Kagawa

About Kagawa

Kagawa Prefecture occupies northeastern Shikoku, measuring just 1,876.83 square kilometers, the smallest in Japan, with a population near 900,983 and its administrative heart in Takamatsu City. The Sanuki Mountains form a soft southern wall, while the north spreads into the Sanuki Plain facing the Seto Inland Sea, dotted with more than fourteen thousand irrigation ponds built to survive drought, earning the nickname Pond Prefecture, and more than one hundred ten islands ranging from fishing hamlets to art bastions.Formerly Sanuki Province, historically a key node for Seto Inland maritime trade and a major granary, it was ruled in early modern times by the Matsudaira clan in Takamatsu Domain and the Kyogoku clan in Marugame Domain whose original castle keep survives on prodigious stone walls. Modern prefectural identity was turbulent: first created in 1871 from Takamatsu and Marugame, dissolved into Myodo Prefecture months later, resurrected in 1873, merged into Ehime Prefecture in 1875, and finally regained independence in December 1888 after persistent local petitioning driven by cultural distinctness.The climate is quintessential Seto Inland Mediterranean with annual precipitation around one thousand millimeters, the lowest in Japan, and more than 270 sunny days, promoting double cropping of rice and wheat in winter and lettuce and garlic in warm shoulder seasons, but requiring meticulous water management. Water culture shaped urban life in Takamatsu where Mizuki Matsubara tidal flats and reservoirs are community landmarks. Industry is surprisingly specialized for its size: shipbuilding and boiler factories along the Bisan Strait, high-quality granite from Aji and sanukite lithophone stone used for ancient chimes, glove manufacturing commanding nearly ninety percent domestic share stemming from post-war needs, plus fermentative industries like soy sauce on Shodoshima where barrel-aged crafts continue and sugar, olive groves first successfully planted in Japan in 1908 providing oil and cosmetics. Yellowtail aquaculture was commercialized here first in 1928 and still pioneers full-cycle tuna farming.The tourism constellation is varied despite compactness: Kotohiragu Shrine, guardian of seafarers, reached via 785 granite steps passing souvenir shops and shrine gates, Ritsurin Garden, a former daimyo garden acclaimed as Special Place of Scenic Beauty with six ponds and thirteen hills meticulously borrowed from Mount Shiun's backdrop, arranged for seasonal tea ceremony walks, Naoshima's Benesse Art Site including Ando Tadao's Chichu Art Museum embedding Monet's Water Lilies underground, Teshima Art Museum's water droplet architecture, and Megijima's demon legends, plus Shodoshima Island where Kankakei Gorge offers one of Japan's three great gorges, olive parks, soy sauce factories and Angel Road, a sandbar appearing twice daily linking islets at low tide for lovers' wishes. Udon pilgrimage itself constitutes a route, with shops differentiated by noodle firmness, soup base of iriko dried sardines and self-serve tempura style that invites long tasting loops. Smallness becomes intensity in Kagawa, where every kilometer stacks history, flavor and contemporary creativity into easy reach.