Shodo Island

Top Things to do

• Shodoshima Island

  Kodo-cho, Shodojima-cho, Shodo-gun, Kagawa prefecture

  Floating in the Seto Inland Sea with its groves of olive trees, Shodoshima Island was also the stage for Sakae Tsuboi’s novel, Twenty Four Eyes. There is a whole host of things to do on the island including the Twenty Four Eyes Movie Village, the Olive Park, and the Nakayamano Tanada (terraced rice paddies), known as one of the best 100 rice terraced fields in Japan.

• Roadside Station Shodoshima Olive Park

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Nishimura A: 1941-1

  This rest area is located within Shodoshima Olive Park in Shodoshima Town, Shodoshima County, Kagawa Prefecture. About 2,000 olive trees and over 130 types of herbs are cultivated here, and the park offers an expansive view of the Seto Inland Sea. The pure white “Greek windmill” and other features give the area a distinctly Mediterranean feel. The site includes a cafe with a wonderful view, as well as the “Olive Museum,” which has a shop that offers various olive-themed goods. There’s also an herb garden and the rocket used in the live-action adaptation of “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” along with a natural hot spring, a craft workshop facility, a lodging facility, and more. The cherry blossoms from late March through early April are gorgeous, and there are night cherry blossom light-up events held as well.

• Angel Road

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzuguntonoshouchou Ginpura

  This mysterious sand road appears and disappears with the changing of the tide. It’s said that if you cross Angel Road while holding hands with that special someone that your wishes come true. Beautiful scenery awaits you any time of day from sunrise to evening. Try sending a mail from the mailbox at the gift shop. They will post-mark it with olive and Angel Road designs. The road is about a five-minute drive from Tonosho Port.

• Shodoshima Olive Garden

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Nishimura Instep 2171

  60 minutes by ferry from Takamatsu Port. This is the birthplace of domestic olive production in Japan, an olive garden stretching on the plateau overlooking the natural beauty of the seas of Shodoshima Island. The “Olive no Oka” includes a 100-years old olive tree, interactive sculptures by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, and a gallery featuring Akari. You can enjoy local Shodoshima Island flavor with “Hishio don” and “olive somen noodles” at Olive Palace—a restaurant which also sells olive oil and a variety of homemade olive products.

• Sun Olive Onsen

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Nishimura A: 1941-1

  This onsen resort is located on the beautiful island of Shodoshima in Kagawa prefecture, overlooking the peninsula that was the setting for the movie Twenty-Four Eyes. In addition to 8 types of natural spring baths, this resort features a restaurant, a multi-purpose hall, meeting rooms, and tennis courts, providing a great setting for social exchange. The lodge is available for overnight accommodations.

• Marukin Soy Sauce Museum

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Nouma A 1850

  This museum was constructed in 1987 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Marukin Shoyu. The gassho-zukuri (a traditional style of Japanese architecture with a steep thatched roof) building has been designated as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Inside the museum are panels that introduce the soy sauce manufacturing process and displays of tools that were actually used in the production of soy sauce since the company was founded. Visitors can try soy sauce soft cream in the adjacent production building and this unique flavor can only be had here. Tours of the press factory that is currently still in use are also possible.

• Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Tanoura

  This is a theme park that has repurposed the open set that served as the filming location in the 1987 movie Twenty-Four Eyes. Homes, the school and fishermen’s residences that stand side-by-side harken back to the early Showa period and convey the appearance of the film’s world. In addition to the Tsuboi Sakae Memorial Museum dedicated to the author of the novel the film was based on, the Shochikuza Movie Theater that regularly screens Twenty-Four Eyes, and the “Kinema no Iori” gallery that introduces various Japanese films of the 1950s, there is also a restaurant and cafe on site.

• Misaki no Bunkyojo

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Tanoura Jia 977-1

  This is a spot that is famous for serving as a location for the filming of the 1954movie Twenty-Four Eyes. Ever since it was built in 1902 it was used as the Noma Elementary School Tanoura Branch for approximately 70 years. The classrooms remain as they were at the time with desks, an organ and creations by schoolchildren left behind, and there is no end to the visits by fans of the film and original novel.

• Kankakei

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Kankakedori

  Shodoshima offers scenery to enjoy in all four seasons. Kankakei, located nearly in the center of the island, is a valley located between the island’s highest peak of Mt. Hoshigajo and Shihozashi. Andesite and agglomerate, which formed approximately 13 million years ago due to volcanic activity, have turned over a long period of time into strangely shaped rocks and bizarre stones. From the ropeway visitors can enjoy fresh green foliage in the early summer, the intense colors of the leaves in the autumn, and the beauty of the Seto Inland Sea, and even encounter unusual flora and fauna on the hiking trail. It is ranked as one of Japan’s three most beautiful gorges, and this valley offers some of Shodoshima’s most picturesque scenery.