Culture of Takamatsu, Kagawa

Kagawa Prefecture, located in the northern part of Japan’s Shikoku region and also known as the smallest prefecture in Japan, has a rich cultural heritage and traditional arts and crafts. In addition to its significant ancient spiritual pilgrimage route, food, and traditions, Shikoku’s largest city, Takamatsu, and many small islands on the Seto Inland Sea offer immensely enriched cultures.

As an aspect of traditional arts and crafts, Shikokumura Museum, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building, and Ritsurin Garden are the must-visit spots as a first step to dig deep into the history and culture of Kagawa Prefecture. All these spots are located within about a 10 to 30-minute drive from ANABUKI TEI. Aji stones, pine trees, lacquerware, and wasanbon (fine-grained Japanese sugar confections) are also essential cultures that represent Takamatsu and Kagawa Prefecture.

Shikokumura Museum is about a 15-minute drive from ANABUKI TEI. This outdoor museum, which covers 50,000 square meters, features 33 old folk houses and examples of historical architecture relocated from all the regions of Shikoku. The houses and buildings display sugar cane processing facilities, farming tools, and other tools and items used by the people who lived during the Edo (1603 to 1868) and Taisho (1912 to 1926) periods. The museum includes the Shikoku Mura Gallery, designed by architect Tadao Ando, which displays paintings, sculptures, and oriental works of art. On the property, one of the famous Sanuki udon noodle restaurants in Kagawa Prefecture, Waraya, delights visitors’ taste buds.

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum is located within about a 20-minute drive from ANABUKI TEI. Isamu Noguchi is a half-Japanese, half-American artist, furniture designer, and landscape artist whose works have spanned six decades from the 1920s. Noguchi first visited Shikoku in 1956 to search for stones for his garden at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Later, he returned looking for a craftsman to work with him on the monumental granite sculpture, ‘Black Sun’ for the Seattle Art Museum. At that time, he was referred to a young stonecutter from the village of Mure, Masatoshi Izumi, and developed a firm working relationship. Noguchi built a studio in the village of Mure on the Japanese island of Shikoku and started a life travel back and forth between New York City and Japan, as well as a twenty-year collaboration with Izumi. The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum fulfills Noguchi’s wish that his former studio in Mure will be an extension to inspire artists and scholars. The stone garden brilliantly manifests installation art, which creates a space to perceive being between different dimensions. The museum contains about 150 sculptures, many of which are still unfinished, preserving the working atmosphere of his studio.

Situated within a 10-minute drive from ANABUKI TEI, Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building (formerly the main building) is known as the representative work of Kenzo Tange’s early career. Kenzo Tange is the first Japanese architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. His work is compound for modern architecture and traditional Japanese elements, and this East Building is praised as one of the most essential works in the history of architecture. The building is an important cultural property, representing democracy with a welcoming atmosphere that overturns the authoritative feel of public office buildings since the governor requested to design the new building to be the government office of the age of democracy after World War II. The open design of the lobby, which used columns and glass to create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors, became the model for post-war government buildings.

In the center of Takamatsu, Ritsurin Garden is nestled with over 1,400 pine trees. Ritsurin Garden was originally the property of the Matsudaira family, the lords of the Takamatsu domain who inherited its property from the Ikoma family, rulers of Sanuki province, which is today’s Kagawa Prefecture. After 1875, when the Matsudaira family lost their status as lords, Ritsurin Garden was reborn as a park and opened to the public. The garden has been awarded the 3 Michelin Stars in Green Guide Japan, and it attracts visitors from all over the world with the change of the beautiful four seasons in Japan. When you visit Ritsurin Garden, taking a boat ride and having tea and sweets at Kikugetsu-tei Teahouse in the garden are strongly recommended. If you have spare time, taking a tourism volunteer guide at the entrance is also recommended as they are full of knowledge and trivia about the garden, which allows visitors to see the garden from many different angles. English-speaking volunteer guides are available at Ritsurin Garden.

