Kagawa Sightseeing Spots

📍 Teshima, Kagawa ★ 4.8

Teshima Art Museum

The Teshima Art Museum is a shell of reinforced concrete containing no fixed artworks — instead, water seeps through hundreds of tiny holes in the floor and gathers into pools that shift and merge with air currents, while light enters through two oval openings in the ceiling. Designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa and artist Rei Naito, it is widely considered one of the most profound art experiences in Japan. The surrounding terraced rice fields of Teshima add to the contemplative setting.

art teshima minimalist

📍 Naoshima, Kagawa ★ 4.7

Naoshima — Chichu Art Museum & Benesse Art Site

Chichu Art Museum, designed by Tadao Ando and built entirely underground on the island of Naoshima, houses a small permanent collection including five of Monet's Water Lilies paintings in a room flooded with natural light. The broader Benesse Art Site encompasses multiple museums and the Art House Project, which transforms old buildings in Honmura village into permanent site-specific installations. Naoshima has become one of the world's most extraordinary intersections of contemporary art and natural landscape.

art naoshima tadao-ando

📍 Kotohira, Kagawa ★ 4.6

Kotohiragu Shrine (Konpira-san)

Kotohiragu, popularly known as Konpira-san, is one of Japan's most famous Shinto shrines, dedicated to the guardian deity of seafarers. The main shrine sits at step 785 of an uneven stone staircase that climbs through towering cedar groves, while the inner shrine extends to step 1,368 for the determined. The views across the Sanuki Plain from the upper precincts on a clear day are among the finest in Shikoku.

shrine 785-steps pilgrimage

📍 Takamatsu, Kagawa ★ 4.5

Ritsurin Garden

Ritsurin Garden is one of Japan's finest surviving Edo-period strolling gardens, taking more than 100 years to complete under successive lords of the Takamatsu domain. Six ponds and thirteen scenic hills are arranged around the forested backdrop of Mount Shiun, creating a landscape that changes dramatically with each season. The spring plum and cherry blossoms and autumn maple foliage are especially celebrated, and the garden is compact enough to explore thoroughly in two hours.

garden edo-period takamatsu

📍 Yashima, Takamatsu, Kagawa ★ 4.5

Yashima Cliff Plateau

Yashima is a flat-topped mesa rising abruptly from the sea just east of Takamatsu, its sheer cliff walls giving it the appearance of a natural fortress — which it became during the 1185 Battle of Yashima between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The Yashimaji temple on the plateau is Temple 84 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, and the views from the cliff edge over the islands of the Seto Inland Sea are outstanding. A ropeway connects the plateau to the highway below.

plateau history views

📍 Marugame, Kagawa ★ 4.4

Marugame Castle

Marugame Castle is one of only twelve Japanese castles retaining their original wooden keep, a compact three-storey tower perched atop what are claimed to be the highest stone walls of any castle in Japan — rising more than 60 metres from base to battlement. The castle town below has been partially restored and offers excellent udon restaurants and craft shops. The views from the keep over Seto Inland Sea are especially fine on clear days.

castle original-keep historic

📍 Takamatsu, Kagawa ★ 4.2

Takamatsu Castle Ruins — Tamamo Park

Takamatsu Castle was one of Japan's three great water castles, its moats connected directly to the sea so that warships could enter the castle grounds. The keep was demolished in the Meiji era but the remaining stone walls, gates, and turrets within Tamamo Park are impressive, and the sea views from the reconstructed turrets recall the castle's former strategic importance. Cherry blossoms in spring make this one of the city's most popular hanami spots.

castle-ruins seaside takamatsu

⛩️ Kagawa Sightseeing