Overall Shikoku was awesome.

I wanted to experience "old Japan" in some sense and I found it in certain destinations on the island that sees far foreign fewer tourists than other places in Japan.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is fairly cool that connects to Shikoku from west of Kobe. I got off the highway at Awaji Island to visit a couple antique stores that are along the road on the east coast.

My daily goal was to drive a maximum of 3-4 hours and I had made an appointment with an art gallery owner below the city of Tokushima. I found a seaside hotel listing in Anan and in the review it was clear the area of and the hotel were not overly special but the 1/2 board meals were incredible.

So I was visiting the booking sites and was getting ready to book for +/- JPY 13k with only breakfast when I noticed a Japanese website with same hotel for JPY 8k with 1/2 board. Sort of funny I needed to figure out how to enter my name in Japanese characters but it worked.

All rooms at the hotel face the ocean in a semi-industrial area, the lady at reception spoke a few words of English, got me a room and some change for the laundry machines. The fresh sashimi set I was served was better than almost every other meal I had in Japan.

From there in had booked 2 nights at Sunriver Oboke which was one of my better hotel experiences during my trip, they went the 'extra mile' to help non-Japanese speakers understand the onsen and a 'cheat sheet' to understand your dishes at meals. I ordered 1/2 board here too.

When I drove from Anan to Oboke, I inadvertently took the back road and WOW, the craziest road (one-lane) I have ever driven anywhere that went over two mountains as I wanted to see the Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridges that were incredible and worth the detour.

This is an area where supposedly samurais had hidden after various battles and is extremely remote. On the road to Oboke you pass through Scarecrow Village (Nagoro) which is amusing.

The Japanese style rooms at Sunriver are huge but the bed is little more than a thin mattress on the floor with rice mats but there was a nice table and sitting area. There is one thermal bath that is outdoors on the roof and another larger one indoors.

Near Obokes there are a few observation platforms to see the natural phenomenon 'The Seas of Clouds' but unfortunately when I arrived at 6 AM, no luck seeing it. Later I drove to the trailhead and climbed up Mt Yahazu. I also hiked up the gorge, incredibly beautiful area. (to be continued........)

below

Enjoying your reports and photos.
You had no luck seeing clouds!

Shikoku continued.........

I went to Kochi from the Iya Valley area to visit a few shops and the local art museum which was basically under-whelmimg and to view the Kochi Castle.

Then I took the fantastic expressway (no toll) west towards Shimanto by way of Tosha-Taisho where I visited an antique shop. There was a sign with an arrow to Shimanto but little did I know this was another primitive one-lane mountain road for half the distance but gorgeous.

From Shimanto I drove to see the unique "submersible bridges" with no guardrails or ornamentation, so when it floods they just go under the water with no damage. The Shimanto River is one of the clearest / cleanest rivers in Japan and has no dams on it.

I continued on along the west coast up through Sukumo and Uwajima destined for Matsuyama, a remote corner of the island with beautiful wilderness areas and a quite decent road.

There were weekend festivities for the Obon holiday in Matsuyama, I attended dance / music festivals on both Friday and Saturday evenings as well as enjoying some top-notch tempura. The over-rated Ana Crowne Plaza was a great starting point for a hike up to the impressive castle grounds. The massage centers I visited there were the real deal, one day for a foot/leg massage and the next for back, shoulders and neck.

From there I drove up to Imabari where I had a riom booked and I drove out to both Saijo + Nihama where I visited some antique shops and an art gallery. Imabari was the perfect jumping off point for my drive throughout the stunning Setenaikai National Park spread over several islands connected by toll bridges. This is a huge destination for bicycle enthusiasts.

I drove the entire circumference of the first two islands beginning at 6 AM on the Obon holday Monday. On Omishima Island I purchased the 5-site cultural pass for the Modern Art Building (the best of them) Architecture center, sculpture garden, Calligraphy Museum and the local Art Museum in the main town, a bargain for +/- $10 and perfect for a drizzly day.

I caught the Obon holiday equivalent of the dragon boat races, with teams all in different bright coloured robes. Just outside the Art Museum, I noticed 20 people waiting in line to eat at this little fish restaurant so I went up and signed my name on the waiting list. 20 minutes later I had a fabulously fresh salmon rice bowl in this little dive restaurant, a very tasty value.

I continued on to conclude my Shikuko visit and stayed at the Vessel Hotel in Fukuyama (my favorite budget hotel on the trip).

