Yashima Plateau

Yashima was once a true island, but landfill dating to the 1600s connected the volcanic plateau to the Shikoku mainland. The flat-topped mesa rises clearly above Takamatsu and offers wide views of the Seto Inland Sea from its peak. The plateau has a long strategic history: fortifications here appear in chronicles from 720, and in 1185 a cove on its eastern side was the site of the Battle of Yashima, where the Minamoto clan defeated the Taira in a clash that helped establish the Kamakura shogunate. Also on the plateau is Yashimaji Temple, the 84th stop on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage, whose main hall from the Kamakura period is designated an Important Cultural Property.