Road Trip on Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad (Part 1)
Japan Hour
Sub Navigation
- Remarkable Living 3
- Contact Tracers
- Plastic Wars
- Game Nation
- The Great Escapade
- Can We Cool The Planet?
- Ahead Of Their Time
- When Titans Clash
- From Crisis To Catalyst
- The Year Ahead 2021
- Tsunamis: Facing A Global Threat
- The Interpol Case
- Becoming Human Again
- The Pandemic: One Year On
- A Deadly Ascent
- Strangers In My Head
- Into The Vault 2
- Business Unusual
- Beyond the Viral Video
- Wild City: River World
- Disease Hunters
- Wizards Of Tech
- Feeding A City
- Undercover Asia S3
- 23
- Belly Of A Nation 2
- For Food's Sake! 3
- Forgotten Heroes
- Kampong Konkrit
- Rising To The Challenge
- Grounded
- The Longest Day
- Survival: Developing Countries On The Frontline
- Artists Unstaged
- Corridor of Hope
- Deciphering Japan
- The Family Affair S5
- Singapore Votes 2020: The Political Debate
- In Conversation Special
- Coronavirus Pandemic
- GRIT
- National Broadcast
- Why It Matters 4
- Faith Over Fear
- Outbreak Onboard
- Slumfood Millionaire
- #COVID19: The Social Media Pandemic
- CNA Correspondent
- One Of Us
- The Mark Of Empire
- Courage
- Race Against Pandemic
- A Frame In Time
- Carbon Conundrum
- Secret Wars
- Chasing Scarcity
- Undercover Asia S7
- Stronger: The Battle Against COVID-19
- Gadg(AID)
- Food In Our Time
- Singapore Budget 2020
- Tycoons China
- Inside The Child Protective Service
- Politics Of Climate Change
- The Singapore Perspectives Conference
- Borderlands
- In Our Time
- The Next Wave
- One Day That Changed Asia
- The Year Ahead 2020
- Migrants' Diary
- Ships That Shaped Us
- We Are Gen Z
- Crime Science
- Majulah: Symbols For Singapore
- A Billion Chinese Dreams
- CyberPunk'D
- Remarkable Living S2
- China's Growing Appetite
- In Search Of The Frog Boys
- Venturepreneurs
- The Skin We Wear
- The Millennial Investor
- Show Me The City
- Jewel: After Hours
- The Islands That Made Us
- Rishi & Sharul Try…
- Why It Matters 3
- Regardless Of Generation
- The Singapore Bicentennial Conference
- The Negotiators
- Secret Delicious
- Fighting Foreign Interference
- Hawkers In Our Centre
- HT MintAsia Leadership Summit 2019
- Coded World
- For Food's Sake! 2
- The Big Boss: A 21st Century Criminal
- Belly Of A Nation
- #DontForgetMe
- #HuntingHistory
- #Wanderlust
- Aarushi – Beyond Reasonable Doubt
- Across ASEAN
- Aerial Asia
- A Big Little Murder
- Against The Elements
- Age Of Innovation
- Algorithms
- An Astronomical Journey
- Astropreneurs: To The Stars & Beyond
- ASEAN’s Next Generation Leaders (ANGeLs)
- ASEAN Spotlight
- Asia First
- Asia First Encore
- Asian Century
- Asia in the Great War
- Back to School
- Becoming Human
- Becoming Singapore
- Bridging Giants
- Blueprint For Survival
- Bronze: A Forgotten Treasure
- Butterfly Children
- Challenge Tomorrow
- Champions For Change
- Check In
- City DNA
- City of Opportunities
- China on Film
- CNA Leadership Summit: Navigating a Post-Pandemic World
- Coming Clean About Green
- Conversation With S14
- Cool Living in an Eco-city
- Correspondents' Diary
- Cram Course Asia
- Days in Pyongyang
- Days Of Rage
- Days Of Disaster
- Deciphering Indonesia
- Deciphering The Philippines
- Destiny of a Maritime Nation
- Don't Make Us Invisible
- Electric Dream
- Edible Wild 2
- Edge of Space
- Enemy Within
- Every Woman
- Facing Dementia
- Facing Depression
- Fake News
- Finding Singapore
- Fighting Fake News
- Fighting Falsehoods
- Facing Terror
- Food Heroes
- For The King
- Forums
- Futuropolis
- Gangnam Insider's Picks!
- Get Real S17
- Going Places
- Going Underground
- How To Raise A Super Baby
- In Conversation
- Into The Vault
- India on Film
- Inside the Storm 4
- Indonesia’s Game Changers
- Inside The Children's ICU
- Inside Our Factories
- Insight
- Inside The Cryptokingdom
- In Search of Umami
- In Pursuit of Magic
- I Remember The Fall Of Singapore
- Johor: A New State of Affairs
- Japan Hour
- Just Like You
- Kashmir: A War of Stones
- Land Unlimited
- Law of the Land
- Love in A Time of Change
- Life Lines
- Luxe Asia S5: The Ultimate Access
- Made in Singapore
- Maverick Politicians
- Money Mind
- National Service - The Beginning
- National Service - The Transformation
- Neighbours: Singapore-Malaysia Relations
- Nepal's Child Brides
- The New Silk Road
- Once a Refugee
- On The Red Dot
- Our Tiny Superheroes
- Palu: A Month After
- Perspectives
- Parliament Specials
- Asia Tonight
- Power And Piety
- Powering the Future
- Power List Asia
- Raffles Revealed
- Raffles: An Icon Reborn
- Real Deal
- Rebellion In Marawi
- Refugee Chef
- Regardless of Class
- Regardless of Race
- Regardless of Religion
- Roar!
