5 Days in Shikoku 2026: Naoshima, Iya Valley & Dogo Onsen Itinerary

Shikoku · 5-day route

By Nobu · Updated October 2026

Most first-time visitors to Japan never make it to Shikoku. The four-prefecture island sits south of Honshu, close enough to see from Okayama on a clear day, and somehow stays off almost every itinerary I read. I’ve crossed onto Shikoku six times now — by car, by train, once by bicycle from Onomichi over the Shimanami Kaido — and what surprises me each time is how complete the experience feels. Five days is enough for the four headline places (Naoshima, Kotohira, Iya Valley, Matsuyama–Dogo) and still finish on the Pacific side in Kochi. This is the route I’d send a friend on.

One thing I always tell people before they go: Shikoku rewards patience. The buses are infrequent. Shikoku has no shinkansen; you leave it at Okayama. There is no metro. But that slowness is the point — the island runs on its own schedule, and somewhere around day three you stop checking your phone for the next train and just walk.

If you only have time for one of Japan’s “second” regions, I’d put Shikoku slightly above the alternatives. Festivals here are smaller and less filtered. The food (Sanuki udon, Iya soba, Kochi katsuo, Matsuyama mikan) tracks the prefectures one to one.

Day 1: Naoshima art island

Most people come into Shikoku from Tokyo or Osaka on the shinkansen to Okayama. From Okayama Station, the JR Uno Line runs south to Uno Port; the ferry from there to Miyanoura Port on Naoshima takes about 20 minutes. The foot-passenger fare went up from ¥300 to ¥370 on 1 February 2026. Starting from Takamatsu instead, the car ferry takes about an hour (¥680) and the high-speed boat is quicker (¥1,590).

What to see in one day

If you’d rather stay on the island, Benesse House lets its guests into the galleries late into the evening; rooms go early, so book well ahead, ideally on its own site.

Getting around the island

Bicycle rental is the standard move; several shops near Miyanoura Port rent regular and electric bikes. Naoshima has more hills than the photos suggest. The town bus runs Miyanoura → Honmura → Tsutsuji-so for ¥100 a ride (coins), and the Benesse shuttle continues from Tsutsuji-so to the museums. Save energy for the museums — Chichu alone takes 90 minutes if you’re paying attention.

Where to sleep tonight

You have a choice. Stay on Naoshima (limited rooms, atmospheric, books out months ahead — Benesse House if budget allows, Tsutsujiso or a local minshuku if not). Or ferry back to Takamatsu for the night, which gives you a Sanuki udon dinner and an easier start to Day 2. I usually choose Takamatsu — the museum is the experience; Naoshima at night is quiet to the point of stillness.

If you spend that evening in Takamatsu and want a men’s haircut, LENGEN is a barber-style hair salon on a back street behind the Takamatsu Art Museum, in Kajiyamachi.

Day 2: Ritsurin Garden and Kotohira-gu’s 1,368 steps

Ritsurin Garden

Ritsurin was laid out over more than a century, begun under the Ikoma lords in the 1620s and finished by the Matsudaira lords of Takamatsu, and it is one of the few daimyo gardens that came through the Meiji era intact. It opens around sunrise — 6:00 in October, 6:30 in November, 5:30 from April to September — and the first hour is quiet. Admission is ¥500. Walk the south garden first: the Hiraihō hill view of the south pond and arched bridge is the postcard.

From JR Takamatsu Station, the JR Kotoku Line reaches Ritsurin-koen-kitaguchi in about 5 minutes, then it’s a 5-minute walk to the north gate. Kotoden’s Ritsurin-koen Station is the other option. Allow 90–120 minutes in the garden.

Lunch: Sanuki udon

Kagawa is the udon prefecture. Sanuki udon is firmer and chewier, usually self-served at counter shops where you take a bowl, add tempura from a tray, and pay ¥400–700. If you only have one bowl in Shikoku, have it here.

Kotohira-gu: the long walk up

By early afternoon, head south to Kotohira — JR (about an hour, some connections need a change at Tadotsu) or the Kotoden Kotohira Line from Takamatsu-Chikko (about 65 minutes). The town exists almost entirely for the shrine.

The walk to Kotohira-gu’s main shrine is 785 stone steps; to the inner shrine (Okusha) it’s 1,368. There’s no ropeway. Take it at your own pace — the climb is broken up by smaller shrines, a noh stage and benches. I’d budget two hours up and back to the main shrine, which looks out over the Sanuki plain.

The last 583 steps to the Okusha thin out fast. Most visitors stop at the main shrine; push on and you get the upper complex more or less to yourself.

Sleep in Kotohira if you’d rather wake up unrushed for Day 3 — the ryokan town below the shrine has good onsen options. If you want to slow down here, I’d stay at Kotohira Kadan, the 400-year-old ryokan in Kotohira, rather than rushing the steps as a day trip. Or go back to Takamatsu.

Day 3: Iya Valley

The Iya Valley is, in my opinion, the most striking landscape in Shikoku. It’s also the hardest to reach. There is no train, buses from Oboke Station are sparse, and the gorge roads are narrow enough that even Japanese drivers slow down. This is the day to switch to a rental car — pick one up in Takamatsu or near Awa-Ikeda.

Kazurabashi, the vine bridge

Rebuilt every three years from Actinidia arguta vines and reinforced with hidden steel cable, the Kazurabashi is one of three vine bridges left in Iya. The slats are spaced wide enough that you see the river below as you walk. The toll is ¥550 for adults, and crossing is one way — you walk back over the road bridge. The bridge is lit every evening from 19:00 to 21:30, but you can’t cross it at night.

