Kagawa: Local Specialties, Souvenirs, Shrines & Temples, Sightseeing | Japan 47 Prefecture Guide
Kagawa is the smallest prefecture in Japan by area. And it gets little rain. Those two facts settled what people here eat.
Local Specialties
Sanuki udon: Kagawa ranks first in Japan both for household spending on udon and for shops per head of population.
Why udon? Too little rain for rice, so they grew wheat. Salt came from the Inland Sea saltpans. The soybeans for soy sauce were grown on Shodoshima. Wheat, salt, soy sauce, and iriko, the dried anchovy of the Inland Sea. Everything udon needs was within a few dozen kilometres. A speciality is not a miracle. It is a question of supply.
Olives, Shodoshima being one of the birthplaces of olive growing in Japan; Marugame fans; bone-in chicken; and wasanbon sugar.
Souvenirs
Half-dried udon, hand-stretched somen from Shodoshima, olive oil. And wasanbon sweets.
Wasanbon is said to take its name from wrapping the sugar in cloth, pressing it, and kneading it by hand on a tray three times over. The grain is fine, and it melts fast.
Sacred Sites | Shrines & Temples
Kotohiragu is the head shrine of Japan's Kotohira shrines (about 600 shrines). Motoyamaji holds National Treasures. 28 shrines and temples worth knowing in Kagawa.
Kotohiragu(Kotohira)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Head shrine of Kotohira shrines (about 600 shrines) / Blessings: safe voyages, business prosperity, good fortune
The approach runs 785 steps to the main shrine and 1,368 to the inner one. In the Edo period, when free travel was difficult, a Konpira pilgrimage was, like a visit to Ise, an accepted pretext for a journey. There was even the konpira-inu: if you could not go yourself, you sent a dog with an offering and a tag tied to it. The wish to travel borrowed the form of faith.
Zentsuji(Zentsuji)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 75 / head temple of the Shingon Zentsuji school / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Blessings: warding off misfortune, study and exams
Held to be the birthplace of Kukai. It sits near the end of the road that begins in Tokushima.
Yashimaji(Takamatsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 84 / Important Cultural Property / Takamatsu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
On top of Yashima, looking down on the old battlefield of the Genpei war.
Tamura Jinja(Takamatsu)Shinto shrine / Ichinomiya (first shrine) of Sanuki Province / Takamatsu / Blessings: warding off misfortune, good harvests
First shrine of Sanuki Province. A dragon is said to live in the bottomless pool in its grounds, and looking into it was held to bring a curse.
Negoroji(Takamatsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 82 / Important Cultural Property / Takamatsu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
A mountain temple on the circuit, carrying the legend of the ushi-oni. Also famous for autumn colour.
Izutama Jinja(Kotohira)Shinto shrine / Chusan / Blessings: mountain worship
The inner shrine. A tengu is carved into the cliff at 421 metres.
Omote Shoin(Kotohira)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Blessings: the performing arts
Wall paintings by Maruyama Okyo survive here.
Zentsuji Gojunoto(Zentsuji)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 75 / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Blessings: study and exams
The birthplace of Kukai. The pagoda stands 43 metres.
Shidoji(Sanuki)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 86 / Important Cultural Property / Tosan / Blessings: good catches
It carries the legend of the diving woman who retrieved the jewel, the setting of the Noh play Ama.
Okuboji(Sanuki)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 88 / Tosan / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The temple of fulfilment. Pilgrims leave their staffs here.
Zenigata Sunae(Kanonji)Shinto shrine / Seisan / Blessings: wealth
A huge sand drawing in the shape of a Kanei-tsuho coin. Seeing it is said to keep you from want of money.
Oku Shoin(Kotohira)Shinto shrine / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Blessings: the performing arts
Sliding-door paintings by Ito Jakuchu survive here.
Konzoji(Zentsuji)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 76 / Chusan / Blessings: safe childbirth
The birthplace of Chisho Daishi Enchin.
Doryuji(Tadotsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 77 / Chusan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Said to be good for ailments of the eye. More than two hundred Kannon figures stand in rows.
Goshoji(Utazu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 78 / Chusan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The only Ji-shu temple among the Shikoku sacred sites.
Tennoji(Sakaide)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 79 / Chusan / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
Where the body of the retired Emperor Sutoku was laid. A miwa-style torii stands here.
Shiromineji(Sakaide)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 81 / Important Cultural Property / Chusan / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
The tomb of the retired Emperor Sutoku is here. The setting of a tale in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari.
Sanuki Kokubunji(Takamatsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 80 / Important Cultural Property / Historic Site / Takamatsu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
The foundation stones from its founding survive, so the size of the old precinct can be read on the ground.
Ichinomiyaji(Takamatsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 83 / Takamatsu / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Put your head into the stone shrine, they say, and you will hear the cauldrons of hell.
