Takamatsu & Sanuki Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerSunport Takamatsu

Sunport Takamatsu is a waterfront district created through redevelopment around Takamatsu Port, about a three-minute walk from JR Takamatsu Station. It gathers ferry and hydrofoil terminals bound for the Seto Inland Sea islands, hotels, and a landmark symbol tower, with plazas and a promenade that draw both residents and visitors out for a harbor view.

Source:サンポート高松

Correct answerTamamo Park

The remains of Takamatsu Castle are preserved as Takamatsu City's Tamamo Park, where visitors can trace surviving moats and the old keep foundation on foot. It is one of Japan's rare sea castles, built to draw seawater from the Seto Inland Sea directly into its moats, and is counted among the "three great water castles" alongside Imabari Castle and Nakatsu Castle.

Source:高松城（玉藻公園）

Correct answerRitsurin Garden

Ritsurin Garden is a spacious daimyo garden set against Mount Shiun, laid out for leisurely walks with six ponds and thirteen artificial hills. It took more than a century to complete and has grown into one of Japan's most celebrated gardens, designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and praised in both domestic and international travel guides.

Source:特別名勝　栗林公園

Correct answerKake udon

Kake udon is the most basic bowl of Sanuki udon, made by pouring broth over warmed noodles. Sanuki udon is known for its firm, chewy texture paired with a simple broth typically made from iriko, dried sardines, and the prefecture is dotted with everything from stand-and-eat station counters to noodle-factory shops serving it fresh.

Source:おさえておきたい主なメニュー｜讃岐うどん

Correct answerMegijima

Megijima is popularly known as the Onigashima of the Momotaro legend, reached by ferry from Takamatsu Port in about twenty minutes. Its Onigashima Great Cave houses exhibits recreating the legendary ogres' lair, and the island's village is also known for oote, distinctive stone walls built to shield homes from wind and sea spray.

Source:女木島

Correct answerYashima

Yashima is a table-shaped highland capped by a resistant layer of rock, said to take its name from its roof-like silhouette. The area is protected as part of Setonaikai National Park, and its summit is one of Takamatsu's signature landmarks, drawing visitors for both its layered history and its celebrated sunset and night views over the Seto Inland Sea.

Source:屋島について

Correct answerKotoden

Kotoden is the private railway linking central Takamatsu with its suburbs, operating three lines: the Kotohira, Nagao, and Shido lines. Affectionately nicknamed "Kotoden" by locals, it has served commuters and students as an everyday means of transport for more than a century.

Source:ことでんー路線図ー

Correct answerSanuki Takamatsu Festival

The Sanuki Takamatsu Festival is held every summer under the rallying phrase "Monosso Takamatsu" and ranks among Takamatsu's largest events, filling the city center with mass dance parades, yosakoi performances, and a fireworks display that draws residents and visitors alike.

Source:第59回さぬき高松まつり公式ホームページ

Correct answerKotohira-gu

Kotohira-gu is the shrine affectionately known as "Sanuki no Konpira-san," enshrining Omononushi, a god of the sea. Its long stone-stepped approach has drawn sailors, fishermen, and pilgrims from across Japan for centuries, and it remains one of Shikoku's most visited shrines today.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answerOkayama

The Seto Ohashi Bridge is part of the Honshu-Shikoku connecting bridges' Kojima-Sakaide route, linking Kagawa with Okayama Prefecture. It is built as a two-tier structure, carrying the Seto-Chuo Expressway on its upper deck and the JR Seto Ohashi rail line below, making it one of the few Japanese bridges shared by road and rail traffic.

Source:E30 Seto-Chuo Expressway (Seto Ohashi Bridge) | Route Overview

Correct answerJR Ritsurinkoen-Kitaguchi Station

Ritsurin Garden is an easy stop by train: JR Ritsurinkoen-Kitaguchi Station is about a three-minute walk away, while Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station takes about seven minutes on foot. It sits just one stop from JR Takamatsu Station, making the garden simple to reach without a car.

Source:アクセス｜特別名勝 栗林公園

Correct answerIt faced the Seto Inland Sea and drew seawater into its moats

Takamatsu Castle is a sea castle built directly facing the Seto Inland Sea, and its defining feature is drawing seawater straight into its moats. While most Japanese castles rely on rivers or spring water for their moats, examples that use seawater are rare, and Takamatsu Castle stands as one of the best-known of them.

Source:史跡高松城跡の歴史

Correct answerShishi no Reigan

Shishi no Reigan is a lookout point atop Yashima, offering sweeping views of central Takamatsu and Seto Inland Sea islands such as Ogijima and Megijima. Its name is said to come from a jutting rock formation resembling a crouching lion, and the spot is a favorite stop for photos during a visit to Yashima.

