SHIKOKU

The Shikoku Pilgrimage — 88 temples connected by roughly 1,200 kilometers of trail — has drawn people to this island since the ninth century. Pilgrims follow in the footsteps of the Buddhist monk Kukai, who was born here and is said to walk alongside every traveler still. Dogo Onsen in Ehime, one of Japan’s oldest hot spring bathhouses, has welcomed visitors for over a thousand years. Shikoku also holds four of Japan’s twelve remaining original castle keeps, and Kochi was the birthplace of Sakamoto Ryoma, the reformer whose vision helped dismantle the old order and open modern Japan.

The Yoshino River, one of Japan’s most turbulent, draws rafters seeking Class IV rapids; the Shimanto, Japan’s last major undammed river, is calm enough for canoes and paddleboards. Inland, the Iya Valley’s mist-filled gorges and Mount Ishizuchi, western Japan’s highest peak, define a rugged mountain interior. On the Seto Inland Sea side, the Shimanami Kaido offers world-class cycling and the Naruto whirlpools can be viewed up close by boat. Along the Pacific coast, Cape Muroto and Cape Ashizuri offer dramatic cliff scenery and whale watching offshore.