Kochi & the Shimanto River in One Day
Sunrise at Katsurahama, seared bonito at Hirome Market, then the limited express west to cycle the Shimanto River to its submersible bridges.
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Kochi & the Shimanto
Pacific rocks, flame-seared bonito, a river with no dams
For active travellers who want Kochi's coast, its food and its famous river in a single long day, starting before dawn and ending with an izakaya.
1Katsurahama beach at sunrise
Take the first bus from Kochi Station toward Katsurahama, about 35 minutes, to reach the beach as the sun comes up over the Pacific. The bay is a crescent of grey pebbles between two pine-covered headlands, with the small Ryuo shrine on the eastern rocks and the statue of Sakamoto Ryoma, Kochi's revolutionary hero, staring out to sea. Swimming is not allowed here; the surf is too strong.
1 HourCost: Free- 2
Kochi Castle
Bus back to the city centre and walk up to the castle from the Ohashi-dori tram stop for around 9:00, when the keep opens. Kochi's is the only castle in Japan where the whole inner compound, the keep and the lord's residence, survives together; the wooden stairs go right up to a balcony that circles the top floor. On Sundays the street below hosts the weekly market that has run for three hundred years.
1 HourCost: ¥500–1,000 
3Hirome Market, katsuo tataki
Two minutes from the castle gate, Hirome Market is a covered hall of sixty food stalls with shared tables; it opens mid-morning and by 11:00 is already lively. Order katsuo tataki, bonito seared over burning straw so the outside is charred and the inside is raw, served with garlic, salt and a squeeze of yuzu. A glass of Tosa sake with it is normal here, even at lunch.
45 MinutesCost: ¥1,000–2,000- 4
Shimanto River by bicycle
The JR limited express Ashizuri leaves Kochi around 12:00 and takes about an hour and 45 minutes to Nakamura, the town on the lower Shimanto. Rent a bicycle at the station and ride the flat road along the river for about 10 kilometres to the Sada chinkabashi, the longest of the submersible bridges built without railings so floods can pass over them. Walk across it, then paddle in the shallows below.
2 HoursCost: ¥1,000–2,000 - 5
Evening in the Obiyamachi arcade
Return the bicycle and take the late-afternoon express back to Kochi, arriving around 19:00. The Obiyamachi arcade and the lanes off it are the city's drinking district, and Kochi drinks harder than anywhere in Japan; order the sawachi platter of mixed local fish, tuck into fried eggplant and a bowl of grilled whitebait, and try a bekuhai cup that cannot be put down until it is empty.
1.5 HoursCost: ¥2,000–4,000
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food & drink¥4,000–7,000
- Transport¥5,000–7,000
- Admissions & bicycle¥1,500–3,000
Tips
Reserve the express seats both ways: the Ashizuri runs only every couple of hours and a JR pass covers it, while the Katsurahama and castle legs are on the My-Yu sightseeing bus or the tram.
Sandals you can cycle in are the answer for the Shimanto: the road is flat and paved, but the whole point is to wade in from the gravel bars beside the bridges.
Eat the tataki with salt, not soy sauce, the way Kochi does, and ask for the straw-seared version at the stall that lights the fire in front of you; it makes the difference.
Photograph the chinkabashi from the riverbank, not from on it, with a person crossing for scale; late afternoon light comes down the valley from the west and turns the water green.