Kagawa · KotohiraNo.634★★★Open in map →
Kotohira-gu Shrine
— The sea-god shrine at the top of a long stone staircase
A shrine set on a wooded hillside in western Kagawa, reached only on foot. The staircase from the town is the approach, the sight and the effort in one, and it is free to walk from bottom to top.
- FromTakamatsu-Chikko Station
- ~60 minKotoden train, every ~30 min
- Get off atKotoden-Kotohira Station (Kotoden Kotohira Line)
- On foot
- Kotohira-gu Shrine
Where it is
19 more notes in Kagawa · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Omon gatethe roofed gate partway up that marks the start of the shrine's own precinct
- Omote-shoina drawing-room building, National Important Cultural Property, opened as a paid exhibit
- Asahi-no-Yashiroa tall two-storey hall of dark timber, also a National Important Cultural Property
- The main shrinethe hall at the head of the main staircase, where most climbs finish
- Izutama Shrine, the inner shrinethe highest hall, reached by a mountain trail that continues above the main shrine
How to actually get there
- Takamatsu-Chikko Station → Kotoden-Kotohira Station (Kotoden Kotohira Line, about 60 min, roughly every 30 min).
- Kotoden-Kotohira Station → the foot of the stone steps (walk about 15 min through the town).
- Climb to the main shrine, then decide at the top whether to keep going to the inner shrine.
- Come back down the same staircase and leave time for the approach shops on the way.
- Kotoden Kotohira Line, direct from Takamatsu-Chikko
- Takamatsu-Chikko Station →(Kotoden Kotohira Line, about 60 min)→ Kotoden-Kotohira Station. Trains run roughly every 30 minutes through the day, so the timetable rarely decides the plan. Takamatsu-Chikko sits beside JR Takamatsu Station, which makes the connection from an arriving JR train a short walk.
- Return from Kotoden-Kotohira Station
- Walk back down through the town to Kotoden-Kotohira Station and take the Kotohira Line north to Takamatsu-Chikko. Services thin out after dark, so read the departure board before committing to the second half of the climb. Trains on this line are local services only, and there is no faster evening option.
About the place
Kotohira-gu stands on a wooded hillside above the small town of Kotohira, in the west of Kagawa. The way up is a stone staircase: 785 steps from the town to the main shrine, and 1,368 in all for anyone who carries on to the inner shrine higher up. The climb comes in sections rather than one push, with a gate, several halls and a shopping approach spread along the lower stretch. Locals call the shrine Konpira-san. Worship costs nothing and the staircase itself is public ground, so the decision each visitor makes is not whether to enter but how far to go.
How to enjoy it
Begin the climb in the morning. The path above the main shrine is gated on its own schedule and runs from 9:00 to 16:30, so an early start is what makes the full staircase possible in a single visit. Arrive later and the better plan is to stop at the main shrine, then spend the descent on the approach rather than racing the gate.
Background & history
The shrine is known throughout Japan as Konpira-san, and its deity has long been prayed to for safety at sea. The main hall enshrines Omononushi-no-Kami, with Emperor Sutoku enshrined alongside him. Two buildings on the approach carry the designation of National Important Cultural Property: the Asahi-no-Yashiro hall and the Omote-shoin drawing room, whose interiors are shown as a paid exhibit. At the foot of the hill stands the Kyu Konpira Ozashibai, an Edo-period playhouse that still hosts an annual kabuki run.
Before you go
- Cash
- Worship is free and the staircase costs nothing. The exhibition buildings are separate: the Treasure Hall, the Takahashi Yuichi Gallery and the Omote-shoin charged 800 yen for adults at the time of checking, with a discounted rate for high-school and university students. Kotoden runs its own IruCa IC card, and cash works everywhere on the line.
- Before you go
- The shrine can close without notice in typhoons, heavy rain or strong winds. There is no parking at the shrine itself; the town operates paid car parks near the station, so arriving by train removes a problem rather than creating one.
- Another way
- From Okayama on the Honshu side, JR limited express trains reach JR Kotohira Station by way of the Seto-Ohashi and Dosan lines in about an hour. JR Kotohira Station is roughly 20 minutes on foot from the foot of the steps, a little further out than the Kotoden station.
- After you get off
- From Kotoden-Kotohira Station it is about 15 minutes on foot to the first stone step, through the town and along the shopping approach that leads to the shrine.