Source:獅子の霊巌

Correct answerBonsai

Takamatsu's Kinashi district is introduced as Japan's leading production area for pine bonsai. Bonsai cultivation is a major local industry there, with carefully trained pines shipped not only across Japan but overseas as well, making it one of Takamatsu's signature traditional crafts.

Source:鬼無植木盆栽センター

Correct answerKinma

The Kagawa lacquerware technique called kinma involves carving fine lines into the surface and filling them with colored lacquer, a delicate decorative method said to trace its roots to Southeast Asian traditions. Kagawa lacquerware combines several such techniques and is designated a nationally recognized traditional craft.

Source:香川漆器

Correct answerEmperor Sutoku

Kotohira-gu enshrines Emperor Sutoku together with the sea god Omononushi. Sutoku was exiled to Sanuki Province after his defeat in the Hogen Rebellion late in the Heian period and died there, and tradition holds that he was later enshrined here to console his troubled spirit.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answer1837

Asahisha stands at the 628th step of Kotohira-gu's main approach, a grand shrine hall completed in 1837 and rising about 18 meters. Its imposing appearance is so striking that many visitors mistake it for the Honmiya itself, making it one of the highlights along the long climb.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answerTo avoid the number 786 sounding like "nayamu"

Kotohira-gu's main approach would naturally total 786 steps, but because the number can be read as sounding like "nayamu," meaning "to suffer" or "worry," the builders are said to have deliberately dropped one step near the purification font, leaving the climb at 785. This small numerological adjustment is still retold to visitors today.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answer2005

Kotoden launched its "IruCa" IC card on February 2, 2005, one of the earliest transit smart cards introduced in Kagawa Prefecture. It has since expanded beyond trains to local buses and even some shopping-district stores, becoming an everyday payment method woven into daily life around Takamatsu.

Source:ことでんを知る｜ことでん100周年

Correct answer1988

The Seto Ohashi Bridge's Kojima-Sakaide route opened on April 10, 1988, giving Honshu and Shikoku their first direct land connection after centuries of ferry crossings. Stretching 13.1 kilometers across the Seto Inland Sea, it ranks among the largest bridge systems in Japan.

Source:瀬戸大橋

Correct answerManno-ike

Manno-ike is described by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as Japan's leading agricultural irrigation pond "in name and in reality," a reputation built on both its sheer scale and the legendary episode of its repair by the priest Kobo Daishi. Located in Manno Town, it still supports farming across the Sanuki plain today.

Source:弘法大師の日本一の農業用ため池「満濃池」

Correct answerLow rainfall and short, steep rivers

Kagawa's explanation is that its Seto Inland Sea climate brings little rain, while its rivers are short and steep and drain quickly, making it hard to hold water naturally. To compensate, the region built enormous numbers of irrigation ponds over the centuries, and more than ten thousand still dot the prefecture today, sustaining Sanuki's rice and vegetable farming.

Source:地勢と気候

Correct answerJuly 2

July 2 falls on "hangesho," a traditional calendar marker thanking farmers for the labor of wheat harvest and rice planting, and Kagawa has designated the day as "Udon Day." Communities across the prefecture mark it with free udon tastings and other events, keeping alive a custom of celebrating the new wheat harvest together.

Source:おっとびっくり！うどん文化｜讃岐うどん

Correct answerMount Fuji

Hiraiho is an artificial hill said to be modeled after Mount Fuji and is considered Ritsurin Garden's finest viewpoint. From its summit, visitors look out over South Lake, a view so iconic that it appears on countless postcards and photographs of the garden.

Source:鑑賞ポイント｜特別名勝 栗林公園

Correct answerYashima-ji

Yashima-ji is said to have begun when the priest Ganjin, traveling from Tang China toward Todai-ji, built a hall on Yashima's northern peak. Among the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage, it is the only one attributed to Ganjin's founding, giving it a distinctive place along the pilgrimage route.

Source:屋島寺

Correct answerNishijima Hachibei’s water works laid the garden foundation → Matsudaira Yorishige continued the garden work → Opened to the public as a prefectural park → Designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty

Ritsurin Garden's history unfolds in stages: around 1631, Nishijima Hachibei laid the water-management foundations for the garden; from 1642, Takamatsu domain lord Matsudaira Yorishige took over its design; the garden opened as a prefectural park in 1875; and it was designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953. The sequence traces its transformation from a feudal lord's private grounds into a public park.

Source:特別名勝　栗林公園

Correct answerIkoma Chikamasa

Takamatsu Castle was built by Ikoma Chikamasa, a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who entered Sanuki Province to rule it. When constructing the castle, he is said to have renamed the area from "Nohara" to "Takamatsu," the very origin of the city's name still used today.

Source:史跡高松城跡の歴史

Correct answerOgijima’s Soul

The Takamatsu City Ogijima Exchange Hall at Ogijima Port is itself the artwork "Ogijima's Soul," created by the Spanish contemporary artist Jaume Plensa. Its roof is woven from characters of multiple languages, and the building doubles as a working ferry-ticket office, blending practical use with public art.

