Takamatsu Ritsurin Garden and Yashima Walk Course

In Takamatsu, the gateway to Kagawa, this course links a feudal-era daimyo garden with a historic plateau tied to old battles, all in a single day. You can enjoy garden strolls, sea views, and local udon. It is easy to reach from the city center, and you can get around efficiently by combining rail and car.

Course Route

9:00 Start at Ritsurin Garden Explore the Special Place of Scenic Beauty first thing in the morning. Take in the ponds and pines framed by Mount Shiun while the crowds are still thin. Opening hours run roughly from around sunrise to around sunset and change by month.

10:30 Rest at a garden teahouse Enjoy tea at Kikugetsu-tei in the south garden and pause to watch the garden reflected on the water. The time spent gazing at the garden over matcha and sweets is exceptional.

12:00 Udon lunch in central Takamatsu Head into town and have the famous Sanuki udon for lunch. The city has many celebrated udon shops.

14:00 Move to Yashima and walk the summit Take the Yashima Skyway up to the top and visit lookout points overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. From the summit you get a sweeping view of Takamatsu and the calm sea.

16:00 Yashima-ji and Shishi no Reigan Visit the pilgrimage temple Yashima-ji, then enjoy the evening scenery from Shishi no Reigan to close the day. It is a west-facing lookout, and the evening view is especially beautiful.

Highlights

Ritsurin Garden is a strolling garden of six ponds and artificial hills, and the view changes with every step. The view from Kikugetsu-tei is a celebrated scene where pond and garden become one. Yashima is known as an old battlefield, and the summit offers a sweeping view of Takamatsu and the calm sea.

Access and Tips

Ritsurin Garden is a short walk from JR Ritsurin-koen-Kitaguchi Station and is also close to Kotoden Ritsurin-koen Station. Reaching Yashima by car or bus from the city is most efficient. Yashima has many slopes, so comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

Practical Travel Notes

• Admission to Ritsurin Garden is around 500 yen for adults and 170 yen for children (elementary and middle school). Opening hours run roughly from around sunrise to around sunset, with opening and closing times changing by month.
• Admission may vary by day, with free opening on New Years Day and the gardens anniversary, for example. Checking opening information before your visit is reassuring.
• Tea at Kikugetsu-tei is charged separately. A pause while gazing at the garden is a signature Ritsurin experience, so stop by if you have time to spare.
• Yashima is a site tied to old battles, and the summit is dotted with historic remains and lookouts. There are slopes and steps, so comfortable shoes are reassuring.
• If the Yashima evening view is your aim, allot the afternoon to Yashima and time it so you stand at the lookout during the sunset hours.

