Site Overlay
Taisanji Temple

April itinerary in Japan Day 4 (Ehime Prefecture)

April itinerary in Japan Day 4 (Ehime Prefecture) (Thursday, April 21)   Table of contents 1. Taisanji Temple 2. Taihoji Temple 3. Bansuiso 4. Matsuyama Castle, Ishiteji Temple, Dogo Onsen (for 2020 visit)   1. Taisanji Temple I went to Taisanji Temple on the morning of April 21st (Thursday). The transportation from the Okaido where I was staying to Taisanji Temple is as follows. Depart city hall at 8:33,  Iyotetsu Bus “bound for the Driver’s License Center”,  arrive at Katamawari at 9:05,  Fare Yen 720 It takes about 15 minutes on foot from the Katamawari bus stop to the Taisanji main hall. It is a little over 5 minutes on foot to the Ninomon (Deva gate), which is a national important cultural property, but you need to walk a gentle slope for about 10 minutes from the Ninomon to the main hall of Taisanji Temple. The slope to the main hall gets tired when we walk. It was sung in a Buddhist pilgrim’s hymn as “If you go up to Taisan, you may sweat. No suffering shall later come the next life”. Ninomon (Deva gate) is an eight-legged gate built by Irimoya (building with a gabled, hipped roof), which wasread moreApril itinerary in Japan Day 4 (Ehime Prefecture)

Garyu

April itinerary in Japan Day 3 (Ehime Prefecture)

April itinerary in Japan Day 3 (Ehime Prefecture) (Wednesday, April 20)   Table of contents 1. Uwajima Historical Museum / Kabasaki Battery Site 2. Warei Shrine / Taga Shrine 3. Tensha-en Garden, Nanyo Gokoku Shrine, Kiya Ryokan 4. Uno-machi cityscape 5. Ozu cityscape 6. Uchiko cityscape   1. Uwajima Historical Museum / Kabasaki Battery Site In the morning of April 20th (Wednesday), I rented a bicycle at the Uwajima City Tourist Information Center “Shiroshita” and went around the city of Uwajima. I think that the rental cycle is the best because the distance for sightseeing in Uwajima city is too long to go around on foot and the number of buses is small for going around by bus. Uwajima City Tourist Information Center “Shiroshita” is a new facility that just opened in August 2021 at the entrance of Uwajima Castle. The rental cycle fee is Yen 2,000 a day for GIANT’s E-bike. The Uwajima Historical Museum has been relocated and used as a building built as the Uwajima Police Station in 1884. The light pink building creates a soft atmosphere that does not seem to be a former police station. The architectural style is pseudo-Western style architecture. It is aread moreApril itinerary in Japan Day 3 (Ehime Prefecture)

eel rice

April itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime Meal edition)

April itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime Meal edition) (Tuesday, April 19)   Table of contents 1. Sakoya 2. Yokoyama meat shop 3. Local cuisine “Hozumi-tei”   1. Sakoya I cycled from Nakamura Station on the downstream Shimanto River to Ekawasaki Station on the upstream from 8 am on April 19th (Tuesday). For breakfast, I had a rice bowl topped with grilled natural eel at “Sakoya”, which is a short distance across the Sada Chinka-bashi Bridge (Imanari Bridge). When I made a request to “eat the natural eel of the Shimanto River”, I was told “Sakoya” by the Shimanto City Tourism Association at Nakamura Station. “Sakoya” is open from 7:00 to 14:00, so we can have a a rice bowl topped with grilled natural eel as breakfast. Locals were eating breakfast such as ham and eggs at “Sakoya”. “Sakoya” goes to the Shimanto River every morning to catch natural eels, and if they cannot catch natural eels, they will provide farmed eels. Since eel fishing in the Shimanto River is limited to April 1st to September 30th, you can also eat Sakoya’s natural eels only from April to September. In the Shimanto River, river shrimp fishing can only beread moreApril itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime Meal edition)

rice field

April itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime)

April itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime) (Tuesday, April 19)   Table of contents 1. Shimanto River Cycling 2. Ekawasaki Station 3. Matsumaru Station 4. Okuuchi rice terraces (Yuzuriha rice terraces) 5. Uwajima Station 6. Uwajima Castle     1. Shimanto River Cycling I went cycling on the Shimanto River from 8 am on April 19th (Tuesday). It is a 42km long-distance cycling from Nakamura station downstream to Ekawasaki station upstream. It is exactly the same distance as the marathon course. Since it is a “luggage-free trip”, it is possible to cycle by dropping off (borrowing at Nakamura Station and returning at Ekawasaki Station).  The route goes upstream of the river, but the slope is so gentle that it didn’t bother me. It took three and a half hours. I thought there were other cyclists besides me, but I never saw them. I rented a bicycle at the Shimanto Tourism Association at Nakamura Station the day before for a fee of Yen 2,000 for 24 hours, so I was able to leave the hotel in the morning. The Shimanto River is the longest river in Shikoku with a total length of 196 km. It is the 11th longest riverread moreApril itinerary in Japan Day 2 (Kochi, Ehime)