8 Best Sights in Shikoku, Japan

Planted in honor of Kochi botanist Tomitaro Makino, this Eden-like valley of flowers and trees lies hidden atop Mt. Godaisan. Different trails for each season show off the best nature has to offer. Hours can disappear as you walk through the azaleas, camellias, chrysanthemums, and thousands of other plants in this huge and lovingly tended landscape. Don't miss the giant ferns, so big you can actually sit in them. You're encouraged to leave the paths and explore on your own—as Makino wrote, "to commune with nature we need to make ourselves free and jump into her." You'll find more of his quotes, recollections, philosophy, and drawings in a fascinating museum inside the park.

Buddhist pilgrims had been communing with nature in the garden of this austere mountaintop temple long before the giant ferns moved in next door at the Makino Botanical Garden. The garden, a registered National Treasure, dates from the 13th century. Its simple arrangement of ponds, rocks, and pine trees provides a soothing contrast to the vibrant foliage next door. The setting is particularly peaceful in the late afternoon. Linger at the temple a while, and you're likely to encounter white-clad Shingon Buddhist pilgrims visiting on their way around the island.

This arched red bridge is at the center of Kochi's best-known story, a tragic tale about a Buddhist priest caught buying a hairpin for a lover on this very spot. Several shops nearby sell hairpins these days, and you can go shopping for bargains in the area's twisting, tunneled arcades, and side streets. Locals come out to dine, drink, and chat in parks and at outdoor cafés around here until the wee hours. When the stores and bars finally close, there's always a ramen cart or two doing business on the sidewalk, so pull up a stool and dig in. Kochi people won't pay you much mind until you start talking to them, but many are affable and easy to engage.

The prefecture may be known for its great surfing and swimming beaches, but rocky Katsurahama Beach has other attractions. It's best known for its giant statue of the 19th-century political reformer Sakamoto Ryoma, Kochi's local-born hero, staring grimly out to sea from his big black pedestal. The view from a cliff-top shrine is great (moon-watching from this spot is depicted in many prints), and for history buffs there is a museum to Sakamoto Ryoma nearby. Get here by Kochi Kenkotsu bus (40 minutes) or My Yu bus (50 minutes) from Kochi Station.

West of downtown's markets and arcades you'll find barrel-chested Kochi Castle, whose feel is more rough-hewn and lived-in than that of other Japanese castles; maybe not surprising, as much of it remains intact from the 1600s. The view from the topmost watchtower is splendid, and walking up the enormous steps or through the receiving chambers, which today are filled with historical exhibits, is like being transported to the Edo period.

A surreal coastline awaits you at far-off Muroto. The road east from Kochi follows a rugged shoreline cut by inlets and indentations along a landscape out of Dr. Seuss, where the Pacific "Black Current" (kuroshio) has shaped enormous terraces going down to the sea. A concrete promenade lets you walk the farthest tip of sea-sculpted land, where detailed signs in English explain local geography and history.

Muroto Cape is a 2½-hour drive along the coast road. To get here by public transportation, take a 1¼-hour train ride to Nahari Station on the private Tosa-Kuroshio Gomen-Nahari Line (¥1,340), and a one-hour bus ride from there (¥1,200). The Muroto UNESCO Global Geopark website lists model courses for exploring the area.

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.

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.