Shikoku is the smallest and objectively coolest of the four main Japanese islands.
Shikoku is the best part of Japan because...
It seems to have an huge influence relative to its small land area and population.
It is the birthplace of Shuji Nakamura, Nobel Prize winner for the invention of the blue LED
Despite being a minor shrine, Kotohira Jinja is one of the few Shinto Shrines with a bunsha outside Japan (Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha)
Uwajimaya, a Japanese supermarket chain in the PNW, was founded by a family from Shikoku and is named after a city on the island. But I'm not aware of businesses started by Japanese-Americans from other parts of Japan.
Why is that? Why is this a common theme? Is it because of the association with the Shikoku Pilgrimage? Or is there a deeper reason?
And wanting to leave Shikoku is appears in a lot of them
Shikou is incredibly old
It is the second island birthed in the Japanese creation myth (as Iyonofutananoshima), and even then it was described as having four faces
The four modern prefectures' borders have been largely unchanged for over a thousand years
It is (claimed to be) the Onigashima from the Legend of Momotaro (Takamatsu)
Shikoku is one of Japan's poorer regions and has worse aging population problems, but it doesn't seem like it at all due to all the art and culture
House of Toilet looks like an architect got 10x the typical budget for a public bathroom
Not having to worry about homeless people might help as Ibuki Island's population is rapidly shrinking
The Yusuhara Library wouldn't seem out of place in a major city, but it seems way too beautiful for a village of only a few thousand in the remote mountains
Kagawa is on the north east area of Shikoku and is Japan's smallest prefecture by area. Even though its capital, Takamatsu, is not the most populous city on the island, it serves as a political and cultural center due to its proximity to central Japan.
Hassaku is an interesting regional holiday in Marugame in which horse shaped cakes are made for baby boys
The Shikoku Camera Club (Instagram) runs contests for pictures taken in Shikoku
Pilgrimage
The Shikoku Pilgrimage visits 88 shrines across the island. It is one of the most famous aspects of Shikoku. Whenever I say, "I like Shikoku", people often go, "Oh, the place with the pilgrimage". But I don't think it's a particularly interesting piece of Shikoku culture because it isn't something people do every day. It helps sustain Shikoku tourism, but it's not a big part of the Shikoku identity.
More interesting are the "knock off" pilgrimages, like the one in Nagasaki. Or the Shikoku 88 Views, which is kind of stupid because it's obviously a tourism thing and one of the "views" is a train.