Takamatsu 2019: Ogijima Island (男木島)

With my little detour to Takamatsu Castle concluded, I walked to the city’s port and boarded a ferry going out into the inland sea. Downtown Takamatsu loomed behind me as the ferry cruised away from the city and towards my destination.

The ferry first stopped at Megijima Island, which is only about 20 minutes away from Takamatsu. This small island is known for a legend about a boy who fought an ogre and is also a venue for a major arts festival, but I wouldn’t be stopping at Megijima on this visit to the Takamatsu region. If I’m ever able to return to Takamatsu I’ll hopefully have time to for at least a short excursion out to this island.

Once the ferry departed Megijima it proceeded on for another 20 minutes to my destination, Ogijima Island. Ogijima is home to a pleasant little village that overlooks the island’s harbor, as well as some scenic walking trails and art displays that are scattered across the village.

From the village I took one of the walking trails that went up to the northern tip of Ogijima. I remember on the trail there were signs warning visitors about the island’s aggressive hornets but thankfully I didn’t encounter any of them that day. Up at the northern end of Ogijima is a lighthouse and from there you can appreciate how important the inland sea is to Japan’s economy. Massive ships were continuously cruising the waterways, most likely heading to and from the big ports in Kobe or Osaka.

I then returned to the village to do a little more exploring. On one hand it might be kind of cool to live in a place like this, but on the other hand I suspect that after a while I’d start to miss the conveniences of living in a town of the mainland.

Above the village on the slope of the mountain is Toyotamahime Shrine, which people often pray at for safety in childbirth. The stairs just below the shrine are a popular photo spot and you can get a nice view of the village from up there.

With my last bit of free time I went down to the southern part of the village. It takes a few minutes to reach this part of the island and it seems like not as many visitors come down here. There were a couple pieces of artwork on display but the most notable was the “Walking Ark” which looks like a small group of mountains that have grown legs and are walking into the sea.

The last ferry of the day would soon be departing, so I hurried back to the port and got on the boat. It was getting dark outside as the ferry crossed the sea back towards Takamatsu and I got to see the city’s skyline light up. This had been a very productive day in terms of sightseeing but at this point I was pretty tired, so I’d be heading straight to the hostel once the ferry docked in Takamatsu.