What to See in Takamatsu, Japan: Free Audio Guide

The best things to do in Takamatsu include exploring Ritsurin Garden, discovering local history and art, and visiting temples and shrines across the city and its hillsides. Takamatsu is the capital of Kagawa Prefecture and a rewarding place to experience gardens, regional culture and the landscapes of the Seto Inland Sea. Neywo has a free audio guide for Takamatsu with 44 narrated places.

What to see in Takamatsu

Ritsurin Garden

Ritsurin Garden is one of Japan’s largest and most celebrated strolling gardens. Built in a former river bed, it combines ponds, small artificial hills, carefully shaped pine trees and traditional teahouses into a landscape that changes as you walk.

The garden was completed in 1745 as a private strolling garden and villa for local feudal lords. It opened to the public in 1875 and received the designation of Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953. Its southern section preserves the oldest and most classic Japanese-style landscape, while the northern section was redesigned with Western influences after the garden became public.

The Kagawa Museum

The Kagawa Museum introduces the history and art of Kagawa Prefecture. It opened in 2008 by bringing together three earlier institutions: the Kagawa Prefectural Cultural Hall, the Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum and the Kagawa History Museum.

The first two now operate as annexes, making the museum part of a wider group devoted to the region’s culture and heritage. It is a useful place to begin understanding Kagawa before exploring Takamatsu itself.

Takamatsu Art Museum

Next to the covered arcade of Takamatsu Central Shopping Street, the Takamatsu Art Museum is easy to reach from both JR Takamatsu Station and Kotoden Kawaramachi Station. The museum opened in 1988 and reopened in 2016 after a major renovation.

Its collection contains more than 1,700 works arranged around three themes: post-war Japanese art, modern and contemporary art from around the world, and the traditional arts and crafts of Kagawa Prefecture. The institution’s history goes back further, to the Takamatsu Bijutsukan, which opened in Ritsurin Garden in 1949.

Takamatsu Historical Museum

The Takamatsu Historical Museum tells the story of how the city developed. It is also known under names including the Takamatsu Historical Archive and the Takamatsu City Library, reflecting the different roles associated with the institution over time.

For visitors interested in the city’s past, the museum provides context for the streets, religious sites and cultural institutions found around Takamatsu.

Takamatsu Chikkō Station

Takamatsu Chikkō Station is operated by the private Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad, commonly known as Kotoden. It is the starting point for the Kotoden Kotohira Line and also serves as the beginning of trains on the Nagao Line.

The station has the numbers K00 on the Kotohira Line and N00 on the Nagao Line. It is one of the transport landmarks included in the city-centre route through Takamatsu.

Hanashita Tenmangū

Hanashita Tenmangū is a Shinto shrine in the city and is considered the oldest shrine within the former Takamatsu castle town. It predates the nearby Nakano Tenman Shrine.

Locals also call it Furutenjin, meaning the old Tenjin shrine. Other names include Kitamuki Tenjin, referring to the direction it faces, and Tenjin-san, a familiar nickname that reflects its place in everyday local life.

Jōgan-ji Temple

Jōgan-ji is a Buddhist temple in Takamatsu’s Bancho district. It belongs to the Jodo sect of Buddhism, and its principal object of worship is Amitabha Buddha.

Its location makes it a natural stop while exploring the city centre alongside Takamatsu Art Museum, Hanashita Tenmangū and the city’s other historical sites.

Hōnen-ji Temple

Hōnen-ji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple whose full formal title is Busshōzan Raigōin Hōnen-ji. Its principal image is a standing statue of Amida Nyorai, traditionally attributed to the monk Hōnen.

The temple also preserves a poetic inscription comparing a small pine reaching toward the clouds with the branches of Takamatsu, giving the site a distinctive connection with the city’s name and imagery.

Shikoku Mura Gallery

Shikoku Mura Gallery stands on the southern slope of Mount Yashima, within Shikoku Mura, an open-air museum of traditional Japanese houses. Its hillside position gives it views over a landscaped water garden and, on a clear day, across Takamatsu.

The building was designed by Tadao Ando. Its clean concrete lines and close relationship with the surrounding landscape provide a contemporary contrast to the traditional houses elsewhere in Shikoku Mura.

The museums of Mure

The Mure district brings together several places connected with art, stone and local culture. The Stone Museum, officially the Stone Folk Museum, explores the folk history of stone and its role in regional life.

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum presents the work of the Japanese-American artist and landscape architect in a garden setting. Stone sculptures and designs are arranged in relation to the surrounding landscape, creating a quiet combination of art, nature and architecture.

Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum

The Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum sits on the Goshikidai Plateau within Setonaikai National Park. Established in 1973, it has operated as an annex of The Kagawa Museum since 2008.

The museum occupies a building designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Its collection contains around 22,000 objects related to life and traditions around the Seto Inland Sea, including 5,966 items collectively designated as three Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties.

Ogijima Library

Ogijima Library is a small private library on Ogijima Island in Takamatsu. A nonprofit organization runs it, and it opened on February 14, 2016.

It offers another perspective on Takamatsu’s island culture, complementing the museums and galleries devoted to the wider Setouchi region.

Takamatsu’s religious heritage

Takamatsu also has a range of smaller religious sites. Hōnen-ji and Jōgan-ji represent Jōdo Buddhist traditions, while Hanashita Tenmangū preserves the history of Shinto worship in the former castle town.

The city’s wider setting connects it with the religious landscape of Shikoku. The surrounding hills and pilgrimage temples are especially prominent on Yashima, where the landscape and sacred sites form one of Takamatsu’s most distinctive areas to explore.

Explore Takamatsu with a free audio guide

Neywo’s Takamatsu audio guide includes three walking tours and 44 narrated places. Together, they cover the city centre, Ritsurin Garden and the hills around Yashima.

• Yashima: Temple on the Lava Plateau — 6.25 km, 117 minutes and 5 narrated stops
• Old Takamatsu: Shrines, Temples and Art in the City Centre — 4.67 km, 111 minutes and 7 narrated stops
• Ritsurin Garden and the Fudo Pilgrim Temple — 4.68 km, 90 minutes and 4 narrated stops

Download Neywo and explore Takamatsu at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. You can also continue discovering Japan through Neywo’s other city guides, including Okayama and Osaka.