Regions & prefectures
JapanRegions & prefectures
Tokushima
Four nights of dancing in August, tidal whirlpools and the indigo that dressed Japan.
- Capital
- Tokushima
- Status
- Prefecture
- Region
- Shikoku
- Must-see
- The Awa Odori festival
- Local specialty
- Sudachi citrus, aizome indigo, Tokushima ramen
The old province of Awa built its fortune on indigo: aizome dye clothed half the country before chemical dyes arrived, and a handful of workshops still ferment it. The Naruto strait throws up twenty-metre whirlpools at every tide. The Iya valley, one of the archipelago’s most remote, keeps suspension bridges woven from wild kiwi vines.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.
In the magazine
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