NOW WITH PHOTOS! :)

LEFT: At Naruto, near Tokushima, tidal changes in the canal make whirlpools; and yes! This is where Naruto got his name! And I guess the same goes for the fish cakes with pink swirls in them...
RIGHT: One of the temples on the Henro trail; The statue figured is of a pilgrim in traditional dress...

It has only been 19 years since the opening of a complete bridge link between Honshu (the main island of Japan) and Shikoku, so, by Japanese standards, it is still a fairly undeveloped place. One of the 3 now existing links, alongside the Shimanami expressway, allows transit for pedestrians and cyclists, with convenient cycle hire places at various places along the way. I intended to tackle this route on a one day trip from Matsuyama; so an early start was required.

In total, between the major cities at either end, the bike route is about 60km; quite a fair distance, and since I intended to return to Matsuyama at the close of the day needless to say I didn`t make it all the way. Riding from about 8am; with a stop for lunch, I made it past the first 5 of the 8 bridges, Ikuchi by about 1pm.

This was my turn around time; thinking the trip back would take considerably longer; finding instead that most of it was cruising downhill or on the flat! So if you plan to cycle one way; do it from Honshu to Shikoku!
Yeah, you can take just about every picture you want with cherry blossoms in the foreground/background over this couple of weeks...

As Japan is just emerging from the frostiness of winter, the beach (featured in the picture!) off the islands invited me to swim, and although it was freezing it was good to be in the water! There was even a fish (of edible size!) bouncing in and out of the water about 10m from me! A little scary... Deep, and what is that fish running away from? Fish don`t usually jump out of the water right?
So fishing enthusiasts, if you`re on holidays in Japan...

In the centre of the island of Shikoku there are a number of rivers that have carved out beautiful valleys and a gorge; a beautiful destination for the off the track tourist, that even many Japanese I have spoken to do not know about. (Oboke? 知らない...).
LEFT: Along the old 32 route. Ok, no gorge in the piccy, but check out that mountainous scenery!
RIGHT: One view of the 90yo Japanese house become hostel that I stayed in... And had all to myself for one of the nights!

There are 2 routes through this region; the 32 highway, which follows the Yoshino river and the old 32, which follows the gorge. The buses are expensive and infrequent; you`re better off catching a lift with a local (since there`s only the 2 main roads you`re unlikely to end up somewhere random), but if you`re in a vehicle you can`t stop for photos and to peep down at the gorge on those narrow turns... So I walked.
From Kazura vine bridge most of the way is downhill; which I was glad for, and there were lots of views into the deep green gorge. Towards the end of the 20km or so the river became and slow, less interesting than the white rapids of before. The area around was also more developed, as I was approaching an area accessible by train...

So, when some old random Jap guy pulled up in his ute, so I caught a lift to the intersection with the new 32; along which the train line runs, to get back to Oboke. The strange thing was, that while I`ve been finding I can catch about 35-50% of what people say, and so guess their meaning, this guy`s accent was so thick I could only catch about one in every 15-20 words: I really had no idea what he was going on about! Let`s hope that was a country accent, not the Osaka accent I hear so much about, otherwise living in Osaka from next month is gonna be fun!
Having had my fill of temples; upon my departure from Shikoku I visited the a-bomb memorial towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima I have visited before, and there is really very little to see, but I hung out with Mariko, a girl I`d met in the Matsuyama youth hostel, and tried the local specialty `hiroshima okonomiyaki`. Very different from Tokyo style; layers of a crepe, cabbage, tougay, fish flakes, tempura batter and a fried egg with a sweet sauce topping, rather than all the ingredients mixed prior to cooking.

Nagasaki is a lovely town, similar to Uwajima in topography with little hills all about, I pity the poor little old Japanese ladies who live at the top of those hills! With mountains on 3 sides and a port, this town is long (hence the name: Nagai (長い）= long), but the frequent trams system from one end to another is only ￥100 (a dollar).
Here, not only is there the history of the bombing, but a rich cultural mix as the most active trade port, especially before the period of national isolation. Being this, there is a large influence of the Chinese on the cuisine - dumplings and ramen are specialties here - but also a rich history of Christianity, being the first stop for the European missionaries such as Francis Xavier.