Western Kagawa & the Craft Coast: Noguchi, Marugame Fans & the Sky Torii — 2 Days

The walled studio-and-garden in Mure where the great Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi worked in stone for the last decades of his life, drawn here by the superb local Aji granite, and which is preserved almost exactly as he left it on his death in 1988. Some 150 works, finished and unfinished, stand among the old buildings and a circular sculpted hill, arranged by the artist himself, with his tools and a round stone studio still in place. Seen only on a guided tour by advance reservation, it is a hushed, concentrated encounter with how a sculptor saw stone — one of the most singular places in Kagawa.

Guided tours only, by advance online reservation (book at least a day ahead, ideally well before); set sessions Tue/Thu/Sat at 10:00, 13:00, 15:00 (10:00 & 11:30 in Jul-Aug). Admission ¥3,300 (approx., 2026), paid on site. In Mure, east of Takamatsu. No casual drop-ins. Allow about an hour.

A small gallery run by the Sakura furniture workshop in Mure, dedicated to George Nakashima, the Japanese-American woodworker whose spare, organic furniture — slab tables with live, natural edges and butterfly joints — became some of the most admired of the 20th century. Sakura was his Japanese production partner, and the gallery shows original pieces and the philosophy behind them, the grain of each board left to speak. After the stone of Noguchi it is a fitting counterpoint in wood, two great makers who both chose to work in this quiet corner of Shikoku.

Open 10:00-17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed Sundays, holidays and year-end; admission around ¥500 (approx., 2026). In Mure, a short drive from the Noguchi museum. Quiet and compact — 30-40 minutes is enough. Combine with Yamadaya for lunch nearby.

A renowned Sanuki udon restaurant in Mure set in a sprawling old residence with a designated cultural-property gatehouse and a strolling garden, where you eat handmade noodles in tatami rooms looking onto raked gravel and pines. The signature is the kama-age 'bukkake' and the tarai-udon shared from a wooden tub, the broth rich and the noodles properly firm. Grander and calmer than the paddy-side self-serve shops, it suits a craft-and-garden day, a few minutes from both the Noguchi museum and the cable car up to Temple 85.

Open for lunch and dinner (10:00-20:00 weekends/holidays; daytime and evening on weekdays), closed Wednesdays (approx., 2026). In Mure near Yakuri. The tarai-udon for sharing is the house experience; reserve a tatami room ahead in peak periods.

Temple 85 of the Shikoku pilgrimage, founded by Kobo Daishi and set on a shelf of the dramatic five-peaked Mount Goken, reached by a short cable car that climbs the steep wooded slope in four minutes. The temple is known for Shoten-do, a hall to the elephant-headed deity Kangiten popular with those praying for business success, and the precinct looks out over the plain to Yashima and the sea. The little funicular, the serrated rock peaks above and the quiet, working pilgrimage atmosphere make it a memorable last stop in the stone country.

Precinct free; the Yakuri cable car runs about 07:30-17:15, every 15 min, round-trip about ¥1,000 (approx., 2026), the ride ~4 min. The lower station is in Mure; the climb to the temple is short from the top. Allow about an hour including the cable car both ways.

One of only twelve castles in Japan to keep its original wooden keep, set atop a hill ringed by the tallest stacked stone walls in the country — nearly 60 metres of beautifully fitted granite rising in tiers from the moat. The keep itself is small and steep, an honest fortress rather than a showpiece, but the climb up through the curving stone ramparts and the view from the top over the Sanuki plain to the Inland Sea more than reward the effort. A genuine survivor of the age of the samurai, and the centrepiece of the western city.

Grounds open and free; the keep interior is a small fee around ¥400 (approx., 2026), open daytime. In central Marugame, a short walk from the station. The stone-wall climb is steep — wear good shoes. Allow about an hour for the ramparts and the keep.

The museum of the Marugame round fan, a nationally designated traditional craft — Marugame makes roughly 90 percent of all uchiwa produced in Japan, a trade that began as a side-income for the area's samurai in the Edo period. Relocated in 2023 to the grounds of the Nakatsu Banshoen garden, the museum traces the dozens of hand steps from a single length of bamboo to a finished fan, displays antique and contemporary designs, and runs hands-on fan-making where you can paint and assemble your own. A small, satisfying craft stop with its own free entrance.

Open daytime, free admission (the fan-making workshop carries a small fee) (approx., 2026); on the north side of the Nakatsu Banshoen garden in Marugame, with its own entrance and parking. A short drive from the castle. Allow 30-45 minutes, more if you make a fan.

One of the three most sacred sites in the Shikoku pilgrimage and Temple 75, built on the birthplace of Kukai — Kobo Daishi — the monk who founded the Shingon school of Buddhism in the 9th century. It is among the largest and grandest of the 88 temples, a wide precinct of two distinct compounds with a soaring five-storey pagoda, ancient camphor trees said to date from Kukai's own time, and an underground 'pilgrimage of darkness' beneath the founder's hall where you feel your way along a pitch-black passage. Quietly important and well worth a slow visit on a craft-and-history day.

Precinct free and open daytime; the treasure hall and the underground passage carry a small combined fee (approx., 2026). In central Zentsuji, a short drive from Marugame. Grab a bowl of udon nearby for lunch. Allow about an hour for the two compounds and the dark passage.

The upper shrine of Takaya Jinja stands on the 404-metre summit of Mount Inazumi above Kan-onji, where a plain white stone torii frames nothing but sky and the sweep of the bay far below — the 'torii in the sky' that has become one of western Kagawa's signature views. A long flight of stone steps climbs to it for the determined; most visitors take the weekend shuttle to near the top. On a clear afternoon the panorama over the Hiuchi Sea and the patchwork of the plain is superb, and it sets up the sunset on the coast below.

Free; private cars are restricted near the summit — a shuttle bus runs weekends and holidays only (around ¥1,500 round-trip, approx., 2026) from JR Takuma/Chichibugahama. Plan around the shuttle schedule, or climb the long stone stairway. Allow about an hour including the ride.

A long, shallow tidal beach on the Mitoyo coast that has become famous as Japan's answer to Bolivia's Uyuni salt flat: when the tide is out and the wind is still, a thin film of water left on the flat sand turns to a perfect mirror, reflecting the sky and the figures on it, and at sunset the whole expanse glows orange and rose. Photographers crouch to catch their silhouettes doubled in the wet sand. It only works with the right tide and calm air near dusk, so the timing is everything — but on the right evening it is unforgettable.

Free, open shore; the mirror effect needs low tide near sunset plus calm wind — check the tide table and the sunset time and aim to arrive an hour before dusk. On the Mitoyo coast near Takaya Shrine. Parking is limited at peak. Allow about 75 minutes for the light to turn.