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Escape crowds in Shikoku, Japan’s most underrated island
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A train leaving Shimonada station in Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands.
PHOTO: CHUAN KOU-CHENG
Chuan Kou-cheng
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SHIKOKU, Japan – Sitting on the shinkansen and whizzing past iconic Mount Fuji on the so-called Golden Route between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka is a classic tourist experience. Yet, my abiding memory of the train trip I took with my partner in Japan in December 2023 is much more sedate.
I think about a tiny, unmanned station called Shimonada. Set right in front of the Seto Inland Sea on the island of Shikoku, the station can be reached only by a slow, local train.