Other stops on the gorge road

Where to sleep tonight

If your budget allows, this is the night to splurge on a ryokan. Hotel Iya Onsen is the best-known hotel in the gorge, and its riverside bath is the reason. Iya Bijin, a nine-room inn by the river where every room has its own open-air bath, is the alternative. If you’d rather drive on, Awa-Ikeda is the next train town with reliable accommodation.

Day 4: Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen

From Iya, work your way west to Matsuyama. By car it’s roughly three hours on the expressways. By train there’s no need to go back to Okayama: take JR from Awa-Ikeda to Tadotsu and change to a Yosan Line limited express for Matsuyama. Check the connection times on the day — trains are not frequent.

Matsuyama Castle

The castle was built in the early 1600s; the keep standing today was rebuilt in the Edo period and came through the 1945 bombing of Matsuyama. It is one of twelve original keeps left in Japan; the other castle towers you’ll see are modern rebuilds or new castle-style buildings, in wood or concrete. Take the ropeway or chairlift up Mt Katsuyama (¥520 return) or walk it in about 30 minutes. The keep costs ¥520 and is open 9:00–17:00 (to 17:30 in August, 16:30 in December and January; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed on the third Wednesday of December). Allow 90 minutes: steep wooden stairs, no lift.

Dogo Onsen Honkan

A 20-minute tram ride east brings you to Dogo Onsen Station; the bathhouse is a 5-minute walk through a covered arcade. Since 1 April 2026 trams cost ¥250 a ride in cash, or ¥230 with an IC card, and since 7 March 2026 they are no longer covered by the All Shikoku Rail Pass.

The Honkan reopened completely on 11 July 2024; the conservation work was formally completed that December. The simplest ticket is the Kami-no-Yu bath only: ¥700 for 60 minutes, 6:00–23:00. For ¥1,300 you also get a yukata, tea and a mat in the big second-floor hall, and the Tama-no-Yu second-floor package is ¥2,000, with a third-floor private room at ¥2,500. If the Honkan queue is long, Asuka-no-Yu (¥610, 6:00–23:00) and Tsubaki-no-Yu (¥500, 6:30–23:00) are a couple of minutes away. A three-bath ticket covering all of them costs ¥1,440 and is valid for two days.

Dinner: sea bream and mikan

Ehime is the citrus prefecture — mikan, iyokan, kawachi-bankan. For dinner, look for a kaiseki-style ryokan along the Dogo arcade or one of the seafood izakaya near Okaido that serve tai-meshi (sea bream rice). Matsuyama has two distinct versions of the dish, both worth ordering.

Day 5: Kochi castle, katsuo and Katsurahama

Last day. There’s no direct train between Matsuyama and Kochi, so the practical link is the Nangoku Express highway bus (about 2 hours 45 minutes); by car it’s about the same on the Matsuyama and Kochi expressways. Kochi is the most distant of the four prefectural capitals from the rest of Japan, and it shows: a slower rhythm, a wider main street, and a culture centred on its harbour and its history of dissent.

Kochi Castle

Japan has twelve castle keeps that survive from before the Meiji era. Kochi is the only one that also keeps its honmaru-goten, the lord’s residence, and you can walk through both. Admission is ¥500 (free under 18), 9:00–17:00 with last entry at 16:30, closed 26 December–1 January. Allow 90 minutes; the view from the top is the best in the city. More detail in our Kochi Castle guide.

Lunch at Hirome Market

A 5-minute walk from the castle gate is Hirome Market, a covered hall of around fifty food and produce stalls. Come for katsuo no tataki: bonito loin held over a straw fire for about 30 seconds, long enough to sear and smoke the outside and leave the inside raw. Myojinmaru is the most famous stall and does it in front of you. Eat it the local way, with sliced raw garlic and sea salt rather than soy. The hall opens 10:00–23:00 Monday to Saturday and 9:00–23:00 on Sunday; individual stalls keep their own hours.

Katsurahama and the Ryoma statue

The MY Yu Bus sightseeing loop runs from Kochi Station. Its Katsurahama day ticket (¥1,300) also covers city trams within the flat-fare zone and a one-way ride on the regular Tosaden bus to Katsurahama.

Sakamoto Ryoma (1836–1867) was the samurai who did as much as anyone to broker the alliance that ended the Tokugawa shogunate. The statue at Katsurahama, put up in 1928, looks south over the ocean he kept urging Japan to reckon with. It’s free. The beach isn’t for swimming (rough surf, strong currents), but the walk along the headland is half an hour well spent.

Heading home

From Kochi, the simplest exit by rail is the JR Nanpu limited express to Okayama (about 2.5 hours), then the shinkansen. Kochi Ryoma Airport has direct flights to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Itami and Fukuoka. If you’re heading to Tokyo, the flight (about 80 minutes) is far faster than the train.

What it costs

Per person, in yen, for four nights. These are rough planning numbers, not quotes.

Frequently asked questions

— Nobu, who has crossed onto Shikoku six times and keeps going back.

Sources: Benesse Art Site Naoshima and naoshima.net (2026 visitor guides), Shikoku Transport Bureau ferry fare notice (Nov 2025), Ritsurin Garden, Miyoshi City Tourism, Dogo Onsen (dogo.jp), Kochi Castle, Hirome Market, JR Shikoku pass notices (Oct 2025, Aug 2026), Iyotetsu and Kotoden fare notices (2026), Matsuyama Castle.