7 Days on Japan's Smallest Main Island | Shikoku

[Music] hello world i'm in shikoku which is the smallest of japan's four main islands i'm starting off my trip in kochi right on the nyota river [Music] something that really captivates me about the place is that you can experience such a variety of geography and activities in such a compact area for example kayaking on a sunny day the waters are a color they call nyodo blue but despite the fog the area was beautiful nonetheless at night we did some kind of version of camping they were in wooden container houses complete with air conditioning heating water and electricity hello and because it's japan they also had a barbecue to rent so barbecue we did despite the rain [Music] in the morning we woke up to a view of the nyota river fed by the mountains all around us my son shin and i decided to explore a unique feature of the area a submersible bridge the bridges are designed with no side rails so as to minimize the chance that it washes away during floods it was such a literal and figurative breath of fresh air to be able to play around in nature like this not having to be cautious about traffic not having to worry about bugging other people it was also a fun chance to practice my drone's tracking abilities [Music] what i find about a lot of nature in japan is that it's so easily accessible and interesting spots are so close together as an example on the way to our next stop yes gorge we came across this little shrine built into a large rock [Music] while the most popular season in japan is when the cherry blossoms bloom in the spring koyo our autumn leaves are probably not far behind it's easy to understand why so as i mentioned there are a lot of recommended tourist spots to visit which are indeed beautiful but they also attract the crowds like at nicobuchi so while it may feel quite enticing to just dive into the water and have a swim it's prohibited however if you trek just a bit off the beaten path like i did with my family a couple summers ago you can avoid the crowds the only caveat is that you generally need your own wheels as while public transportation is still quite good even in rural areas it can be infrequent and will bring you to where most people go which while fine on occasion is generally not conducive to bringing you to secluded areas another thing you'll find in these mountainous areas which is the majority of japan are dams if you're driving around you're virtually guaranteed to come across them and they usually have little parks or interpretive centers so another day another breakfast another gorgeous hike to be had this time at nakatsu gorge although i remember talking to my japanese teacher about hiking and it appears there's a bit of terminology difference between canada and japan in canada i think we'd call this a walk since virtually everything is paved and has stairs while in japan this is a hike what we call hiking in canada might be considered trekking in japan in any case the important thing is that the scenery along the hike slash walk was mesmerizing [Music] but something you won't see in canada are these tea fields like this experimental one [Music] and part and parcel of everything being so close in japan is that you get all the conveniences like great food at local stops what's slowly disappearing in japan are traditional crafts like paper making kochi is known as the number two producer of traditional japanese paper due to its clean water and kozo which is the paper mulberry tree however because the traditional way to make paper is time consuming and expensive kozo isn't farmed much nowadays so this paper maker's family has started planting their own kosovo [Music] wait i feel like i'm kidding i'm getting out of the temples [Music] like this difficult so it's kind it's going to be kind of training when you do this exercise exercising so this is you want do it you can do it but not to pour a lot on the plan while people like me can make their own and there are artists that come to take more immersive workshops a lot of the work here is for high-end uses like wallpaper for fancy hotels kochi in general is known for its wood so it's not surprising that an architect kengo kangokuma found the traditional wood-making techniques in the town of yusuhara and was inspired to create modern architecture using those traditional [Music] techniques the whole town is filled with examples of his work like the local community center and library [Music] while strolling around i thought the only thing missing in this gorgeous library is a cafe but lo and behold there was one tucked away into the corner i can just imagine the crowds if this place was located in tokyo city hall got in on the kengo kuma action as did the town's roadside stop what was surprising to me was the place even had rooms you could stay in [Music] what will most likely be the most recognizable kengo kuma building is located in tokyo though as his firm designed the japan national stadium [Music] in the morning after eating in the hotel designed by kangokuma we left the town of yusuhara but not before capturing an aerial view of the library community center and roadside stop [Music] we ended up eating lunch in oboke and met an eccentric owner who taught me that slow and steady is the way to grind your green team she also happened to have a couple of nameless dolls so my co-traveler from australia lucy gave her some suggestions so yes if you're an oboke don't be surprised to see a couple greg and lucy dolls and then as you do we traveled through the town of nagoro that had more scarecrows than humans in japanese they're called kakashi and at last count it was 300 of them to the remaining 27 [Music] humans remember how i mentioned that japanese hikes were more like canadian walks well if