43 Best Sights in Shikoku, Japan

Two minutes on foot from Miyanoura Port is Japan's funkiest public bath (yu means “hot water”). Created by artist Shinro Ohtake, the bathhouse contains, among other things, an aircraft cockpit, the bottom of a ship, and an elephant statue sourced from a museum of erotica. Towels, shampoo, and soap are for sale inside; the pools themselves are gender-segregated.

You can hear the thunderous roar of the giant tidal whirlpools at Naruto Kaikyo (the Naruto Straits) long before you see them. When they come into sight, the contrast between peaceful sky and furious, frothing sea is striking. The whirlpools are formed when the changing tides force a huge volume of water through the narrow, rocky bottleneck. A glass-bottom promenade called Uzu-no-michi overlooks the pools from 45 meters (148 feet) up, though even safely behind glass it's sweat-inducing if you don't like heights, especially when the promenade vibrates as trains rattle over the bridge above. The view, however, is even better from the deck of a tour boat. A few companies with different-size vessels offer rides that cost between ¥1,500 and ¥2,500, but all of them are exhilarating. Two of the best boats are the Wonder Naruto and the smaller Aqua Eddy, both run by Naruto Kankou Kisen. The tide table on the promenade's website shows when the pools will be at their best.

About 1 km (½ mile) before buses from Naruto and Tokushima reach Naruto Park, they stop at this impressive and bewildering ceramic art museum. Its founders commissioned more than 1,000 faithful reproductions of Western-art masterpieces on ceramic panels, the concept being that while Picasso's painting Guernica or Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling may fade with time, ceramic reproductions of them will live on forever. Exhibits are arranged by era, from antiquity to modern times, and it's all there, from a Pompeian banquet scene to Rembrandt's self-portraits to Warhol's Marilyn x 100. Cumulatively, the artworks are a bit overwhelming, though certainly not forgettable. You won't forget the price either. The lofty admission price isn't for someone with a mere passing interest in art.

Omishima, three islands over from Imabari, is home to this expansive shrine. Founded in the 6th century, it honors the Shinto god of mountains, sea, and war. In the 8th century, victorious warriors started leaving their weaponry here after battle as thanks for divine favor. The museum on the shrine's grounds holds more than two-thirds of the nation's designated National Treasures in swords, spears, breastplates, and helmets.

During the turbulent times before the Meiji Restoration, Sakamoto Ryoma was a radical and a revolutionary. The political changes he instigated were enough to get him killed, as you'll learn in this museum jutting fabulously over the sand and surf near Katsurahama Beach. After seeing the blood-splashed screen from the room where he was assassinated, you'll finally know who the cowboyish samurai plastered on every street corner in Kochi is.

An open-air museum east of central Takamatsu, Shikoku Mura consists of traditional houses that have been relocated from around Shikoku. The park does a fabulous job of illustrating how life on Shikoku has changed throughout the centuries. You can enter Shikoku Mura by crossing a rickety vine bridge, or play it safe and use the sidewalk detour. The route through the park is clearly marked, and the information boards in English are thoughtful and thorough. The highlights include a village Kabuki theater relocated from Shodoshima Island, thatched-roof farmhouses from mountain villages, fishermen's huts, sugarcane-pressing sheds, and lighthouse-keepers' residences.

The prolific Osaka-born architect Tadao Ando designed the concrete-and-glass Shikoku Mura Gallery on-site. On a hill above the sugarcane-pressing shed, it looks as if shipped here from central Tokyo. Works by Renoir, Picasso, and Pierre Bonnard are displayed inside, but the showstopper is the outdoor water garden.

Visitors flock to this Shinto fertility shrine not far from the train station, though not necessarily to pray: Uwajima's infamous sex museum is located here. You can tell when you've arrived—no, that sculpture is not a giant squid. Just beyond it is the museum, called Deko Boko Jindou (literally, a shrine honoring "things that poke out, things that go in"). The three-floor collection is astonishing. It's best to leave the kids at the castle for this one, as they won't be admitted.

Two bulls literally lock horns in sumo-style contests whose origins in these parts date back at least to the 17th century. If you can make it here during one of the four annual tournaments, held on a Sunday in early January, early May, mid-August, and late October, you can experience these generally bloodless battles of muscle and will, which in recent years have been rebranded as "bull sumo" in English. Uwajima's bullfighting stadium is atop Mt. Maruyama (more of a hill than a mountain), a 30-minute walk or 10-minute cab ride from Uwajima Station.

Just northeast of Omori's Wax Workshop, this museum is an 18th-century town house that once belonged to a wealthy family and is now open to the public.

This wooden theater opened its doors in 1916, when the city was flush with cash. It has been putting on traditional Kabuki and Bunraku performances ever since. When no performances are scheduled, you can view the interior's revolving stage and trapdoors.

Built at the end of the 16th century, Uwajima-jo is one of the 12 castles remaining intact from the Edo era. Compared to Shikoku's Matsuyama Castle, the three-story main keep here is a very modest affair, but still worth a look for the samurai exhibits on display and the top-floor view back over Uwajima.

Iya's most famous feature is its trio of kazura-bashi (vine bridges) spanning its gorges. The most popular—referred to by most signs, maps, and locals simply as "Kazura-bashi"—is 20 minutes by car from Oboke Station. A less-visited pair are closer to Mt. Tsurugi. The bridges date back 800 years, to the aftermath of the momentous Gempei War, when the defeated Heike clan fled to these valleys after losing to the rival Minamoto clan. If the refugees were attacked, they could cut the vines at a moment's notice. These days, thin steel wires reinforce the precarious planks, and fresh vines are restrung every three years, but it still feels death-defying to cross the boards over the rivers. To visit Kazura-bashi, follow signs to it from Route 32 or Route 45. If you're driving, park in the cheaper lots up the hill. The tall waterfall down the path is free, but you'll pay to cross the bridge.

Spread over three floors, this playful modern facility celebrates the life and work of Japan's first great cartoonist, hometown boy Ryuichi Yokoyama. His most popular character, Fuku-chan, is still widely loved, as the crowds of schoolkids reading comics in the museum's free manga library will attest. The cartoons inspire and delight, and no language skill is required to enjoy most of the visual humor. Look through World War II propaganda cartoons (from the Japanese point of view), interactive print stations, dioramas, model railroads, and tons of comic strips.