Shikoku in Spring

Matsuyama Castle (松山城) on the summit of Mount Katsuyama above Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture is one of Japan's 12 surviving original castle keeps and one of only three to survive on a mountaintop alongside Himeji and Hikone, with the main keep originally built in 1602 by Kato Yoshiaki, first lord of the Iyo Matsuyama Domain, and rebuilt in 1854 after a lightning fire destroyed the original in 1784. Around 200 cherry trees including Somei Yoshino, Kawazu-zakura, Yoko-zakura, Tsubaki-kanzakura and Oshima-zakura bloom across the castle grounds and Shiroyama Park at the foot of the mountain from late March to early April, with the site listed among Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots and the view of the castle tower above the blossoms towards the Seto Inland Sea making one of the finest castle and blossom compositions in Shikoku. The complex includes 21 Important Cultural Property structures and a rare renritsu-shiki linked compound keep design with the main tower connected to smaller keeps and turrets by corridors. The Matsuyama Castle Ropeway and parallel single seat chairlift run from the base of the mountain to the summit in around three minutes for ¥520 round trip, with castle admission an additional ¥520, and the keep is illuminated nightly from sunset to 11pm. From JR Matsuyama Station, tram line 5 runs to the Okaido stop in 10 minutes followed by a five minute walk to the ropeway base.

A climb of 785 stone steps from the town of Kotohira in Kagawa Prefecture leads to the Main Shrine of Kotohira-gu (金刀比羅宮), the shrine commonly known as Konpira-san that is the head of the around 600 Konpira shrines across Japan, with pilgrims continuing a further 583 steps to the Inner Shrine for 1,368 steps total and the shrine dedicated to Omononushi no Kami, the guardian deity of seafaring, agriculture and prosperity, together with Emperor Sutoku, who was enshrined here in 1165, with around 3 million annual worshippers and a distinctive yellow happiness charm as its signature omamori. The spring climb passes through a 150 metre flat section called Sakura-no-Baba at around the 370th step, where around 3,500 cherry trees form a tunnel of blossom over the path in late March and early April, before continuing past the ornately carved former Buddhist hall of Asahisha shrine, an Important Cultural Property around 18 metres tall at the 628th step that took 40 years to build, to the Main Shrine at 251 metres above sea level, where the view takes in the Sanuki Plain, the Seto Inland Sea and the Seto-Ohashi Bridge on clear days. Admission to the shrine grounds is free, with a Konpira Worship Climbing Shuttle available for those who cannot manage the steps. The foot of the stone steps is around a 15 minute walk from Kotoden Kotohira Station or 20 minutes from JR Kotohira Station along the approach street, and the shrine allows around 30 minutes for the climb from there to the Main Shrine.

Kochi Castle (高知城) stands on 大高坂山 (Otakasaka Hill) in the centre of Kochi City and is the only castle in Japan where the original main keep, Honmaru Palace and Otemon Gate all survive together from the Edo period, with the Otemon Gate the oldest part dating from 1664 and one of only three original castle main gates in the country still standing alongside their original keep, making the view through the gate to the main keep the only single photograph of its kind in Japan. The castle was built between 1601 and 1611 by Yamauchi Kazutoyo, the first lord of Tosa Domain rewarded with the province for siding with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, with the keep and most other structures rebuilt between 1729 and 1753 after the 1727 fire that the Otemon Gate alone survived. Kochi blooms two to three weeks ahead of Tokyo because of the warm Pacific climate of the prefecture, with the 223 cherry trees concentrated at the Sannomaru third citadel typically peaking in late March to early April and more lining the 追手筋 (Otesuji) approach. The 高知城花回廊 (Kochi Castle Flower Corridor), run by the Kochi City Tourism Association, fills the castle grounds and Kochi Park with ikebana by sixteen schools and evening lights over three nights in early April, 3 to 5 April in 2026, from 6pm to 9pm, with a stage of traditional Japanese music and the keep open after dark. Castle admission is ¥500, with the park grounds and the Otemon Gate free, and JR Kochi Station is around 25 minutes' walk or 5 minutes from the Kochijomae stop on the Tosa Dentetsu tram. From Okayama, the Nanpu Limited Express reaches Kochi Station in around 2 hours 30 minutes. Going in late March puts you ahead of the main sakura rush while the grounds are at their most vivid.

Bonito is the spring fish of Kochi. 初鰹 (Hatsu Gatsuo), the first of the year, arrives off the Pacific coast between March and May as the fish run north on the Kuroshio, and the first catch landing is an event the prefecture marks. The spring fish is lean and clean, which is the opposite of the fat autumn 戻り鰹 that comes back down the same coast in September. Kochi's preparation is 土佐の塩たたき (Tosa no Shio Tataki). The loin is seared hard over a fire of burning rice straw so the outside chars and the centre stays raw, sliced thick, and seasoned with salt and garlic rather than the ponzu used elsewhere. Straw burns hot and fast and the searing is done in the open, so it is worth watching. 弘人市場 (Hirome Market) in Kochi City is the easy place to eat it, and Kure in Nakatosa is the fishing town version.

文旦 (Buntan) is a large citrus with a thick, spongy rind, and Kochi grows the great majority of the national crop. 土佐文旦 (Tosa Buntan) is picked in autumn but not eaten then. The fruit is stored for weeks or months in 土蔵 (doza) earth walled sheds or under straw to soften the acidity, which is why the eating season falls in late winter and spring rather than at harvest. The flesh breaks into firm, dry segments that separate cleanly, less sharp than grapefruit and more floral than an orange, and the rind is thick enough to be candied as 文旦漬け. Roadside stands across the prefecture sell it by the box through the spring, and the greenhouse 水晶文旦 (Suisho Buntan) is the more expensive version sold as a gift fruit.

鳴門鯛 (Naruto Dai) is madai out of the Naruto Strait between Tokushima and Awaji, and the spring fish preparing to spawn is 桜鯛 (sakura dai), in season across March and April with more fat on it than at any other point in the year. The strait is what makes the difference. The tide funnels through a narrow channel fast enough to raise whirlpools, and a bream that spends its life holding position in that current builds muscle. The old local description is that the bone becomes fatigued, leaving knots along the skeleton, and the flesh ends up noticeably firmer than bream from calmer water. Tokushima eats it as sashimi where the texture shows, salt grilled whole, and simmered as 鯛の煮付け. The Inland Sea bream on the Chugoku page is the same species in gentler water. Here the current is the selling point.