Where is Takamatsu?
Takamatsu is located west of Osaka, at the top of the eastern half of Shikoku. The box on the map below encloses the Seto Inland Sea National Park, a large body of water between Shikoku and the mainland, which is dotted with many islands. (The full-sized map is here.)
Takamatsu can be seen at the center of this close-up view:
Until 1988, Shikoku really felt like an island because you had to choose either boat or plane when you wanted to go to the mainland. However, thanks to the Seto Grand Bridge, completed in April of that year, the "island feel" is gone. The bridge has two levels: road traffic has the upper level and the Marine Liner train the lower. The drive across is very nice and takes only 6 or 7 minutes. There is one catch, however — the toll is steep.
Seto Grand Bridge
The Akashi Bridge was completed in 1998, connecting the northern tip of Awaji Island to the mainland just west of Kobe. Also completed was the expressway that connects it to the Naruto Bridge at the southern end of the island, bringing the mainland much closer to residents of Tokushima.
Akashi Bridge
And in the spring of 1999 the Shimanami Kaido (literally "Island Line Sea Route") opened, which is a roadway that connects Imabari, on the northern tip of western Shikoku, to Onomichi, a town on the mainland between Hiroshima and Okayama. A series of 10 bridges were built to accomplish this, connecting many of the hundreds of small islands in this part of the Seto Inland Sea.
This simplified map shows the major roadways of the area in green and the bridges in blue:
(Expressway details are not shown.)
