◎ 30 minutes' walk from JR Takamatsu Station.
The busy stree in front of JR Takamatsu is the main street of downtown Takamatsu ; and lesds to the main gate to Ritsurin Koen Park, a National Special Scenicspot.This spacius garden laid out with shapely mounds, cool ponds and about 160 varieties of trees and flowers provides a classic example of a Japanese garden or even a Chinese Taoist paradise fit for meditation.
Originally it belongde to a local warlord, and then to Lord Ikoma. When it was transferred to the Matsudairsa; they spent five generations developing it into a larger stroll-type garden for their villa.Seasonal charms of flowers and blossoms such as ume(Japanese plum blossoms) in February, camellisa in March, cherry blossoms in April, wisteri a and azaleas in May, Irises and water lilies in June,giant lotuses in August, and Japanese bush clover in September, and brilliant maple leaves in November add to the pleasure of strolling.
Kikugetsu-tei 掬月亭,one of the pond-side teahouses, was originally one of the Matsudairas'formal buildings.The museum just inside the main gate 讃岐民芸館 houses a variety of mostly local handicrafts. There is a zoo, too, inside the gate.
Open daily. Admission to the park:About \300.
Yashima Plateau 屋島
Bus:30 minutes' ride from Chikko to the terminal(Kotoden Bus for Yashima-sanjo or Yashima Hilltop 屋島山上).
Tram + Cable: 30 minutes' tram ride from Chikko to Yashima (Shido-sen Line 志度線) + 5 minutes' cable-car ride.
Yashima, a pine-wooded tableland to the noutheast of downtown Takamatsu, is one of the world's rare lava mesas; about 290 m high , 3 km wide, jutting 5 km out into the sea.
The hilltop, overlooking the archipelgo of the Inland Sea, features Yashima-ji (No.84) 屋島寺 ①; an aquarium ② and observatories all linked by forest promenades.
One of the observatories, Dankorei 談古嶺 ③, commands a view of the inlet fringed with memorials to the Gempei Yashima Battle (the second last battle in Gempei War fought between the two rival clans, the Minamotos and the Tairas).
Once a British poet, Edmund Blunden; visited Yashima and wrote a poem that was engraved on a stone here at Dankorei observatory:
Like a long roof, men sya , and will they say ,
This hill of warrior ghosts surmounts the plain...