Takamatsu isn’t blessed with picturesque snowfall as you’d see in other prefectures and In winter it's a far cry from ever looking like the villages of Shirakawa-Go. However, with the mountains nearby you’re never really far away from the freshly fallen power if you want to find it.
Up in Shionoe for example, in the south of Kagawa, the snowfall can really mount up and the scenery is certainly worth the slightly risky drive up there. The surrounding mountains look stunning with a light dusting of snow and the river running through the village as it passes the snow covered onsen is hard not to enjoy.
Furthermore, if you have your snow tyres on and fancy pushing just a little bit further, as you cross the border from Kagawa into Mima you’ll be able to explore the icy river close up and even wander into the snow covered bamboo forest. The forest is particularly eerie under the snow, denser and darker than usual and with frequent dull thuds as the shoots knock together plummeting more snow to the ground.
It’s only snow, I know, but there is something about exploring these familiar places in unfamiliar weather that makes little trips like this worthwhile. And for any photographers out there, a snow-covered bamboo forest, tiny mountain streams and a surrounding wall of white mountains is surely impossible to pass up
