Shikoku · Day Tour
One of the twelve castles Japan never lost, and bonito seared over burning straw.
From
¥15,000 per person
approx. US$95
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmation
A guided tour of Kochi on Shikoku. Kochi Castle — one of a handful of original keeps left in Japan — the Hirome Market, the Harimaya Bridge and the Makino Botanical Garden. If you are here on a Sunday, the street market that has run for three centuries takes over the centre.
Most Japanese castles are reconstructions. Kochi is one of the twelve that survived, and it is the only one where the keep and the lord's palace at its foot both still stand. You can walk from one into the other, which nowhere else allows, and the view from the top takes in the whole city.
A covered hall of small food stalls with shared tables in the middle, where people eat and drink from mid-morning onward. The dish to order is katsuo no tataki — bonito seared hard over a straw fire and served rare with salt. Kochi drinks more than most of Japan and Hirome is where it does it.
The street market has been held on Sundays for over three hundred years and runs for around a kilometre through the middle of town, with several hundred stalls selling produce, knives, plants and cooked food. If your date falls on a Sunday, the day should be built around it.
The botanical garden sits on Godaisan hill above the city, named for a botanist from the prefecture who catalogued a great deal of Japan's flora. It is a working collection rather than a park, and the greenhouse and the views over the bay are both worth the ride up.
Meet your guide at Kochi New Port.
The original keep and the palace at its foot.
Katsuo no tataki, and the local drinking culture.
The city's small landmark, and the story behind it.
The hill above the city, and the bay.
Kochi New Port, Niida, Kochi. Your guide will contact you on WhatsApp beforehand.
The price covers your English-speaking guide. Entry fees, transport and meals are paid as you go, and by convention you also cover your guide's. Bring cash.
Yes. It is one of twelve keeps that survived from the feudal period, and the only one where the palace at the base also survives.
A small red bridge with a well-known local love story attached. It is modest, and your guide will tell you so before you get there.
Yes. It is built as a short ride from the port and timed around your ship.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time. Bookings are confirmed instantly.
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