Travel to Kochi, Shikoku Island

We said goodbye to Awaji Island this morning and turned our sights to Kochi. This is on Shikoku Island, the smallest of Japan's four main islands. We want to visit Emi, who was one of our homestay students more than 30 years ago, so we've been friends for a looong time.

The trip took us over the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge again, without the fog this time, so we were able to see where we were going. Nice.

Shikoku is noted for its beautiful scenery, and we certainly saw that as we passed through the mountains and gorges on the way to Kochi.

We were surprised and excited to see a special train called Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari. The name means 'the middle of Shikoku 1,000 year story'. It is an elegant train and does scenic trips through the same mountains and gorges as we did, with a gourmet meal included.

Approaching Kochi, we saw a funny station master at a small station called Gomen, as you can see on his hat.Read more