SHIKOKUMURA: FIND OUT HOW LIVE IN SHIKOKU WAS DURING OLD TIMES

Shikokumura (meaning, Shikoku village) is located at the base of Yashima. This open-air museum exhibits 33 restored farmhouses along a 1 km walking trail with natural moderate slopes. The houses date primarily from the Edo era to the Taisho period and represent the characteristics of farmhouses in the Shikoku region. The museum uniquely presents Shikoku scenes with a replicated Iya-no-kazura-bashi (a suspension bridge made of vines) in Tokushima and a local kabuki theater, moved from Shodoshima, alongside the restored traditional farmhouses.

You will see a variety of flowers and trees planted within this open air museum, giving you a sense of the four seasons, and taking a walk will be a good opportunity to learn about the traditional culture and wisdoms of life during the old days. It will take roughly two hours to slowly walk around all the exhibits.

Shikokumura Gallery, designed and built by internationally renowned architect Tadao Ando in 2002, is situated on a hill. The regular exhibits include modern European paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir, Pierre Bonnard and Pablo Picasso, as well as older pieces such as Roman glass, ancient Bronze ware/bronze mirrors, statues of the Buddha and other archeological finds from the Middle East. Special exhibitions are also held in spring and autumn that feature arts and mingu, or everyday articles that people traditionally made and used. Looking down from the balcony of the gallery, you can see the water garden, as well as a rose garden with Sanuki Plain in the background.

Another place of note within Shikokumura is the udon restaurant, “Waraya”. Housed within a restored farmhouse with a grass thatched roof and originally built at the end of the Edo era, the restaurant serves its famous freshly-handmade udon noodles. The restaurant is open from 10:00 to 18:30, seven days a week. They serve udon noodles in specialty iriko (dried young sardine) bouillon, as well as kamaage (literally means "freshly from the boiling pot") udon. Don’t miss this popular local udon dish!

[Address] 91 Yashima-nakamachi Takamats Kagawa, Japan
[Phone] 087-843-3111
[Opening Hours] 8:30-17:30 or 18:00 (*depending on the season).
*Admission closes 1 hour before closing time
[Closed] Open 365 days a year