Caves & Castles in Kochi

A new day and a new island…Shikoku here we come! The seas were calm as we sailed from the Pacific Ocean to the Philippine Sea (I think? It’s hard to know where one ends and the other starts). We left Kobe and Honshu behind last night, bound for Shikoku and the prefecture of Kochi. Japan’s archipelago, surrounded by various seas and an ocean, is five main islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa), but consists of over 14,000 islands in total, only 260 of which are inhabited. I’m embarrassed to admit how little I knew about Japanese geography before I came here.

We quickly down the ship’s usual breakfast buffet (which we can’t serve ourselves due to infection control measures) and some terrible coffee (why can’t they make good coffee?!). After a pit stop in our cabin, we head out to the line of motor coaches that will whisk groups around for various day trips. The morning’s journey takes us past farms growing mostly rice, though we’re between planting and harvest at the moment, so the paddies are just water or dry.

The bus rambles along carrying about 24 of us, the straight road soon curving this way and that as we head up into the hills. All of a sudden, we’ve arrived at the Ryugado Caves. It feels a little bit like a deserted town, but it’s really two short streets of quiet shops. Does this cater to tourists or locals? Seems a bit of both from what they’re selling.

Just above the town is a chilly wet hillside and a short staircase leading to an escalator (!) dropping us at one of the cave’s entrances. Check out the map – there are a few ways to make your way through the maze of caves – we are taking the red path. One of the others requires wearing hard hats and I secretly wish we were doing that one in spite of its potential difficulty.

It’s a bit mysterious, a small opening in the earth beckoning but providing few clues as to what lies inside, in spite of the map. We really can’t tell what we’re getting into…is it cold? hot? wet? super dark? will we have to crawl? are there bats and other creatures? With just slight trepidation, we venture in.

The “ceiling” is low, and the steps steep. The formations are lit in varying shades, mostly marine colors presumably inspired by this place once being covered in water. The earth’s evolution, millennia of rainfall, and ground moisture seeping through have made incredible formations throughout the cave. We continue slowly…stairs give way to dirt and rocks…standing is often not possible…a few places we have to squeeze through.

There is signage along the way where the rock formations have been named: Waterfall of the Flying Dragon; The Stone from Heaven; The Drawn Curtain; The Stone Where Buddha Scraped His Belly Button; The Gates of Heaven and Tiring Hill; Dragon’s Mouth; Vase of the Gods.

It’s temperate – neither cold nor hot – comfortably neither dry nor wet, and there are really no smells to speak of, strangely enough. There are indeed little bats flying around! Some spaces are tiny…a small tunnel leads to a room of sorts, then another staircase…and after about 30 minutes, we are in a larger chamber. A light show/movie cast upon the wall depicts the beginning of time to humans walking here – in about two minutes. It’s actually pretty cool.

Just around the next bend is evidence of ancient humanity: a vase/urn, and a fire pit. We wonder how you wouldn’t get asphyxiated with a fire burning in here, but it turns out we are very near the upper entrance and fresh air. It is estimated that people occupied the cave around 2,000 years ago, leaving us to wonder what they were like. Perhaps not as “primitive” as you might think…remember this about the same time as Cleopatra. Maybe the cave is where village teenagers came to hang out away from their parents? The small museum after we emerge provides few clues.

A bit of shopping – Japanese steel! – we buy knives, hoping that the workshop where they make these is legit. And that we are allowed to bring them on the ship, let alone get them home.

A quick trip down the hill and into the city we go…cars and street lights, left turns and right…then rising high above us is Kochi Castle. Originally built as a fort with a watchtower in the early 16th century, the site and structure went through various incarnations until it was finished in 1610 by Yamauchi Katsutoyo, a lord made famous in battle, rewarded for his valor. It was destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 1753, and is still that same reconstruction. Incredible that it has survived this long.

It looks deceptively close as we pass through the lower gate and begin the climb up uneven stone stairs, the gravel crunching beneath each step. The stairs and paths go in many directions, an intentional design to slow down intruders. The correct way up is often not what it appears, and the steps are of varying heights and depths so as to further slow the ascent…

The entrance podium is actually at the back of the structure. Inside the tower are a few displays: this amazing 3D tapestry, and a diorama of the entire complex that was wonderful. Even if the humans and buildings were completely out of proportion, I loved the characters:

At the tower’s top, after climbing super steep stairs that should really be called ladders, panoramic views as far as the eye can see and close up detail of the architecture. Truly spectacular. If we could see with the eyes of the lookouts centuries ago, what would we have seen? What dangers might be on the horizon?

A careful descent down the tower’s ladders and staircases, through the courtyards and gravel pathways, and still further down through the main gate, we have a bit of time before meeting the guide.

What to do?! McDonald’s! Okay, I know that sounds weird, but just like the egg salad sandwich at 7-11, a stop at Mickey D’s is a must when visiting Japan.

A google search turns one up not far away, the directions taking us through a street market as an added bonus. From bonsai to bananas, the market went on for blocks, but we hustled into the mall and found the golden M. I think what I ordered is called a Tatarami burger with cheese (teriyaki sauce, cheese, and onion jam (?)). It was…really good. We all commented that it actually looked just like the advertisement (unlike at home). We also got fries with salted plum spice – you dump the fries into a paper bag, sprinkle in the spice packet, and shake – unusual but tasty!