- Savouring The Future
- Slackers, Shockers, Suits and Superheroes
- Singapore Food Stories
- Singapore Reimagined
- Singapore Mosaic
- Game Changers Singapore
- Singapore Tonight
- Singapore on Film
- Singapore After Dark
- Smart Cities 2.0
- Specials
- Super Octogenarians
- Start-UP S6
- Talking Point
- Taking Singapore Forward
- Tapestry: The Heart of ASEAN
- The ASEAN I Know
- The Big Questions
- The Dark Web
- The Family Affair S4
- The Great Migration
- The Last Rites
- The Past Beneath Us
- The Successors
- The Terror Trail
- The Truth About Fake News
- This is What I Hear
- The Traitor Within
- This Weekend
- This Side of The Border
- Tipping Point
- To Live
- Trash Trail
- Undercover Asia S6
- Unusual Suspects
- Vanishing Foods
- Vice & Virtue: 1800s Singapore
- Walk This Way
- When We Play
- Wild City: Forest Life
- Wild City: Secret World
- Whiter Shade of Terror
- Why It Matters 1
- Why It Matters 2
- Work Is A 4-Letter Word
- Don't Call Us Poor
- Don't Call Us Beaten
Bookmark
Japan Hour:
Road Trip on Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad (Part 1)
(Updated: )Our next journey of enquiry and discovery takes place along the Shido Line and Nagao Line in Kagawa Prefecture. They are both operated by Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad, which connects six cities and towns. We will travel from Shido Line’s Kotoden-Shido Station to Nagao Station on Nagao Line, covering 31 stations which span a total distance of 27.1km.
We start by taking the train from Kotoden-Shido Station in Sanuki City to Fusazaki. We arrive at 9.45am and start enquiring about famous spots in the area. A local recommends we go to the roadside station called Genpei no Sato Mure. Opened in 2006, its spacious store sells udon noodles, fresh vegetables and even soft serve ice cream. The ice cream is made from jersey milk or even white miso milk. It is served in waffle cones made from wasanbon sugar. The jersey milk soft serve ice cream uses milk from a local farm, while the miso-flavoured one is made with white miso paste from a local miso shop.
In Kagawa Prefecture, they often eat white miso soup served with pounded rice cakes with sweet bean paste filling. About two years ago, the roadside station launched a dessert inspired by the soup, which became popular. They also started selling the miso-flavoured soft serve ice cream.
We then board the 11.45am train at Fusazaki Station. We speak to some high school students on the train and they recommend a self-serve udon noodle shop called Tonbo, located near Omachi Station. Kagawa is in fact known for its udon and is sometimes called Udon Prefecture. The train pulls into Omachi at 11.50am and the next train will leave an hour later. We walk to Tonbo, which has six affiliated shops in Kagawa Prefecture. Their noodles are homemade and nearly 1,000 servings are sold on a busy day. We order the curry udon noodles and curry rice. Soup stock made with dried sardine fish is added in the curry. Their chicken tempura and side dishes such as fries are popular too.
While walking back to Omachi Station, we meet a college student who tells us that the town of Mure is known for its high-quality stones called Aji. One can learn about the history of Aji stones at the Takamatsu City Stone Museum. It is located near Yakuri Station, two stops away from Omachi Station. We catch the 12.50pm train from Omachi Station and head to Yakuri. We reach at 12.55pm and rent some electric bicycles near the station. It costs 500 yen to rent them for three hours. We ask the staff of the rental shop for directions to the stone resource centre. We ride for about 10 minutes before reaching the place. From here, we can see the Aji stone quarry.
Produced in the mountains of Yakuri Gokenzan, the stones are mainly used for creating tombstones and lanterns. The resource centre was established about 20 years ago to pass down the drilling technology to later generations. The centre is an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property. Nearly 800 drilling tools, which were created at the beginning of the Showa period, can be found here. Processing the Aji stones requires advanced technology. Because of that, Aji stones make up only one per cent of gemstones in the market that are drilled.
We next travel by the 2.35pm train from Yakuri Station to Kotoden-Yashima Station, two stops away. We arrive in five minutes and have until 3.40pm to explore the area. A local suggests we visit the Yashima mountain, which is accessible by bus. It was an independent island until the Edo period, when the land was filled up to make a salt farm. We also find out that the mountain has an aquarium and a temple. The Yashima temple is the 84th temple along the famous Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage route.
We hop on the 2.45pm bus and ride for 10 minutes to Yashima’s mountain top. We visit the temple, which has been designated as an Important Cultural Property. It was built by a Chinese monk called Ganjin Wajo in the Nara period and was later transferred to its present location by Japanese priest Kobo Daishi. The principal temple has an Irimoya-style structure.
After this, we walk to the Shin-Yashima Aquarium. About 200 species of fish and amphibians are displayed in 70 tanks of various sizes. Out of the six American manatees in Japan, two of them are kept here. Dolphins and penguins can also be seen here.
After checking out the temple and aquarium, we start looking for lodging for the night. We happen to meet a group of retirees and their local guide, Mr Oshima. They tell us they are staying at the Aji Tourist Hotel, situated near the sea. We manage to book rooms for ourselves and the hotel staff agrees to pick us up from Kotoden-Yashima Station.
Tips:
1) The roadside station near Fusazaki Station sells unique miso-flavoured soft serve ice cream
2) Udon noodles are a must-try item of Kagawa Prefecture