Yakuriji(Takamatsu)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 85 / Takamatsu / Blessings: business prosperity
At the foot of Mount Goken. A cable car takes you up. A place of Kangiten worship.
Nagaoji(Sanuki)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 87 / Tosan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Said to be where Shizuka Gozen took the tonsure.
Kanonji(Kanonji)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temples No. 68 and 69 / Seisan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Two temples of the circuit within a single precinct. The only such case in Japan.
Motoyamaji(Mitoyo)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 70 / National Treasure / Seisan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Its main hall is a National Treasure. One of the few Shikoku temples with a five-storey pagoda.
Iyadaniji(Mitoyo)Buddhist temple / Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Temple No. 71 / Seisan / Blessings: rebirth and renewal
Held to be the mountain where the souls of the dead gather. Countless cliff Buddhas are carved into the rock face.
Gojunoto(Sanuki)Buddhist temple / Tosan / Blessings: good catches
It stands at the temple that carries the legend of the diving woman and the jewel.
Zozusan(Kotohira)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Chusan / Blessings: mountain worship
The mountain on which Kotohiragu stands. Its outline suggests an elephant's head.
Momoryo(Tadotsu)Utaki (Ryukyuan sacred grove) / Chusan / Blessings: safe voyages
The site of the tale of a mother calling out to her son as he went off to war. It looks down on the harbour.
Goo Jinja(Naoshima)Shinto shrine / Tosan / Blessings: warding off misfortune
Rebuilt with a hall reached by a glass stairway. Contemporary art and faith, overlapping.
Sightseeing
Breakdown: castle 1, historic townscape 2, nature / scenery 5, festival / event 2. 15 places to see in Kagawa.
Kanamaruza(Kotohira)museum / theatre / Chusan / Important Cultural Property / 1835
The oldest surviving playhouse in Japan. Kabuki is still performed here.
Konpira Ishidan(Kotohira)festival / event / Chusan
Seven hundred and eighty-five steps to the main shrine, 1,368 to the inner one. The climb is itself the practice.
Manno-ike(Manno)nature / scenery / Chusan / 701 (traditional date)
The largest irrigation pond in Japan. When it burst, Kukai directed the repairs.
Marugame-jo(Marugame)castle / Chusan / Important Cultural Property / 1660
A surviving keep, and the smallest in Japan. Its stone walls are said to be the highest.
Ritsurin Koen(Takamatsu)garden / park / Takamatsu / Special Place of Scenic Beauty / 1642
The largest garden in Japan designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. It borrows Mount Shiun as scenery.
Shodoshima 88(Shodoshima)nature / scenery / Tosan
A miniature circuit that lets you walk the Shikoku pilgrimage within the island.
Kankakei(Shodoshima)nature / scenery / Tosan / Place of Scenic Beauty
One of the three great gorge views of Japan. Rock walls run like a folding screen.
Kaidan Meguri(Zentsuji)other / Chusan
You walk through pitch darkness beneath the Mieido hall.
Kompira Steps(Kotohira)historic townscape / Chusan
Seven hundred and eighty-five steps to the main shrine, 1,368 to the inner one. Palanquin carriers still work the slope.
Naoshima(Naoshima)museum / theatre / Tosan
The Chichu Art Museum, and Kusama Yayoi's pumpkin. An island of industrial waste became an island of contemporary art.
Teshima Art Museum(Tonosho)museum / theatre / Tosan / 2010
A concrete shell in the shape of a water drop. Not a single column inside.
Shodoshima(Shodoshima)nature / scenery / Tosan / Place of Scenic Beauty
One of the three great gorge views of Japan, and the birthplace of olive growing in Japan.
Sanuki Udon(Takamatsu and nearby)historic townscape / Takamatsu
A self-serve culture of eating at the noodle works itself. Rainfall was low, so wheat grew.
Zenigata Sunae(Kanonji)nature / scenery / Seisan / 1633
A sand drawing in the shape of a Kanei-tsuho coin. Seeing it is said to keep you from want of money.
Setouchi Triennale(Takamatsu and nearby)festival / event / Takamatsu / 2010
Twelve islands and two ports are the stage. Held once every three years.
Traditional Crafts
Two crafts hold national designation: Kagawa lacquerware and Marugame fans.
Marugame makes about 90 percent of the flat fans produced in Japan. It began with the shibu-uchiwa sold as a souvenir to Konpira pilgrims. A souvenir carried home by worshippers became, over four hundred years, a national market share.
More: VILLAGE Journal vol.12 — How a souvenir became a national share（リンク先は現在公開されていません）
More from This Prefecture
See all Kagawa articles ← All 47 prefectures
Sources: Kagawa Prefecture, City of Takamatsu, City of Marugame, Kotohira Town, Shodoshima Town, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries — Value Village editorial team