Source:高松市男木交流館

Correct answer8:40

Meon's ferry service connects Takamatsu Port to both islands on a regular schedule: departing Takamatsu at 8:00, calling at Megijima around 8:20, and reaching Ogijima by 8:40. Beyond serving visitors, the route is a daily lifeline that island residents depend on for shopping, school, and work.

Source:フェリーの時刻表・料金｜男木島・女木島フェリーの雌雄島海運

Correct answerIt is known as a Genpei War battlefield area / It has Yashima-ji, a temple on the Shikoku pilgrimage

Yashima's summit is known as the site of a Genpei War battlefield, still remembered for the legendary episode of Nasu no Yoichi's fan-shooting feat. The same summit is also home to Yashima-ji, a temple on the 88-site Shikoku pilgrimage, making it a place where history lovers and pilgrims alike find something to explore.

Source:屋島（山上）

Correct answerAbout 3 million

Kotohira-gu draws roughly three million visitors a year for "konpira-mairi" pilgrimages, according to the shrine's own guide. Rooted in a popular style of devotion dating back to the Edo period, it remains one of Shikoku's foremost pilgrimage destinations, still pulling visitors from across Japan today.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answerThe Ise pilgrimage

In the Edo period, a pilgrimage to Sanuki's Konpira Daigongen was spoken of in the same breath as the once-in-a-lifetime dream of visiting Ise Grand Shrine. People said everyone should make the Konpira pilgrimage at least once, and despite the difficulty of travel at the time, many made their way to Sanuki by boat and on foot.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answerThousand-armed Kannon

Yashima-ji's principal image is a seated eleven-faced, thousand-armed Kannon, said to have been carved by the priest Kobo Daishi. With its many faces and arms, the statue is believed to extend salvation in every direction, making it an important object of devotion for pilgrims walking the Shikoku circuit.

Source:屋島寺

Correct answerMinamoto no Yoshitsune

During the Battle of Yashima, when the Taira side provocatively raised a fan on a boat during a truce, the Genji commander Minamoto no Yoshitsune ordered the skilled archer Nasu no Yoichi to shoot it down. Yoichi's successful shot became one of the most retold episodes of the Genpei War, celebrated in later war chronicles and paintings.

Source:屋島の戦い古戦場：香川県

Correct answerMushanokoji-senke

Kyu-Higurashi-tei is a teahouse closely tied to the Mushanokoji-senke school of tea, a connection that began when the first Takamatsu lord, Matsudaira Yorishige, invited Sen Soshu as his tea master. Successive heads of the school went on to guide Takamatsu domain's tea practice, and the building still embodies that long relationship between the garden and samurai-era tea ceremony.

Source:鑑賞ポイント｜特別名勝 栗林公園

Correct answerAbout 90

Sanuki Mingei-kan displays about 90 carefully chosen pieces out of a collection numbering roughly 3,800 items, showcasing folk crafts and tools representative of Kagawa. A visit here lets guests visiting Ritsurin Garden also encounter the everyday culture and craftsmanship of the surrounding region, not just its scenery.

Source:鑑賞ポイント｜特別名勝 栗林公園

Correct answerGrowing Konpira faith created a need for a permanent theater in the approach town

Kanamaruza, the old Konpira Grand Theater, was built as Konpira devotion spread nationwide from the mid-Edo period and the shrine's approach town grew into a bustling pilgrimage hub. The town needed a permanent playhouse that could double as a drawing hall for the tomikuji lottery, and the theater's construction grew directly out of that pilgrim-driven prosperity.

Source:旧金毘羅大芝居(金丸座)

Correct answerThe Seto Ohashi Bridge

After climbing the final challenge, Gozen-shidanzaka, and paying respects at the Go-Honmiya, visitors reach a lookout on its northeast side. From there the Sanuki Plain spreads out below, and on clear days the view stretches all the way to the Seto Ohashi Bridge across the Seto Inland Sea, a fitting reward after so many stone steps.

Source:金刀比羅宮

Correct answerBroken (megeta)

Megijima, popularly known from the Momotaro legend as Onigashima ("Ogre Island"), owes its formal name to a different story: during the Battle of Yashima, a piece of a fan that Nasu no Yoichi shot fell here, and since the Sanuki dialect calls something broken "megeta," the island came to be called Megijima.

Source:女木島

Correct answerAbout 2,047 hours

Takamatsu's average annual sunshine duration is listed at 2,047 hours, some 120 to 330 hours more than cities such as Sapporo, Tokyo, or Naha, according to Kagawa Prefecture's own data. This sunny, low-rainfall Seto Inland Sea climate has long shaped both agriculture and daily life across the Sanuki region.

Source:地勢と気候