialty, soy sauce. Hishio” is an old Japanese reading of “shoyu,” or soy sauce. At Shima Yado Mari, soy sauce, which is supposed to play a supporting role in the cooking, is as much a part of the menu as the fresh fish, shellfish, and vegetables of the Seto Inland Sea. The dishes are accentuated by the “moromi,” which is made from soy sauce that has been re-fermented and the umami of the soybeans that have matured before the soy sauce is pressed. Many guests return to the inn to enjoy these dishes.
The inn also offers rental bicycles. The rental bicycles are Canadian “Luigano” sport bicycles, which are a heartwarming gadget that can make your trip even more wonderful.
The “Island Inn Mari” is filled with attention to detail throughout. It is a pleasant mix of history and tradition with fashionable lightness.

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