Mt. Shiude
The Shonai Peninsula, at the northwestern tip of Kagawa Prefecture, offers remarkable views onto the island-dotted Seto Inland Sea. The best vistas can be enjoyed from the top of Mt. Shiude, a wooded peak where a scenic lookout provides views over both sides of the peninsula and across the sea toward Honshu, with Seto Ohashi Bridge in the distance. These views are particularly impressive in early spring, when the hundreds of sakura (cherry blossom) trees on the peninsula burst into bloom, painting the hillsides pink. In early summer, visitors can enjoy hydrangeas and azaleas blooming along the path to the lookout point.
Mt. Shiude has been a strategic vantage point since prehistoric times. Earthenware, weapons, and building foundations dating back to the Yayoi period (300 BCE–300 CE) have been excavated here. In later eras, sentries were able to monitor the busy Inland Sea shipping lanes, which remain major transport arteries today. The Mt. Shiude café, just beneath the lookout point, invites visitors to sit by its large east-facing windows, through which they can watch cargo ships passing in the distance using the binoculars provided.