Shikoku, according to Don George, “ remains a mystery to the average Japanese. It’s even more mysterious to foreigners, who rarely venture this far off the beaten path.” On his first visit to Shikoku Don George writes, “I discovered a Japan I hadn’t known existed: A place of farms and fishing villages, mountainside shrines and seaside temples, rugged seacoasts and forested hills, time-honored traditions and country kindness.” (Read all about Don George's travels in Shikoku in the January 2012 edition of National Geographic Traveler.)

Join us for an off the beaten path journey to Shikoku, the smallest and most rural of Japan’s four main islands. It is also the most sacred island in all of Japan. Here you will travel along sections of the old Shingon Buddhist pilgrimage, overnight in a traditional inn, spend time along the pristine coast in Cape Ashizuri, and spend two nights in the most remote part of the island, the Iya Valley where Alex Kerr has painstakingly renovated a 300-year-old farmhouse, now known as Chiiori.

This is one of our handy, week-long itineraries designed to link together for an in-depth exploration of Japan, to stand alone as a Private Departure or to act as a jumping-off idea for a Custom Journey.

Day 1: arrive in Matsuyama • Day 2: Drive to Cape Ashizuri via Uwajima and Uchiko • Day 3: Cape Ashizuri • Day 4: scenic drive along the coast with culinary delights en route to Kochi • Day 5: drive into the remote beauty of the Iya Valley, stay at Chiiori • Day 6: Iya Valley’s vine bridges, soba-making workshop and another night in the 300-year-old farmhouse• Day 7: drive to Takamatsu via Kotohira and Zentsu-ji Temple • Day 8: drive to Osaka via Naruto, depart Osaka.

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