#1.  Well, for starters, Kochi’s said to be “the greenest corner of Japan” and to be associated with the great outdoors and mountain hiking.  With 85% of the prefecture covered in forests, and its uncluttered Pacific coastline, getting out and about in the great outdoors is one of the best ways to enjoy Kochi. Mild winters of Shikoku allow for winter hiking.

#2. Good for an adventurous date with the kids going canoeing (Canoe-kan (Japanese only): http://www.canoekan.com/), river-rafting, kayaking. Best rafting said to be at Oboke and Koboke Gorges on the Yoshino River – just over an hour from Kochi City  Happy Raft or Gekiryu Rafting (Japanese only).

#3 Visit Kochi’s beautiful beaches, some good for surfing, (see photos of Katsurahama and more here) or for the coral reefs of Otsuki and the Tatsutsuki marine park. Kashiwajima in Otsuki is a treasure island located in the southwestern end of Kochi Prefecture with rich marine resources.  NPO: Kuroshio Zikkan Center regards Kashiwajima itself as a Natural Museum.  The island is even said to have one of the world’s largest concentrations of reef-building corals (123 different species) with 1,000 different kinds of fish seen in the waters around Kashiwajima. At certain times of the year, at a number of locations in Kochi prefecture, including Katsurahama you can go on whale watching trips (dolphins, sea turtles, and other creatures of the sea can also be spotted).

#4 Make a fieldtrip out to the Muroto Geopark to explore its geological wonders. Watch this educational video for a lesson on geology and earth science in Japanese with English subtitles.

Cape Muroto, Muroto Geopark (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

#5 Featured a lot and much celebrated on Japanese TV and in documentary fare is the Shimanto River. Often dubbed Japan’s “last pristine river” or “Japan’s last clear stream”, see what a water crystal from the Shimanto River looks like under the microscope. Every school kid learns about the Shimanto River from their school social studies textbooks. They typically learn these facts:

a. The Shimanto River is the longest river in Shikoku.

b. It has about 300 tributaries and flows down about 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) from the south flank of Mt. Irazu (1,336 meters (4,383 feet) high) to the Pacific Ocean at the Tosa Bay.

c. The Shimanto River (with the gentle tilt of its river slopebed)  is the only major river in Japan that has not been dammed anywhere.

d. That from the headwaters to its mouth, 94 species of wild fish are to be found in the Shimanto River, the largest number of all rivers in Japan. Using traditional methods rarely seen elsewhere, professional fishermen make their living by catching several product, such as Ayu sweetfish, basses, eel, crab, and “aonori” (green seaweed), etc.

Read more about it here in English  or here in Japanese. Also, from Global Waters comes this additional bit of information:

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find appropriate adjectives correctly describing the massive natural offerings that this great river of 200 km length brings. So legitimate that the river has other recognitions such as “100 great water areas” and “100 remarkable forests of water sources”.

#6.  ”Sunset snowman” phenomenon(See photo at the top of page) – This is an unusual celestial phenomenon can be seen from Kochi during the winter months around the southern part of the prefecture near Cape Muroto and Cape Ashizuri. From these vantage points, the sun sets into the Pacific Ocean. During the cold months, the temperature difference between the sea and the atmosphere sometimes sets up an optical illusion whereby the sun seems to ‘bleed’ into the horizon, forming the image of a second sun immediately beneath the real sun. The images join just above the horizon, making it seem as though a huge sunny snowman is peeking over the horizon. Lasting only seconds, you have to time it well and hope for a completely clear day. (Source:Tourism Shikoku)

#7.  Have fun visiting Japan’s oldest outdoor marketplace. Opened in 1690, the Sunday Market has continued ever since. Starting at Otemon Gate, the entrance to Kochi Castle, it winds its way for 1km along Otesuji Avenue.

#8. Visit an authentic ancient Japanese castle, i.e. not a reconstructed ferro-concrete one.

What’s rare about this castle is that all the structures from the original honmaru are extant. Kochi Castle is considered to be one of the 12 “original castles” of Japan. The construction of the castle was begun  in 1601 by Yamanouchi Kazutoyo who took control of the province after the Tokugawa victory and the whole castle was completed in 1611. A fire gutted much of the castle including the donjon in 1727. The current donjon is from the reconstruction that was completed in 1748. The castle was completely rebuilt by 1753.

