Arriving in Japan ⛩️

This time I'm headed to Shikoku (四国). It's one of the four main islands of #Japan, the only one I haven't been to.

My favorite tourist guide recommends visiting Ritsurin Garden, Shikoku Mura and the island of Naoshima 🤩

#Japan #Shikoku #ChatGPT

But I'm staying with friends of friends, and for tomorrow they organized a day trip to Shōdo Island (小豆島) for a "Sōmen Summit".

No complaints 😋

https://somen-summit-2023.com/

Today we're visiting Shodoshima.

The ferry will take us from Takamatsu to Tonoshou-cho (土庄町), the town of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san.

#japan #anime

The ferry staff took care of our road bikes with white gloves. They even added cloth padding to prevent scratching the frame against the metal rail. 😲

The entire ship is themed after Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. Being featured In a popular anime series brings a lot of tourism these days.

#anime #japan

Departure!
出発！

Approaching Tonosho (土庄)...

The Shōdo island is known for its olive trees, something that's not portrayed in Takagi-san's anime (or I didn't notice).
#anime #japan

We hit another Takagi-san location, but we're on the opposite side of the arches, with the red and white tower behind. #anime #takagisan #japan

After climbing a steep hill, we arrive at the Sōmen Summit 🥵

Olive Park is literally a botanical park of olive trees! 🤩

I didn't think of videoing us while catching the sōmen carried by flowing water, so here's some stock footage of this popular Japanese tradition:
https://youtu.be/OPiQ5nZ_olg
#japan

Before leaving, we hit another location featured in Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 😁

#takagisan #anime #japan

Ah, forgot to mention another highlight of this trip: matcha kakigori (shaved ice with green tea powder).

I like it with adzuki to contrast the bitterness of matcha, but since they didn't have it, I indulged with condensed milk 😋

#japan #dessert

My friends photographed my attempt at catching a big lump of sõmen with tongs 🍜

First manhoru (*) of the week spotted. This one is in たかまつし (Takamatsu city).

(*) Japanese man hole covers #japan

Fully stacked vegetarian okonomiyaki! 😋

#vegetarian #japan #food

@codewiz

Oh, my…

I became a vegetarian after my time in Japan, so I enjoyed okonomiyaki, sushi and all the rest while I lived there.

Now I lament that I will miss those flavours forever, and wonder how much I will enjoy food when I come back to visit.

Your post gave me hope, hehe.