Mt. Shiude

The lookout at the top of Mt. Shiude on Kagawa's Shonai Peninsula surveys both sides of the peninsula and out across the Seto Inland Sea toward Honshu, with Seto Ohashi Bridge in the distance. Early spring is the best time to visit, when hundreds of cherry trees on the hillsides bloom in overlapping waves of pink. In early summer the path up is lined with hydrangeas and azaleas. The mountain has served as a lookout since prehistoric times, with Yayoi-period earthenware and weapons found here. The small cafe just below the summit has large east-facing windows and binoculars for watching cargo ships pass through the Inland Sea shipping lanes.