#9. A heritage or historical tour of a few of the temples along the one of the great Buddhist pilgrimage routes of the world, …might just be your cup of tea. Way back when, walking the entire 1450-km-long Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage route would have taken between 40 to 50 days. 16 of the 88 designated pilgrimage temples, beginning with number 24 (Hotsumisaki-ji, in Muroto) and ending with number 39 (Enko-ji, in Sukumo), are in Kochi and are associated with the pilgrim’s walk founded by the monk Kobodaishi over 1000 years ago. The Kochi leg of the pilgrimage is called the ‘Training Ground for Ascetics.’  According to legend, Kobodaishi, aka Kukai, is said to have reached enlightenment after spending many days and nights in a cave on Cape Muroto, in modern-day Muroto City.

#10. More educational spots or just for fun include: Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum; Japanese Paper Museum in Ino; Anpanman Museum and the Makino Botanical Gardens.

The Makino Botanical Gardens house the extensive collection of botanical specimens of the father of Japanese botany, Dr Tomitaro Makino, who had traveled all over Japan collecting over 400,000 specimens and naming 1,500 species of plants, spearheaded the whole field of plant taxonomy in Japan. The Makino Botanical Gardens were opened in 1958 to honour his work and the gardens remain a serious place of research for botanists today.

Finally, if you more than a few days on your hands, then exploring the rest of Shikoku makes for a really terrific summer camping trip. Check out all the stellar sights of Shikoku here (Source: The Miracles of Shikoku).

Sources:

Kochi Prefecture and How to get to and around Kochi

Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Gardens (Japan Visitor website)

Environmental Education Rooted in the Local Area of Kashiwajima Island, Otsuki, Kochi Kuroshio Science 2-1, 111-116, 2008 Masaru Kanda*

Kochi Prefecture (Japan Times article) Find out about Kochi’s natural and scenic retreats, such as the Muroto Geopark and Shimanto River, while learning about its renowned hospitality

Kochi, Japan a short visit

Getting to Kochi castle and J Castle guide on Kochi Castle; Kochi Castle (Wikipedia)

“The Great Nature along the Shimanto River” on journeys in japan (Jib-kun’s Diary)

Images: Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons, Shikoku Tourism

By A. Kawagoe

Long before the theory of plate tectonics emerged in the 20th century to explain the mechanism behind earthquakes, Japanese folklore had attributed the terrifying phenomenon to the thrashings of the o-namazu — a giant catfish that inhabited the bowels of the Earth.

Shrine sights: The 400-year-old Oku Miya Shrine. JON MITCHELL PHOTOS

And the sole power that prevents this fish from bucking the country to pieces is, according to ancient lore, Takemikazuchi — a Shinto deity living in Kashima, in present-day Ibaraki Prefecture — who balances rodeolike atop the o-namazu and holds down a massive “pivot stone” on the fish’s head.

“As long as Kashima’s deity is with us,” says a verse from the eighth-century book of Japanese poems, the “Manyoshu,” “the pivot stone may wobble but it will not break.”

While the Shinto gods are invisible to mere mortals like us, the stone is thoroughly temporal — and is located in the grounds of Kashima Jingu, one of Japan’s largest shrines.

With the devastation of March 11′s megaquake and tsunami having tested the faith of many, I decided to pay a visit to the stone to see how it had weathered the past few weeks since catastrophe hit the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu.

As the bus approached the outskirts of Kashima, things did not look hopeful. Here, six weeks after the event, damaged residential rooftops were still draped with tarpaulin sheets and large shipping containers sat askew in fields where they’d been carried by the two-meter tsunami.

Situated on higher ground, Kashima Jingu had escaped the wave, but two mounds of sand were now piled where once the pillars of its 10-meter-high torii gate had stood.

“The first quake (on March 11) cracked the granite torii,” explained 71-year-old Masayoshi Tsuda. “Then a few minutes later, a large aftershock brought it down. Luckily nobody was injured.”

Ibaraki-native Tsuda, a volunteer guide at Kashima Jingu for almost a decade, said that he was accustomed to showing dozens of tour groups around the shrine. “But now nobody comes. Everybody is too afraid of the aftershocks — not to mention the fear of radiation.”

A Kashima visitor shows off a sign for catfish dishes.

As his fellow guides despondently packed away their maps and flags for the day, Tsuda seemed happy to be able to show somebody around.

Walking me beneath the towering cedars and Japanese cypresses in the shrine’s grounds, he explained that Takemikazuchi, in addition to subduing the ill-tempered catfish, was also the guardian deity of thunder, swords and warfare. Over the centuries, he said, countless warriors have called upon the god to help them to win battles.

