Morning in Shimanto
We spent the night at Hotel Sunriver Shimanto in Nakamura, a few minutes’ walk from Nakamura station. Breakfast came on compartment trays like a school canteen: fried noodles, a croquette, a sausage and little side dishes. Halfway through, we heard a very familiar accent from another table: full Singlish, no mistaking it. I went over to say hi, and yes, fellow Singaporeans, at hotel breakfast in the far corner of Shikoku where the night before we could barely find dinner. Singaporeans really are everywhere. Then we went out to the river.
On the way to the river we stopped at the Yasunami waterwheels, about 10 minutes from Nakamura: a row of old wooden waterwheels along an Edo-period irrigation canal through the rice fields. Only a few still lift water into the paddies; the rest are kept turning by the locals for visitors. In June the whole canal is buried in hydrangeas. In November it was just us, the rice stubble and Rilakkuma, who got his photo too.
We had the whole canal to ourselves, so nobody was waiting for us to finish posing. We took our time.
Then one last photo with Xiaobai, and on to the river.
The Sada sinking bridge
The Shimanto is called Japan’s last clear stream, and it’s known for its chinkabashi, “sinking bridges”. They’re low, narrow, with no railings, so that when the river floods, the water just goes over them instead of washing them away.
The Sada bridge is the longest of them, and we drove across it first. It was one hell of a drive. One lane of concrete, no railings, no kerb, the river right there on both sides, and Xiaobai’s tyres a step away from the edge the whole way. I kept the wheel dead straight and didn’t breathe much until we reached the other side. Minmin filmed it from the passenger seat.
Then we parked and walked it. Cars use it too, so on foot you step aside whenever one comes.
The water really is that clear. From the middle of the bridge you can see the stones on the riverbed.
The Pacific coast
Then we drove north-east along the Pacific coast towards Kōchi, with the waves crashing on the rocks below the road.
A cat came to say hello at the last stop.
By lunchtime we were in Kōchi city, at Hirome Market.
Postcard from Shimanto, Kōchi
The longest of the Shimanto River's 'sinking bridges', low concrete bridges with no railings that go under water when the river floods. About 15 minutes' drive from Nakamura.