you can't handle the well-groomed pathways you could always just ride your way up the mountain like i did on the okuya monorail although at the speed it went i think i could have hiked about as fast [Music] [Music] i night was falling which came fairly early in the mountains we had one last stop which were the twin vine bridges of okuya kazurabashi it turns out it was the perfect time to visit as we had the place all to ourselves do you like bouncing bouncing up and down whoa okay okay good you let go [Music] thank you wow that was great service for the evening we got the privilege of staying in akominka which is a traditional japanese thatched farmhouse while it's over a hundred years old they've been renovated with all the modern amenities you'd expect that didn't stop us from smoking up the house using the irori while there was no restaurant at the kominka there was room service with a luxurious multi-course meal waiting for us what's in the box yes [Music] um [Music] [Music] the following morning on our way to our next destination we happen by a lonesome suspension bridge so i asked the driver yes we had a driver which is how i got the drone shots of the van to turn around and check it out [Music] and this is exactly what i mean when i say that everywhere you go in shikoku there's fascinating things to do this one a free-to-cross suspension bridge with no one around [Music] we were in the town of kotahira to climb up the most famous shrine in all of shikoku but first we needed like these koi to get fueled up so hambagu it was lunch was necessary as there was a 785 step climb ahead don't think it's gonna be that bad did these count right yeah so it's like spread out as i had a handler making sure the trip went smoothly i thought i'd test out her filming abilities i walk with you right but it's not tilting properly i can only see your legs oh yeah cool i feel like such an annoying vlogger slower slower slower okay okay i could get him floored a little bit because you're gonna hit the wall for the most part though it was just me setting the camera down walking away and then walking back to get it again jokes aside the steps weren't that bad and i rather enjoyed the pilgrimage up [Music] so if you look way off into the distance you can make up the bridges that span the seto inland sea which is where we were off to next and as i always say there's no better way to end off a day in japan than in onsen so we found ourselves on shoroshima island where apparently the octopuses are very very fresh [Music] you're just rocking off aren't you a nice feature of the inn we were staying at was the powered bikes so up to the top of a buddhist temple it was you're gonna be the featured cyclist [Music] yeah it turns out i suck at bell ringing but here's what it should look like [Music] okay it so happens that breakfast wasn't octopus but since the island is famous for olives we had lots of olive infused dishes for meals we even got to experience harvesting olives ourselves [Music] judging by the amount i collected in 30 minutes i'm fairly sure i would have been fired from the job of olive picker so if you just crush this it'll be oily oh i got oil on my oh wow really slowly okay continuing the food theme we visited a traditional soy sauce factory that uses wooden barrels with some being over a century old every once in a while they have to mix it up which is so satisfying to witness [Music] currently only one percent of japanese soy sauce is made this way and for decades after world war ii these barrels weren't made so the fifth generation owner of this soy sauce factory started building the barrels on his own and even started teaching others to make barrels as well [Applause] [Music] apparently 100 year old barrels don't last forever so this is his new wing [Music] [Music] the soy sauce by the way tastes amazing and if you put just a bit on ice cream it actually tastes like salted caramel [Music] so another day and it was another ferry this time to an even smaller island called megijima where pirates are said to have once inhabited the legendary momotaro aka peach boy is depicted fighting demons in the main cave what caught my attention is that all the artwork is created and maintained by students from schools in the nearby city of takamatsu also interesting was that this whole cave was carved out by people and even the scrapes on the ceiling were specifically made even though the cave is man-made the rock formations out in front of it are not from the top you're supposed to get an amazing view but today the clouds hit it from us in case you're wondering these giant walls are designed to protect the houses from the saltwater breeze the final stop of the trip was ogijima another small island known for its outdoor art installations for example this one's a giant octopus [Music] trap [Music] but what really put a smile on my face were the friendly cats [Music] one friendly feline even acted as a tour guide to the local shrine come here [Music] it's okay [Music] that there's actually a locally run association that takes care of the cats and one person even runs a cafe unlike the cat cafes you might find in tokyo this is free for the cats to come and go to as they please wow with an amazing view of the ocean and the setting sun i couldn't imagine a better way to end the trip [Music] thanks for watching see you next time [Music] peace [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Life Where I'm From

Views: 309,610

Keywords: Japanese nature, japan travel, shikoku, japanese culture, things to do in japan, shikoku guide, life where im from, lwif, japan, japanese island, japanese culture documentary, japanese culture and traditions

Id: iqTzEOvoOBQ

Length: 25min 16sec (1516 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 22 2021