“It’s believed that Jimmu Tennou (the first Emperor of Japan) asked for Takemikazuchi’s help when he attempted to seize power in Yamato (present-day Nara Prefecture),” explained Tsuda. “The god sent a magical sword which enabled Jimmu to defeat his enemies and establish his rule. In appreciation, Jimmu ordered Kashima Jingu to be built — which would make this shrine more than 2,600 years old.”

Although Tsuda is the first to question the historical accuracy of the account, the donations of other grateful followers of Takemikazuchi are irrefutable.

Among the shrine’s seven buildings currently listed as important cultural assets is Oku Miya — a small wooden, worship hall. Dating back to 1605, the building was bestowed by the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu (1543-1616), to thank Takemikazuchi for his help in defeating Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s forces at the epic Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, so enabling him to become the first ruler of a unified Japan. Indeed, so grateful was the new shogun that over the next 85 years, his Tokugawa clan donated many other buildings to the shrine.

Such powerful patronage hints at devotees’ deep-seated respect for Takemikazuchi, and as I approached the Oku Miya hall, jovial Tsuda turned momentarily serious. “Be careful. Takemikazuchi is at his most savage here,” he cautioned. “When you clap, do so quietly. And lay your coin gently in the offertory box so as not to incur his wrath.”

The pivot stone seen protruding from the ground.

Following Tsuda’s advice, I said my prayers as docilely as possible and then I was led by the guide to a statue of this fearsome god. Based on a 19th-century woodblock print, the statue presented Takemikazuchi dressed in samurai armor, drilling a sword into the head of the ill-tempered catfish.

Images such as this became much sought-after in the immediate aftermath of a November 1855 earthquake that partially leveled Edo (present-day Tokyo). In the ruins of the city, dozens of artists churned out talismans depicting Takemikazuchi’s struggles with the o-namazu. These prints quickly went viral among the traumatized Edoites, who were desperate for some comfort during the subsequent months of teeth-rattling aftershocks.

However, it was beyond the statue of Takemikazuchi that the goal of my pilgrimage was to be found — the so-called pivot stone itself.

My first impression was disappointing. Rather than the linchpin that stopped Japan from splitting, the stone emerged from the ground like a dimpled bowling ball. Despite its underwhelming appearance, though, a steady stream of visitors lined up at the stone — making it by far the busiest spot on the deserted shrine grounds.

One young man explained that he’d driven nonstop from Saitama City just north of Tokyo as soon as he’d read about the stone on the Internet. “I wanted to reassure myself that it was still here — and that it hadn’t cracked,” he earnestly declared. Then, leaning over the fence, he squinted at the rock for a long moment before, seemingly satisfied that it was intact, he smiled with relief.

A worshipper reflects on the pivot stone.

Many of the other visitors were local residents who, when asked whether the recent tremors had led them to doubt Takemikazuchi’s powers, unanimously declared that the past six weeks had only served to validate their faith. “It’s true that this area was badly shaken by the quake,” said one housewife. “But compared to other places, Kashima escaped very lightly.”

As though to emphasize her point, just then early-warning earthquake alarms sounded on some of the visitors’ mobile phones.

Pavlov-conditioned, I dropped to the ground and clasped my notebook over my head — but nearby, the worshippers continued their prayers regardless. When the tremor struck a second later it barely swayed the branches of the tall cedar trees.

Embarrassed, I brushed the dirt from my knees and asked Tsuda the question that had been on the tip of my tongue all morning: Whether he really believed in the tales of Takemikazuchi and the catfish.

The guide gestured to the shrine’s wooden buildings. “Most of these structures are over 400 years old, but none of them were seriously damaged in the (March 11) quake. Credit the gods if you want, but what’s certain is that Kashima Jingu has a great deal of natural power.”

Tsuda must have noticed the skeptical expression on my face, because he invited me to walk with him back to the main entrance of the shrine. There, he paused outside Suzusho — a restaurant that has been in business since 1897. For a moment I wondered why Tsuda had stopped, but then he showed me the menu in its window boasting hotpots, grills and tempura — all made from freshly caught catfish.

“I recommend the namazu sashimi,” said Tsuda. “Washed down with plenty of local sake, it’s guaranteed to calm your nerves.”

Takemikazuchi’s formidable power aside, it seems that the residents of Kashima have developed more than one way to deal with troublesome catfish.

180° view of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The Genbaku Dome can clearly be seen in the center left of the image. The original target for the bomb was the “T”-shaped Aioi Bridge seen in the left of the Wikimedia image.