Later I will write about my final week and return to Haneda.

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the one piece I really liked at the Kochi Art Museum

submersible bridge

Obon festival

tempura


Modern Art Omishima

Architecture Center

Dragon boat

Dragon boat 2

bicyclists not having fun


dive restaurant

salmon rice bowl

Shikoku was really the highlight of my trip.



The cities and larger towns on the main island Honshu must have more traffic lights per urban km than any other place in the world. I dreaded driving in cities and always picked a route to skirt larger urban areas.



I am not overly keen on tourist-y spots but I thought it was important to see the Himeji Castle both at night and in the day light. Quite a nice town, sort of artsy, lots of young people running around.



From Himeji I was working my way back to Haneda but had several days left to enjoy.



I visited another flea market outside Osaka and then continued on to my sort of splurge resort stay in



With one more stop in between at the town of I really enjoyed this rural road through this area/



This is a hotel right on the sea near a Shinto island monument and famous for their meals. I was surprised that few people were having dinner (part of my 1/2 board package).



The next morning I realized guests were there for the lavish breakfast buffet. Fresh fish, excellent Japaese-style dimsum, best selection of fruit I saw in Japan + all sorts of other interesting local dishes. Not quite as lavish as the The Peninsula or Shangri-la breakfast in HK but just as tasty.

There is a bridge in front of the resort leading to the little island with the Shinto monument which I toured and read the long history.



The hotel also had a wonderful thermal bath on the building roof overlooking the sea. The hotel rooms were the largest of anywhere I stayed in Japan with free parking



The toll road between x and y was much like the ‘aotobahn’ as some people were driving +/- 150 kph



My final night in Japan was at a R9 - The Yard Hotel where all rooms are shipping containers. This worked well for me as my car was filled with antiques and vintage items I bought that needed to be organized and packed in my luggage.



You can park directly in front of you room (20’ container), so it was easy to empty my car and then reload it in the morning.

You really got into the heart of Shikoku by taking those roads. Seems like there are a lot of unique highlights to discover all along the way.

Shikoku was really the highlight of my trip.

The cities and larger towns on the main island Honshu must have more traffic lights per urban km than any other place in the world. I dreaded driving in cities and always picked a route to skirt larger urban areas.

I am not overly keen on tourist-y spots but I thought it was important to see the Himeji Castle both at night and in the day light. Quite a nice town, sort of artsy, lots of young people running around.

From Himeji I was working my way back to Haneda but had several days left to enjoy.

I visited another flea market outside Osaka and then continued on to my sort of splurge resort stay at the Takeshima Hotel

With one more stop sort of between Kyoto and Nagoya at the town of IPA,I really enjoyed this rural road through that area that strangely had lots of places selling vintage wrist watches

The Takeshima Hotel is right on the sea near a Shinto island monument and famous for their meals. I was surprised that few people were having dinner (part of my 1/2 board package).

The next morning I realized guests were there for the lavish breakfast buffet. Fresh fish, excellent Japaese-style dimsum, best selection of fruit I saw in Japan + all sorts of other interesting local dishes. Not quite as lavish as the The Peninsula or Shangri-la breakfast in HK but just as tasty.

There is a bridge in front of the resort leading to the little island with the Shinto monument which I toured and read the long history.

The hotel also had a wonderful thermal bath on the building roof overlooking the sea. The hotel rooms were the largest of anywhere I stayed in Japan with free parking

The toll road between Hamamatsu and Yamenashi was much like the ‘aotobahn’ as some people were driving +/- 150 kph

My final night in Japan was at a R9 - The Yard Hotel where all rooms are shipping containers. This worked well for me as my car was filled with antiques and vintage items I bought that needed to be organized and packed in my luggage.

You can park directly in front of you room (20’ container), so it was easy to empty my car and then reload it in the morning.

Over 3 weeks my toll road / bridge bill was just under USD 200 which I thought was decent

Most of the hotels for single rooms were remarkably alike with the modular bathroom and small double beds regardless of the price paid

I will do a similar trip again in May or September 2026 but will start from Fukuoka or Hokkaido, was really a fascinating trip

Thank you for your reports! You give a different perspective of travel in Japan than we usually see on this site. Looks like you had a nice Japan experience.

I personally drive throughout the countrysides and hardly ever in the cities for the reasons you list. I prefer to travel the long distance in the comfort of the train or planes and leave the freeways to those who must use them.

Aloha!

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