Tokushima Weekend Trip

Blake planned a nice getaway weekend to Tokushima! Japan has about four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. We've visited all except for Hokkaido. Tokushima is located on the eastern side of the island of Shikoku, the smallest of the four. To get there from Himeji we took a train to the outskirts of Kobe and in Maiko Station switched to a highway bus that dropped us off right by Tokushima Station. The bus did not accept the ICOCA transportation card we usually use to get around so we had to pay cash before boarding. It's not often that we are unable to pay via transportation card when we're traveling in Japan.

 

Once we arrived at our destination we found a nice Japanese restaurant to eat lunch. They had their special for ¥1,100 and limited to only the first 40 customers. It was filling and delicious! I really love the balance in Japanese meals. Once we finished our meal, we walked to Tokushima Castle. It is castle #76 in our 100 castles of Japan book. As with some of the other castle sties we've visited, there's no actual castle structure there, it is mostly ruins along the outer walls and an open meadow at the top.

Our last event of the day was going to an Awa Ddori dance performance at an arts center near the center of town. Awa Ddori is the largest dance festival that happens in Japan in mid-August as part of the Obon festival. Obon festival is a Japanese Buddhist festival that honors the spirits of ancestors. While Obon is celebrated throughout Japan, the Awa Odori is unique to Tokushima. Since the dance is quite famous, they have daily performances at the arts center for those that wish to see it and can't make it to the August dates. They even invite the audience to participate during the performance. They have a famous saying, "Some fools dance, and some fools watch. You're a fool either way, so why not dance?" and have a special gift for the person that is the number #1 fool. 

The next morning before heading back to Himeji, we visited Bizan Park. We actually went back to the same building we saw the Awa Odori performance but this time we rode a cable car to the top of Mount Bizan and got some nice views of the city at the top.