Smiles of Shikoku: 4 Prefectures in 4 Weeks

A very special 4 week travel adventure has begun, where a British travel writer and photographer couple embark on a 4-week live journey to Shikoku’s four prefectures. Shikoku is southwest of Osaka and south of Hiroshima and is easily accessible by multiple freeways and train lines.

Shikoku is the smallest of Japan’s four main islands – an island packed with sites and events of the island. One example is the great Awa Odori dancing festival in Tokushima, the largest festival of its type where over 1 million converge for a four day festival.

Here at JapanTravelMate.com, I love supporting the Japan blogging and travel niche. So for the next 4 weeks JapanTravelMate.com will bring you a weekly wrap up of travels in each prefecture, joining forces with the The Real Japan (the team behind this Tourism Shikoku initiative).

Press release:

Tokushima, Japan – 24 June 2013

Capitalizing on their previous Japanese experience as “Travel Volunteers”, travel writer and photographer duo Jamie Lafferty and Katy Morrison embarked Monday, 24 June on new project, entitled Smiles of Shikoku. The month-long tour of the island and its four prefectures will see them sharing their historic, cultural and culinary findings on social networks on a daily basis.

Selected in 2011 ahead of over 2,000 other applicants from around the world for the successful “100+1 days in Japan – Travel Volunteer Project” to promote travel to Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the couple had visited all of Japan’s 47 prefectures in 100 days, producing daily blog posts and photographs. The project generated international news coverage and consequent online following, while revealing some of Japan’s least explored regions to foreign audiences.

“Back in 2011, we’ve immensely enjoyed traveling in Japan and were proud to help revitalize tourism by sharing our experience on social media” said Katy. “We now have the chance to revisit Shikoku, one of our favorite parts of the country and look forward to increasing international interest to this undiscovered gem of an island.”

Comprising of four prefectures – Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime and Kagawa – Shikoku is the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. It is home to stunning landscapes, centuries-old traditions of handicraft but also the up-and-coming Setouchi international art festival and the Shikoku pilgrimage, a 1,400km religious journey to 88 temples that will celebrate its 1,200 year anniversary in 2014.

The Smiles of Shikoku project is sponsored by Tourism Shikoku and operated by The Real Japan, the luxury travel agency behind the original Travel Volunteer project.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/smilesofshikoku
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmilesOfShikoku
Instagram: http://instagram.com/SmilesOfShikoku

All images are property of The Real Japan.