KOCHI

Best Things to Do in Kochi: The Complete Travel Guide (2026)

Kochi Prefecture sits on the southern coast of Shikoku, Japan’s smallest main island, and it is one of the country’s most rewarding and least-visited destinations. Known as the birthplace of Ryoma Sakamoto — the revolutionary samurai who helped topple the Tokugawa shogunate and open Japan to the modern world — Kochi combines rich historical legacy with dramatic Pacific coastline, pristine river systems, and a food culture built around the freshest seafood in Japan. For travelers willing to venture beyond the well-worn Kyoto-Tokyo corridor, Kochi delivers an authentic encounter with Japanese culture, history, and nature that is genuinely difficult to find […]

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Kochi Travel Guide: Kochi Castle, Hirome Market & Shikoku’s Wild Pacific Coast

Kochi is the largest prefecture in Shikoku and one of the least-visited corners of Japan by international travellers — which is precisely what makes it so rewarding. The city sits on the Pacific coast of Japan’s fourth-largest island, backed by forested mountains that rise over 1,000 metres and fronted by the rough, open ocean of Tosa Bay. This combination of mountain and sea shaped Kochi’s character: the people are known throughout Japan as warm, outdoorsy, and enthusiastic, with a food culture built around the extraordinary bonito (katsuo) that fishing fleets pull from the waters offshore. Beyond its culinary identity, Kochi […]

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Kochi Food Guide: Katsuo no Tataki, Hirome Market & the Best Local Dishes in Shikoku

Kochi’s food culture is one of the most distinctive in Japan, and it begins in the water. The Pacific Ocean currents that sweep past Tosa Bay drive schools of katsuo (bonito) close to shore from March through November, and Kochi has been catching, processing, and eating this fish for centuries. The result is a culinary confidence around bonito that you will not find anywhere else in Japan: the tataki preparation — briefly searing the outside of a bonito fillet over a rice straw fire and serving it sliced thick with garlic, ginger, green onion, and ponzu — was invented in […]

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Kochi Travel Guide: What to See, Eat and Do in Shikoku’s Wild South

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Things to Do in Kochi: Wild Coast, Fresh Bonito, and Ryoma Country

Kochi Prefecture is the wildest, most untamed corner of Shikoku — and that is exactly its appeal. Facing the open Pacific Ocean, Kochi has Japan’s highest rainfall, its longest unmodified river, its most atmospheric castle market, and a food culture so distinctive it feels like its own country within a country. If you want to know what to do in Kochi, prepare for dramatic coastal scenery, some of the freshest seared bonito you will ever eat, and landscapes that feel genuinely remote even though a rapid train can bring you here from Takamatsu in two hours. Kochi is one of […]

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