A Quick Tip

The morning light at Ritsurin Garden is beautiful, so an early start pays off. The evening view from Yashima is spectacular, so scheduling the afternoon for Yashima brings the most satisfaction. Udon shops crowd at midday, so shifting your timing makes it easier to get in without a line.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Total time needed: About 8 hours, starting at Ritsurin Garden at 9:00 and including the sunset view from Yashima
• Admission to Ritsurin Garden: 500 yen for adults and 170 yen for children (elementary and junior high school students). Groups of 20 or more pay 400 yen for adults and 140 yen for children. An annual passport costs 3,180 yen (6,380 yen for a three-person pass)
• Opening hours of Ritsurin Garden: These change month by month in line with sunrise and sunset. January and December 7:00-17:00, February 7:00-17:30, March 6:30-18:00, April, May and September 5:30-18:30, June to August 5:30-19:00, October 6:00-17:30, and November 6:30-17:00
• Closing days of Ritsurin Garden: Open year-round. However, the garden closes if a storm warning is issued for the Takamatsu area
• Free admission days: January 1 and March 16 (the anniversary of its opening). Kagawa residents aged 65 and over and holders of a disability certificate, among others, also enter free of charge
• Access to Ritsurin Garden: A very short walk from Ritsurin-koen-kitaguchi Station on the JR Kotoku Line. It is also within walking distance of Ritsurin-koen Station on the Kotoden Kotohira Line
• Yashima Skyway: About 3.7 kilometers long. It is a road managed by the City of Takamatsu and is toll-free (tolls were abolished on July 21, Heisei 29 / 2017)
• Yashima summit tourist car park: 300 yen for ordinary cars, 200 yen for motorcycles and 1,200 yen for buses
• Yashima summit shuttle bus: Runs from Kotoden Yashima Station and JR Yashima Station up to the summit. However, it does not run every day; service days are limited and there are periods when it is suspended. If you are travelling by public transport, always check the Kotoden Bus official timetable for that day's service. Payment is cashless, with transport IC cards and the like accepted
• Yashimaru: 9:00-17:00 (9:00-21:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and the day before a public holiday), closed on Tuesdays (the following weekday when Tuesday is a public holiday). Admission is free. Only the panoramic art exhibition costs 1,000 yen for high school students and above, free for junior high school students and younger
• Yashimaji Temple Treasure House: Admission is 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children
• Can you do the route in reverse?: Yes. However, Ritsurin Garden closes as early as 17:00 in winter, so from November to February it is safer to visit Ritsurin Garden in the morning as described in the article. The same order also works better if you want to prioritize the sunset at Yashima
• Meals: Udon restaurants are concentrated in the city center around Takamatsu Station and Kawaramachi. Options are limited at the summit of Yashima, so have lunch in town. Popular shops have queues around 12:00, so shifting to 11:00 or 13:00 means no waiting
• Rental bicycles: Takamatsu's rental bicycles cost 100 yen for up to 6 hours, 200 yen for 6 to 24 hours, and 200 yen for each further 24 hours. Available 7:00-22:00, year-round. There are ports underneath the plaza in front of JR Takamatsu Station, underground at Kawaramachi, and in front of Kotoden Ritsurin-koen Station, among others. The city center to Ritsurin Garden is flat and good for cycling, but use a car or the train plus bus to reach the summit of Yashima
• Underfoot and steps: Ritsurin Garden has gravel paths and arched bridges, and at the summit of Yashima there are slopes and steps along the approach and up to the viewpoints. Wear comfortable walking shoes
• Strollers and wheelchairs: Ritsurin Garden has many flat paths that are easy to follow, but the routes up the artificial hills are stairways. At Yashima the way from the summit car park to Yashimaru and Yashimaji Temple is relatively flat, but the path towards Shishi-no-Reigan has steps
• In rainy weather: Ritsurin Garden is mostly outdoors, so when the rain is heavy spend longer inside Kikugetsutei. On the Yashima side you can allocate your time to the indoor Yashimaru and the Yashimaji Temple Treasure House
• Budget guide: Around 3,000 yen per person, covering the 500 yen admission, tea at Kikugetsutei, udon, and either the 300 yen parking at Yashima or your transport fare

Information Sources

The admission fees for Ritsurin Garden (500 yen for adults, 170 yen for children, group rates and the annual passport), the monthly opening and closing times, the closure when a storm warning is issued, and the free admission on January 1 and March 16 are based on the visitor information on the official Ritsurin Garden website run by the Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association. The six ponds and thirteen artificial hills, the borrowed scenery of Mount Shiun, the phrase "a new view with every step," the fact that at about 75 hectares it is the largest cultural-property garden in Japan designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, and its origins as a villa of the Matsudaira family and its opening to the public in Meiji 8 (1875) are also from the garden introduction on the same site. The length of about 3.7 kilometers for the Yashima Skyway comes from Takamatsu's tourism site "all YASHIMA," while the toll-free status and the date tolls were abolished (July 21, Heisei 29 / 2017) and the summit car park fees were confirmed on the portal site of the Seto-Takamatsu Wide-Area Cooperative Core City Region. The opening hours, closing days, free admission, the roughly 200-meter corridor-style building and the 2022 opening of Yashimaru come from the facility introduction page of the Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association, while the limited service days of the Yashima summit shuttle bus and its cashless payment are based on the service information published by Kotoden Bus. The pilgrimage temple number of Yashimaji, the admission fee for the Treasure House and the folding screens of the Battle of Yashima by Tosa Mitsuoki, the fact that the Tasaburo tanuki of Minoyama Daimyojin is counted among Japan's three great tanuki, and the origin of the tile-throwing at Shishi-no-Reigan are based on the commentary in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's multilingual commentary database for regional tourism resources. The fees, hours and port locations for Takamatsu's rental bicycles are based on the city's rental bicycle guide.

Fees, hours and service days are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.