Last year my partner and I went to Shikoku in Japan together with our Indonesian friend from Singapore. We took a road trip there and visited all four prefectures. My partner wrote about our visit to the Nishi-Harima Observatory (Dutch), which was on the way back from Shikoku to Osaka. Here, I would like to share a snippet of our trip to Kochi.
Before going to Kochi, we visited the famous vine bridge in the Iya Valley in Tokushima. According to my parents, I came here when I was four and crossed the bridge crying, saying I would live there for the rest of my life (as I was stuck in the middle of the bridge). The bridge is unstable and you feel that you almost fall off, particularly if you are little. I crossed the bridge this time again and still got frightened.
We found a small cafe nearby (we call it “Kanmidokoro”; 甘味処, serving Japanese sweets and tea) and had some Mitarashi dango. There was a cute chubby cat in the cafe.
On the way from Tokushima to Kochi, the sunset was very beautiful.
We arrived in Kochi at around 18:00 and ate curry, which was provided free of charge by the guesthouse. Our friend got sick so only my partner and I went to the city centre. We took a tram. The tram was very old and noisy but had a nice vibe.
First, we went to Hirome Ichiba. It’s an indoor market, where you can get a variety of food and drinks from stalls. We visited there on Friday evening, so there were many people, young and old, hanging out before the weekend. As you can see below, you grab a small table or share a big table with other guests and get food and drinks from any stall nearby.
I already knew that Kochi is famous for bonitos but the lady at our guesthouse told us that we should try the dumplings of Yasubei (安兵衛). We decided to start our dinner with beer and dumplings. Their motto is “Food stalls, dumplings and beer are part of Kochi’s culture (屋台と餃子とビールは高知の文化です)”. The dumplings were not too big and super tasty!
After that, we also wanted to try famous bonitos… “Katsuo no Tataki“ (lightly broiled and sliced bonitos). There were many stalls selling bonitos so we just randomly chose one of them. As far as I experienced so far, this was the thickest bonito slices that I have ever had. Of course, it tasted wonderful.
I really loved the atmosphere of the market and did not expect to find anything like that in Kochi! I would have liked to spend more time there but we had other places to go, so decided to leave. On the way to the Christmas market in Kochi Central Park, we found a funny dog - he was skateboarding. I still can’t believe what I saw there.
We had a cup of mulled wine at the German-style Christmas market. Afterwards, we visited Gurumantei (ぐるまん亭), where you get delicious beer and fried chicken (Karaage; からあげ)! This place was recommended by my dad.
There seem to be many interesting places to visit in the city. The night in Kochi was more enjoyable than expected. We missed the last tram to the guesthouse and took the last train from JR Kochi station.
The next morning, our friend was feeling better and we explored the city together. For some reason, Kochi looked like the Miami of Japan (although it was cold).
We visited Kochi Castle. There was an old gentleman, who kindly offered us a free guided tour. He told us a lot about the castle and we learnt about its history. He asked if we were interested in going to the main keep, which cost around €2.50. We said we didn’t have time (and we were stingy), but next time it might be worth spending more time in the castle. I didn’t know until the old gentleman told us that Kochi Castle is one of only twelve castles with intact original main keeps in Japan.
Luckily we could see some autumn leaves.
After we left the castle, we went to the market again and had some bonitos. On the way to the market, there was a cute fox in a small shrine.
We needed to leave Kochi around noon. This is the view from a roadside station (Michi-no-Eki) between Kochi and Ehime. The weather got worse later in the day, but so far the days had been pretty. I am sure that I will come back here again, Kochi!
