Challenges :: 20 Prefectures pt 2

Remember how I stated in an earlier post that I want to visit 20 of the 46 Prefectures in Japan? Well I haven't forgotten it and am still pursuing it. The last time I updated you all I had visited Okayama and also gone to Hyogo.

Since then I have visited two more Prefectures and both of them on Shikoku.

Ehime

Matsuyama is the capital city of Ehime. It's the prefecture just north of Kochi. It's a beautiful place. Myself and another Shimanto JET made the drive up to Matsuyama. It took around 3 hours (much shorter than the alternative which was a 6-7 hour train ride)

The first thing I did was meet up with a fellow Toronto JET. We had met through the program's offered Japanese classes and she was gracious enough to be letting me spend the day with her and the night at her place! We had some lunch and then headed to Dogo Onsen. This is the onsen that inspired the bath house from spirited away. It was small but very enjoyable!

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We wandered around the shopping street and it was tons of fun. At dinner we hit up one of my friend's favourite izakayas. They had a lot of unique things on offer and it was all tremendously delicious.

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The next day I met up with another JET from Toronto and this time we went to Matsuyama castle. Unlike Okayama's castle this one had a lot to see on the inside. There were places to get a good view of the city and also plaques in English so you could learn about the history. We did some curry for lunch and then I departed. I strolled about by myself, visited Dogo park and had a delicious drink.

They concluded my Ehime trip.

Tokushima

Tokushima prefecture is another one I'm going to have to revisit in the future as I only grazed the surface. In December all the ALTs in Kochi had to go to the midyear conference. Four of us decided to head there a day early and in the mean time go to Iya valley which is in Tokushima prefecture. It was absolutely gorgeous there!

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There was this super awesome vine bridge that you could cross over. It was a little scary for some but after conquering the Sky bridge in Jasper National Park this was easy breezy.  I even had the courage to snap some pictures.

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That brought me up to 10 Prefectures visited. Now that I've done that I feel confident that, over the coming year, I can visit more. I still need to do Kyuushu and also Shiga and around Tokyo. I have time though and I plan on visiting those places.

The next prefecture will actually be Kagawa. The final Shikoku prefecture and the home of sanuki udon. I'm looking forward to it!!

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