Flowers and Gardens, Exploring Shikoku Island in Japan

I am finishing up spending a month in the small town of ~7,000 people called Kothira, which is also home to the oldest Kabuki theater in Japan! I came here for cherry blossom season and to continue my burn-out recovery away from huge cities. I can't really say if Kotohira was too small or not. It possibly was, but I made some good connections with the people staying and volunteering at Kotori Coworking and Hostel. I'd like to share some photos from that time.

Shrines of Kotohira

Walking up about 700 steps, through a narrow street of shops and tourists, you'll enter the shrine complex. It's not all one set of stairs, so it isn't as hard as it sounds. There are plenty of stops and places to see flowers and trees along the way. You also get a good view of the valley and mountains on the way up!

I thought that this section here was quite nice. The trees provided both shade from the sun, but the humidity made it even warmer. You tend to see clouds and fog around the tops of the mountains here! a portion of the stairs forming an L before continuing up

And look at this tree! I took it with the half zoom camera, so the proportions are a bit off. big tree with moss on the bottom

Some of the stairs looking down at some stairs with some tourists walking down

Here's the side of the main complex at the top.

Toward the bottom of the mountain, the Cherry Blossoms were just starting to come into bloom. white cherry blossoms pink cherry blossoms

And through the main gate at the front, you can see the whole valley view overlooking the valley with mountains in the background. The view is through the wooden front gate building with a white banner above the mountain view

Ritsurin Garden, Takamatsu

In another city, Takamatsu, about a 1 hour train ride from Kotohira is the famous Ritsurin Garden.

You might get lucky and get a cool train! blue painted train with yellow lightning or something

In addition to the main house and historical portion, there are a lot of small places to sit and enjoy the nature. You wouldn't even know you're in a city. small stone Japanese hut overlooking a pond

As the season was just beginning, tourists were beginning to pour in. It would get busier later. cherry blossom trees

white cherry blossoms across a stream. A couple has a pink umbrella to protect from the sun

a portion of the castle complex across the pond with Japanese styled trees looking like large bonsai

a closer view of the castle across the pond

walkway around the pond

on a small hill overlooking the pond with the building on the other side. A Japanese style bridge spans a narrower portion of the pond

gardeners trimming plants with large Japanese fan looking things in the ground for decoration

a pond full of reeds

I didn't capture half of the beauty of this park. I wish I had done better at taking photos. It's absolutely worth the trip!

In Takamatsu there are a few under-the-street crossings. This one had some cool decorations in it! decorative reflective wall with engraved constellation animals

artistic 3D relief of stylistic plants and mountains

That's all for today! I have many more photos to show of Cherry Blossoms for the next post!

#japan #travel #travelphotography #shikoku #kotohira #takamatsu #japanesegarden #garden #plants #flowers #cherryblossoms #sakura #nomad #digitalnomad #blog #photoblog #asia