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Tokushima is the capital city of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku, Japan, at the mouth of the Yoshino River, famous for the Awa Odori dance festival each August and for Mount Bizan, the symbol of the city. Its top sights are Mount Bizan, the Tokushima Castle ruins and garden, the Awa Odori Kaikan and temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
Tokushima grew as the castle town of the Hachisuka clan, lords of Tokushima Domain, and prospered on the indigo dye trade, which by the end of the Edo period made it one of Japan's ten most populous castle towns. It became a city on 1 October 1889, and an air raid on 3 July 1945 destroyed 74% of its built-up area.
Tokushima covers 191.52 km² and had about 245,000 people in 2024. Its Awa Odori has some 400 years of history and draws about 1.3 million visitors over four days in August, and temples 13 to 17 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage lie on the edge of the city.
Mount Bizan is the symbol of Tokushima, Japan, a mountain said to be named for looking like an eyebrow from every direction and sung of in the Man'yōshū. A ropeway climbs to its 277 m summit park, with cherry trees, a peace pagoda and views as far as Awaji Island.
Tokushima Castle was the seat of the Hachisuka lords in Tokushima, Japan, built in 1585–86 on the 61 m Shiroyama hill and held by the clan for about 280 years. Its buildings were removed in 1875, but walls of blue Awa stone and moats survive in Tokushima Central Park.
Tokushima Castle Omotegoten Garden is a Momoyama-style garden in Tokushima, Japan, laid out in the early Edo period by warrior and tea master Ueda Sōko. A Place of Scenic Beauty since 1941, it pairs a dry garden with a tidal pond garden, and its 10.35 m blue stone bridge is broken in the middle.
Awa Odori Kaikan is a hall in Tokushima, Japan, opened in July 1999 so visitors can enjoy the Awa Odori dance all year, its shape based on a festival lantern. Its hall stages dance shows daily by its own troupe and famous ren groups, with a museum and the Bizan ropeway station upstairs.
Jōraku-ji is the 14th temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Tokushima, Japan, and the only one of the 88 whose main image is Miroku Bosatsu. Burned by Chōsokabe Motochika's troops and rebuilt under the Hachisuka clan, it stands on bare rock grounds called the flowing water rock.
Awa Kokubun-ji is the 15th temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Tokushima, founded as the provincial temple of Awa under Emperor Shōmu's edict of 741. Rebuilt from 1741 and a Sōtō Zen temple since 1746, it keeps foundation stones of a seven-storey pagoda and a garden that is a Place of Scenic Beauty.
Ido-ji is the 17th temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Tokushima, Japan, said to date from 673 under Emperor Tenmu and named for the well Kūkai is said to have dug overnight for thirsty villagers. Its large vermilion gate came from a Hachisuka villa, and seven Yakushi statues fill its main hall.
Jōroku-ji is a Sōtō Zen temple in Tokushima, Japan, called the Hōryū-ji of Awa for its many cultural properties and said to begin with a nun's hermitage of 650. Hosokawa Shigeyuki revived it around 1487–1491, and its blood-stained ceiling is said to recall a lord killed here in 1581.
Awa Jūrobē Yashiki is the house site of Bandō Jūrobē, hero of the puppet play Keisei Awa no Naruto, in Tokushima, Japan, now a prefectural museum. It displays Awa puppet theatre puppets and stages a scene of the play twice a day, rising to four shows a day in mid-August.
Shinmachi River flows through the heart of Tokushima, Japan, where boats once carried the Awa indigo that funded Tokushima Domain. Its banks are lined with parks and the Shinmachi Boardwalk, a local group runs sightseeing boats, and at high tide fish can be seen from a glass-walled walkway.
Yoshinogawa Bridge is a 1,071 m steel truss bridge over the Yoshino River in Tokushima, Japan, opened on 18 December 1928 before a crowd of 40,000. With 17 Warren truss spans, it is one of Japan's 100 famous bridges and was the main road to Naruto until a wider bridge opened downstream.
Shibunomaruyama Kofun is a keyhole-shaped burial mound in Tokushima, Japan, built in the early 5th century on a ridge by the Tatara River. At 105 m long it is the largest in Tokushima Prefecture and second in Shikoku, with finds of boat and house haniwa, and is a National Historic Site.
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