In the north of the island of Shikoku, you’ll find the city of Takamatsu, the capital of Japan’s smallest prefecture, Kagawa.

A massive tourist highlight in town is the grounds of the old Takamatsujō castle. It was built in 1590 and kept being expanded right up until the end of the 17th century. Then, in 1884, the castle tower and other buildings were torn down. Today, all you can admire from the original site is the castle’s stone base, a gate, and a couple of corner turrets. There are plans to rebuild the castle from scratch, though.

In the park grounds right next to it is the Hiunkaku building. Originally built as a government building, its inviting tatami rooms are now used for exhibitions.

You can easily walk to the site from JR Takamatsu Station in just a few minutes. Entry costs 200¥.

Because it was so beautiful, here’s another batch of autumn foliage photos from our 2018 trip to Japan.

You’ll find them at almost every temple and shrine: a wall full of little printed or written-on wooden plaques, called ema (絵馬). Visitors buy the plaques, write a wish on one side and then hang them up.

The range of wishes is huge, from health and passing exams to career success, a good relationship, and even world peace. Even tourists have picked up the custom, so you won’t just find plaques written in Japanese, but also in Korean, English, German and other languages.

The custom goes back to the Nara period (around the 8th century). Back then, horses were seen as messengers of the gods. To make sure their wishes and prayers were heard better by the gods, people donated horses to the shrines. However, these animals were extremely expensive. So, anyone who couldn’t afford one made horse figures out of wood, clay or paper instead. That’s how today’s little wooden plaques came to be. The word Ema translates to horse picture.

Right next to Okayama is the city of Kurashiki. Back in the Edo period, the town played a massive role in the rice trade. The name means “town of storehouses” and refers to the rice storehouses located along a canal. You can still check out this Canal Area today.

In 1889, the Kurabo company opened a cotton mill in the city; its brick building is known today as Ivy Square.

If you can drag yourself away from a stroll through the streets and shops, there are loads of museums worth a visit. The most important one is the Ōhara Museum of Western Art. But the Kurabo Museum, the Momotarō Museum and the Piggybank Museum are definitely worth a little detour, too.

The slightly tacky and out-of-place-looking Kurashiki Clock Tower at the north exit of the station is quite interesting. It’s dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen. On the hour, the top part of the tower lifts up and figures from four of Andersen’s fairy tales pop out. I sadly only found out about the chimes later on, but I found a YouTube video of it.

Kurashiki is super easy to reach by train from Okayama. From the station, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the Canal Area and Ivy Square.

You’ll find the Tōtō Toilet Museum on the factory grounds at Tōtō’s headquarters in Kokura. Tōtō is the market leader for toilets and washlets in Japan. The name doesn’t actually come from the word toilet, but from their original company name Tōyō Tōki (Eastern Ceramics).

To kick things off, you get to watch an introductory film in English. After that, you can check out the company’s over 100-year history in the museum; they originally made tableware alongside sanitary ceramics. There’s loads to discover, from the sit-down toilet that Tōtō introduced to Japan, to the washlets, and even various other gadgets and oddities like the Toilet Bike. To finish up, you absolutely have to pay a visit to the museum’s own loo.

You can get to the museum from Kokura station on foot or by bus. Entry is free. You can use your own smartphone as an audio guide, and there’s free Wi-Fi available in the museum. Taking photos is mostly allowed. They only ask you not to take pictures of a few exhibits out of worry over industrial espionage. Naturally, we stuck to the rules.

The museum is really entertaining and well worth a little detour.