4 Best Sights in Shikoku, Japan

The former residence of the Kamihaga family, which established the city's wax industry, is now a well-maintained museum. Exhibits here explain the rise and fall of this once-thriving industry. Comprehensive English signage and hands-on exhibits teach you more than you thought there was to know about the changing fortunes of this wax town.

Trek out to this paper museum, also known as Awa Washi Kaikan, to make your own postcards and browse the phenomenal gift shop, which stocks everything from sheets of softer-than-silk wrapping paper to peerless parasols. The trip here by train takes 55 minutes to Awa-Yamakawa Station (or 33 minutes by the infrequent limited express), then you walk 15 minutes to the hall. It's easier to rent a car and make the one-hour drive, especially if you are continuing on to the Iya Valley.

The late Juzo Itami (1933–97) is regarded as one of Japan's most innovative and captivating film directors, known for his affectionate and absurdist portraits of Japanese life. Each film starred his wife Nobuko Miyamoto and an off-the-wall supporting character, sometimes played by Itami himself. The director's best-known films include Tampopo (1985), centering on a bedraggled ramen-shop owner trying to make the perfect soup, and Ososhiki (The Funeral, 1984), the story of an idiosyncratic family coming together for a funeral. If you haven't seen these films, they're musts for any visitor to Japan; if you have, then you'll love the museum, curated by Miyamoto herself, showcasing video clips and objects from Itami's life.

Spread over three floors, this playful modern facility celebrates the life and work of Japan's first great cartoonist, hometown boy Ryuichi Yokoyama. His most popular character, Fuku-chan, is still widely loved, as the crowds of schoolkids reading comics in the museum's free manga library will attest. The cartoons inspire and delight, and no language skill is required to enjoy most of the visual humor. Look through World War II propaganda cartoons (from the Japanese point of view), interactive print stations, dioramas, model railroads, and tons of comic strips.