A City of Noodles (高松市)

Since Monday was another seemingly random Japanese national holiday, I took advantage of the three-day weekend and spent two days exploring Takamatsu City.

Takamatsu is the capital city of Kagawa Prefecture (the northeastern section of Shikoku). If Matsuyama is the Wicked Witch of the West then Takamatsu is the Wicked Witch of the East, and...OK, I sort of lost where I was going with this analogy.

In any event, the city can be reached by train, bus, or car. I took a special highway express bus and reached the city station in just over two hours.

First and foremost, Takamatsu is famous for udon noodles. A 2006 comedy film named "Udon" played off the whole concept of Takamatsu "Sanuki" udon. It's a fun rental if you can get your hands on it. I happened to catch it in the theater when I was living in Tokyo.

It is said that there are well over 700 different udon places in Kagawa Prefecture, with over 200 noodle shops in the city alone. Takamatsu's "Sanuki" style udon is characterized by distinctly chewy and firm noodles in a clear and somewhat weak tasting broth. Having happily ate udon for every meal during my two days in Takamatsu, I can say that the city produces the best bowls I have ever tasted.

There are several popular tourists spots in Takamatsu which you will be able to read about soon. I've decided to divide my trip up into different posts. This post contains pictures I snapped while walking around the city, downtown shopping area, and waterfront (Takamatsu is a port city after all).

One of the highlights from my first day was spending the night in a capsule hotel. This activity was a long held personal goal of mine. Being the only foreigner there, I received many strange glances from the less-than-wholesome looking Japanese men that inhabited the nearby tubes.

By far the best part of the evening was when a completely wasted drunk Japanese man decided to return to his capsule at four in the morning and begin screaming about random things. His friend tried to quiet him down with phrases like "Shhhh, Everybody's sleeping," but this only served to provoke more cacophonous commentary like, "WHY THE HELL ARE THEY SLEEPING!?".

The most pressing issue for the man seemed to be finding his friend Ken-chan. He hollered his name for a good five minutes until it became evident that Ken-chan wasn't coming. I'm positive that this guy woke up all of us in the nearby capsules. However, nobody said a word.

I really wanted to yell at him to shut up, but I was afraid he would enter my capsule while I was sleeping and begin pummeling my face in a drunken rage. I kept quiet.

I woke up early the next morning when a symphony of embedded capsule alarm clocks erupted around me. I had udon for brunch and was on my way to another day of sightseeing.

Drunken rambling and all, I still thought the night was a totally neat experience!

B.E.W.