Takamatsu

Risturin Park

Takamatsu (tah-kah-mah-tsoo) is the doorway to Shikoku Island from central Honshu. It is located in central Kagawa Prefecture the island that is the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. A port city on the Seto Inland Sea, it is connected to the main island of Honshu by the Great Seto Bridge. With the opening of the bridge, for the first time trains could travel between Takamatsu and Honshu. The closest port to Honshu Island for centuries had been only connected to Honshu by ferry.

Takamatsu is the prefectural capitol and is designated a core city, which means it is carries out many functions usually performed by prefectural governments. Most of the national government’s branch offices for Shikoku Island are located there.

The city of Takamatsu has a population of 419,00 with over 600.000 in the greater metro area, making it the largest metro area on Shikoku. It has a large concentration of nationwide companies’ branch offices that play a large role in its economy.

During the feudal era in Japan, Takamatsu flourished as a castle town and the castle tower became the symbol of the city. The tower was destroyed during the late 1800’s. In 2004, the Symbol Tower, the new symbol of Takamatsu, was completed near the main train station and shopping district.

The city’s major tourist attraction is the Risturin Park. This beautiful garden took over 100 years to complete and was improved on for another 100 before being finally opened as a public park. Bridges, hills, ponds, and trees are arranged to give the visitor a vision of the entire country of Japan.