Japan part 2

The main station in Takamatsu:

The two figures in hats are henru or pilgrims following a route that takes in 88 Buddhist temples round the island, including the two I have visited so far.

My next trip was a circuit to the east and back through the centre of the island. I first headed to Tokushima, travelling along the coast:

And then we threaded through narrow valleys and tunnels. Steeped wooded slopes would suddenly retreat and reveal small settlements with fields and terraces:

In Takushima I changed trains and direction and headed west inland along the Yoshino River valley:

This train sported a children's carriage:

Maybe a bit too bright for me ... apparently this is one of the Anpanman trains in honour of a local manga author Takashi Yanase creator of the Anpanman manga and anime for kids. After one more change and a short journey northwards I alighted at Kotohira which straddles the Kanakura River:

I intended to hike up to Kotahiro-Gū or as its known Konpira-San, a Shintō shrine dedicated to the deity of seafarers. Seemed a lot of other people had the same plan and we all had to run the gamut of umpteen tourist tat emporia for the first section of the walk up the 1368 steps. However peace soon reigned supreme and the views were good:

You can see how it seems that all the flat space has been built on. 

The shrine at the top:

Gate on the way down

View down the steps

The next day I made a short train journey to the suburbs of Takamatsu to climb up Mt Yashima. Not so many steps but a few more henru and plenty of bikes at the station:

There are a lot of people cycling and a large percentage of electric vehicles making the traffic relatively quiet. Various models of these compact cars seem very popular as you can have 3 rows of seats:

I have seen very few 'big' cars.

Excavated gateway of the ancient Yashima castle with view of Takamatsu.

Approaching the temple

Various shrines at the top

View over the Inland Sea towards the island of Honshu

On the lower slopes of the mountain is a museum village - Shikoku mara - tastefully made up of traditional buildings that were endangered and moved here from around the island to illustrate its history. As with many places traditional industries and practices have moved away and become highly mechanised. Here I learnt about soya sauce making, milling sugar cane and fishing for octopus.

Traditional thatched house

Sugar cane press powered by an ox

More upmarket house interior

Exquisite lighthouse ladder

Soy sauce jars

Soy sauce vats which had to be continually stirred for months

And then it was time to say goodbye to Takamatsu and head south through the centre of the island amid the cloud rising up the steep forested mountain sides, the train clinging to the slopes above the river or charging through the many tunnels on the way to Kochi.

Kochi is the largest city on the island with a population of around 300,000. It also has its castle. All but the gatehouse burnt down in 1727 and was then rebuilt in the same style. Good views too.

Finally caught up on the blog. There is really so much to take in here. Tomorrow I am taking one of the sight seeing trains which go slow and have outward facing seats so looking forward to that!