Ritsurin Garden, Yashima, and the Islands: A Takamatsu Route
Takamatsu’s scenery does not end at one viewpoint. Move from the ponds of Ritsurin Garden to Yashima’s summit and then onto the ferry for Megijima and Ogijima, and the region’s lowland, highland, and offshore landscapes begin to form one connected day.
Ritsurin Garden uses Mount Shiun as a backdrop, while Yashima is a table-like highland with views across the city and the Seto Inland Sea. Both include water and distant horizons, but one asks you to walk through changing garden scenes and the other asks you to look outward from a summit.
From Takamatsu Port, a ferry extends the same route into the sea. Knowing the names of the stations, viewpoints, islands, and sailing times turns separate sightseeing spots into a practical itinerary.
Ritsurin Garden changes as you walk
Ritsurin Garden combines ponds, artificial hills, and Mount Shiun in a pond-strolling daimyo garden.
Ritsurin Garden
Ritsurin Garden places six ponds and thirteen artificial hills against Mount Shiun. The official guide associates its south garden with a pond-strolling style, where the scene changes as you move across bridges and around water instead of being viewed from one fixed position.
JR Ritsurinkoen-Kitaguchi Station
JR Ritsurinkoen-Kitaguchi Station is listed as about a three-minute walk from Ritsurin Garden. For visitors using public transport, that northern approach is a practical reminder that the garden is part of Takamatsu’s urban geography, not a remote excursion outside the city.
Source:Access: Special Place of Scenic Beauty Ritsurin Garden
Sea and history from Yashima’s summit
Yashima is a table-like highland where the city, islands, and Seto Inland Sea can be seen from above.
Yashima
Yashima is a highland in northeastern Takamatsu covered by hard rock and shaped like a broad table. The official tourism site gives dimensions of about five kilometers north to south, two kilometers east to west, and roughly 300 meters at its highest point, then frames the summit as a place for city and sea views.
Source:About Yashima
Shishi no Reigan
Shishi no Reigan is a Yashima summit viewpoint looking toward central Takamatsu, Ogijima, Megijima, and the Seto Inland Sea. The same view contains the built city and scattered islands, making the viewpoint a physical explanation of how Takamatsu’s land and water neighborhoods sit together.
Source:Shishi no Reigan
A mountain path layered with stories
Yashima’s summit combines the Genpei War landscape, the 84th Shikoku pilgrimage temple, and kawarake throwing.
Yashima-ji
Yashima-ji stands on the summit area as temple 84 of the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. Yashima is also introduced as a Genpei War battlefield area, so the temple name places a living pilgrimage route inside a landscape already marked by medieval history.
Source:Yashima summit
Kawarake throwing
Kawarake throwing at Shishi no Reigan involves tossing small dish-shaped clay pieces as a prayer for good fortune or protection. It adds a physical action to the summit view: visitors do not only look out over the sea but also feel the wind that carries the small dish away.
Source:Shishi no Reigan
Extending the view onto the ferry
The Meon ferry extends a Takamatsu route from the city to Megijima and then Ogijima.
Onigashima Cave
Onigashima Cave gives Megijima its strongest connection to the Momotaro story-name Onigashima. The official introduction says the cave was discovered in Taisho 3 by Hashimoto Sentaro, a local historian from Kinashi, placing a modern discovery story alongside the island’s folklore.
Source:Onigashima Cave
Meon ferry
The Meon ferry is operated by Meoshima Kaiun for the Takamatsu–Megijima–Ogijima route. The ordinary timetable shows a Takamatsu departure at 8:00, Megijima at 8:20, and Ogijima at 8:40, a simple sequence that turns the island landscape into a usable itinerary rather than an abstract map.
FAQ
Is Ritsurin Garden inside the mountains?
It is in the city and uses Mount Shiun as a backdrop. You experience the mountain through the garden’s framed views and changing ponds rather than by climbing into a remote mountain park.
Is Yashima’s height the only useful dimension to remember?
The official site also gives its north–south and east–west spread: about five kilometers by two kilometers. Those figures, together with the table-like landform, explain why Yashima reads as a broad highland rather than a sharp peak.
Can travelers continue from Megijima to Ogijima?
Meoshima Kaiun’s timetable includes services linking Takamatsu, Megijima, and Ogijima, but the operating section can vary by season or sailing. Check the official timetable for the date of travel.
Is Yashima-ji simply a sightseeing facility?
It is temple 84 on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. It can be part of a sightseeing route, but it remains a temple and a place of pilgrimage within Yashima’s historic landscape.