For my last weekend trip in Japan I decided to go to Tokushima, on Shikoku. Shikoku is one of the four main islands in Japan. I started my trip on a Friday night by taking the Shinkansen to Okayama. I had hoped to take the overnight train Sunrise Seto to Takamatsu, but the train was all booked up.
The next morning I returned to Okayama station and departed for Takamatsu, across the Seto Inland Sea. Okayama is a super busy station!
While I was waiting for my train I saw the overnight train pull into the station. I was so jealous of all the people in their train jammies!
It took two trains to get to Tokushima from Okayama. The first was the Marine Liner which travels across a giant bridge to get to Shikoku.
The next train took me from Takamatsu to Tokushima. This train was called Uzushio. Uzushio means whirlpool in Japanese!
I arrived in Tokushima and started walking around the city. This made me laugh:
My first stop was the Awa Odori Museum. Awa Odori is a famous dancing festival in Tokushima. At the museum I was able to see the dance performed and I even learned how to do it!
It was fun!
On the top floor of the museum there is a ropeway up to the top of Mt. Bizan, which is the symbol of Tokushima. Tokushima is a big place!
At the top of the ropeway there is a giant kaleidoscope thing. It was pretty neat!
After leaving the museum I boarded a bus to take me to Naruto to see the famous tidal whirlpools. As I was waiting for the boat to take me to see them I found this guy and a bunch of his friends in the water.
Here is the boat I took!
This pretty bridge spans the narrow channel where the whirlpools form. There is an observation deck under the bridge where you can watch the whirlpools from as well.
The boat took us right up to the action. It was so cool!
A lot of water splashed over the railing of the boat.
The pictures don't really do it justice - it was so swirly and cool.
On the way back to the dock I saw some people set up for a day(s) of fishing.
Next, even though the whirlpools were dying down, I decided to go to the bridge observation deck. I even braved standing on the floor window long enough to take a picture.
There was a nice park around the bridge with some gardens. It was so nice!
On the way back to Tokushima in the train station I found this train poster that shamed you for doing rude things. I thought it was entertaining!
I had a great first day in Tokushima, and I got to see the whirlpools, which were the major draw for this trip! I was happy!
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