Tokushima

Tokushima is a prefecture on the eastern corner of Shikoku, facing the straits where the Pacific squeezes into the Seto Inland Sea. It is dance country: each August the capital explodes with Awa Odori, Japan's largest dance festival, when hundreds of thousands fill the streets behind chanting troupes.

Museums and nightly shows keep the dance alive the rest of the year, and the Mount Bizan ropeway frames the city from above. The Naruto whirlpools spin beneath the bridge to Awaji Island, viewable from tour boats or a glass-floored walkway, and the Iya Valley hides vine bridges over deep gorges inland.

Slurp rich Tokushima ramen, topped with raw egg in the local style, and try sudachi citrus on everything. Highway buses and ferries connect the prefecture with Kansai across the straits. August is the unmissable moment; autumn suits the Iya Valley's foliage and its rope-and-vine crossings.