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Kochi is the capital of Kochi Prefecture on the Pacific coast of Shikoku, Japan, famous for Kochi Castle, the summer Yosakoi Festival and katsuo no tataki, bonito seared over a straw fire. About 310,000 people live in the city, which lies on a plain at the head of Urado Bay between the mountains and the sea.
From 1601 the Yamauchi lords ruled the Tosa Domain from Kochi Castle, the only Japanese castle whose original keep survives together with its main palace. Below the castle the old town still gathers every Sunday for a street market that has been held for over 300 years, and the nearby Hirome Market is the place to try local food.
Kochi is also the home town of Sakamoto Ryoma, the samurai who helped bring about the Meiji Restoration. His statue faces the Pacific at Katsurahama beach, while on the hill of Godaisan the pilgrim temple of Chikurin-ji stands beside the Makino Botanical Garden.
Kochi Castle stands on Otakasa hill in the centre of Kochi and was the seat of the Yamauchi lords of Tosa from 1601. Its keep of 1747 is one of only twelve original keeps in Japan, and it is the only castle where both the keep and the main palace survive, with views from the top floor.
The Kochi Castle Museum of History opened in 2017 opposite the gate of Kochi Castle in Kochi. It looks after about 67,000 items handed down by the Yamauchi lords of Tosa, including national treasures, and its exhibitions tell the story of Tosa and the Yamauchi family.
Harimaya Bridge in central Kochi takes its name from a merchant house that built a private bridge over the moat in the Edo period. A red copy of the old wooden bridge stands in a small park, and the bridge is known across Japan from the Yosakoi song about a monk who bought a hairpin.
Hirome Market is a covered food hall with over 50 stalls near Kochi Castle in Kochi, opened in 1998 on the site of a Tosa Domain elder's mansion. Visitors share long tables and order straw-seared bonito, gyoza and drinks, and it is open from about 10 in the morning until 11 at night.
Katsurahama is a curving sandy beach facing the Pacific on the southern edge of Kochi, long famed as a place for viewing the moon. A bronze statue of Sakamoto Ryoma, built in 1928, looks out to sea, and a shrine sits on the headland, but strong waves mean swimming is banned.
The Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum opened in 1991 near the ruins of Urado Castle above Katsurahama in Kochi. It displays letters and documents of Ryoma and his allies who worked to end the shogunate, and its modern building looks out over the Pacific Ocean from the headland.
Chikurin-ji is a Shingon temple on the hill of Godaisan in Kochi and Temple 31 of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage, said to have been founded by the monk Gyoki in the 8th century. Its main hall is an Important Cultural Property, and a five-storey pagoda rises among the trees.
The Makino Botanical Garden was founded in 1958 on Godaisan hill in Kochi in honour of Tomitaro Makino, the father of Japanese botany, who was born in Kochi Prefecture. Gardens and greenhouses hold thousands of plants, and a museum tells the story of his life and work.
The Yosakoi Festival has been held in Kochi in August since 1954, when the Kochi Chamber of Commerce started it as a rival to the Awa Odori of Tokushima. Around 200 teams and 20,000 dancers parade holding naruko wooden clappers, and the festival style has spread to towns across Japan.
The Kochi Sunday Market fills Otesuji avenue below Kochi Castle in Kochi every Sunday and has been held for more than 300 years. Hundreds of stalls sell fresh vegetables, fruit, knives, plants and foods such as sushi and dried fish, and it is best to arrive early in the morning.
The Museum of Art, Kochi opened in 1993 in Kochi and is the art museum of Kochi Prefecture. Its collection includes works by local artists, works by Marc Chagall and the photographs of Yasuhiro Ishimoto, and its hall also hosts Noh and other stage performances.
Katsuo no tataki is bonito seared quickly over a fire and served in thick slices, and it is the best-known dish of Kochi. In Kochi it is often seared over a blazing straw fire for a smoky taste and eaten with salt or ponzu, garlic and onion, and Hirome Market is a good place to try it.
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