Photography: Kenji Kagawa

Photography: Kenji Kagawa

Photography: Kenji Kagawa

Kagawa is full of cultures, and Aji stone, pine trees, lacquerware, pottery, kintsugi, Marugame Uchiwa, and wasanbon are major charms. Aji stone, a type of granite, is quarried from the rock cliffs of the mountains connected to Mt. Gokenzan (375 meters high), which straddles the towns of Mure and Aji in Takamatsu City. Aji stone is known for its fine grain, low water absorption rate, and toughness, so it’s called a diamond of stone. Just like diamonds, there are a variety of styles of Aji Stone, each with its unique feel and beauty. A local stone product company in Takamatsu called AJI PROJECT makes products from stone. With their techniques and passion, they make the Aji stone alive by giving them new roles and meanings. The guests at ANABUKI TEI can also refer to the works of AJI PROJECT displayed at ANABUKI TEI.

Kagawa lacquerware, called Kagawa shikki in Japanese, is rooted in Kagawa Prefecture. Kagawa lacquerware has been produced around Takamatsu, and a wide range of products, including cake boxes, trays, low tables, and display cases, have been produced. This plentiful variety of product types features exquisitely elegant multi-colored lacquers. The lacquerware, resistant to breakages, has a warm feel and a beautiful glaze that stays the same over a long period of time, even after use. Takamatsu is also the leading producer of bonsai in Japan, growing about 80% of Japan’s miniature pine trees. The artisans of Takamatsu used botanical knowledge and pruning skills acquired in fruit farming, and bonsai was a hobby practiced mainly by the nobility and high-ranking samurai until the end of the Edo period in 1867. At TAKUMIKUMO VILLAGE, ‘Bonsai no Sato,’ the guests can walk and feel the landscape and learn the history and seedbeds of bonsai. The guests can also experience various workshops, including Kagawa lacquerware, traditional Japanese sweets making, bonsai, pottery, kintsugi, and Marugame Uchiwa at TAKUMIKUMO VILLAGE. The workshop arrangements can be made through the owner of ANABUKI TEI.

Wasanbon (fine-grained Japanese sugar confections) has also been produced primarily in the eastern part of Shikoku, in Kagawa and Tokushima Prefectures, for over two hundred years. The sugar is made of the finest quality and crystallized sugar cane mixed with just the right amount of water to create these finely textured, high-quality sweets. The wooden molds for the candy-making process are essential and are all made by one man, Yoshihiro Ichihara, the only practitioner of this traditional woodworking art in Shikoku. Today, his daughter, Ayumi Uehara, inherits his works and spirit at her studio a few houses down the street from his studio, called “Mamehana.” Ms. Uehara provides workshops in English, and workshop arrangements can be made upon request in advance via the owner of ANABUKI TEI. Because of its refined wasanbon culture in Kagawa, the tea ceremony culture is quite penetrated all over Kagawa.

“Red Pumpkin” Yayoi Kusama, 2006 Naoshima Miyanoura Port Square,
Photo/Daisuke Aochi ©YAYOI KUSAMA

For a day trip during your stay at ANABUKI TEI, Naoshima is a colorful artistic gateway for contemporary art and architecture. It is Naoshima is renowned as a world’s famous art island, located about 13 kilometers (approx. 8 miles) north of Takamatsu City. Cultivated and operated by Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Naoshima has plenty of contemporary art facilities and sites to explore for a day trip, and most artworks are exhibited in the open air or facilities designed with the Seto Inland Sea in mind. From ANABUKI TEI, it is about a 5-minute drive by car to Takamatsu Port and a 25-minute charted boat ride or a 50-minute ferry ride to Naoshima. ANABUKI TEI can arrange a charted boat between Takamatsu and Naoshima and a hired transfer for the guests in Naoshima.

As much as the guests can enjoy the private chef’s dinner and breakfast during their stay at ANABUKI TEI, they can also enjoy going out in the City of Takamatsu with the owner and having local dinner at an owner’s selected restaurant, Miyamoto Sozaiten. This owner’s selected restaurant is a cozy counter restaurant with a charming vibe and friendly staff who are well knowledgeable about Japanese sake. The restaurant cooks all homemade dishes with ingredients from local farmers, which go well with alcohol. They also have a great selection of Japanese sake that goes well with food. Enjoy exploring the memorable interactions of the local people of Kagawa at Miyamoto Sozaiten with ANABUKI TEI’s owner himself.