Yurika-ji, Shido-ji & Shirayama Jinja

A day of travelling on the Kotoden electric railway system throughout Kagawa prefecture; its great value at 1200 Yen (about NZ$15) for a day pass, with three lines that go east, south and west of Takamatsu.

First stop was Yakuri and the Yakuri-ji Temple high up on Mt Goken. A pleasent 20 min hike from the Yakuri station takes you to the cute little cable car that traverses up the steep mountainside in little blue and red cars. Apparently they were modelled after the first Bullet Trains as they were buiilt the same year... but the resemblance escapes me :-)

Yakuri-ji is a wonderful temple nd yet again I am pretty much the only tourist with most visitors being pilgrims in thier distinctive white clothes, walking sticks and conical bamboo hats. Mt Goken towers above the buildings of the Temple complex and the views out across Sanuki are tremendous.

Further west along the coast I travel to Shido a small fishing port with a another Temple... and yes you guessed it, it's called Shido-ji. A lovely zen rock garden and tea house are its main attractions and there is a large pagoda and there are hundreds of buddhas everywhere.

Next I travelled back to takamatsu and visited Takamatsu Castle before heading off to Shirayama where I had heard there was a really nice Shrine at the foot of Shirayama Mountain which is known locally as Little Fuji because of its shape. There are walking tracks right up and around the mountain and it is out in a relatively rural area so I enjoy some hiking up the trails. I only saw a couple of other people here and they were locals.

People are so friendly here in Japan and always keen to try out thier English on a foriegner. Even if they don't speak English much gesticulating, laughter and my few words of Japanese are enough to get by.

I really like this part of Japan... a hidden gem.Read more