Dosan Line to Ōboke

The Dosan Line leaves Tadotsu, on the Seto Inland Sea, and crosses Shikoku through its mountains towards Kōchi and the Pacific. Its first 65.5 km, as far as Ōboke, cut a cross-section of the island: the rice plain of Sanuki, the shrine town of Kotohira, a climb over the Sanuki range to a station no road reaches, and then the Yoshino River, which the line follows upstream through the gorges of Koboke and Ōboke.

The limited expresses to Kōchi cover it in about an hour, every hour. The way to ride it slowly is JR Shikoku's Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari, "the thousand-year tale of the middle of Shikoku": three wood-panelled cars, a lunch booked ahead and served at your table, and one return trip on most Fridays, weekends and holidays. It takes two and a quarter hours to Ōboke, stopping on the way for the switchback at Tsubojiri.

Trains leave Tadotsu, where the Sanuki Railway, from which JR Shikoku descends, opened its line to Kotohira in 1889. They run south across the Sanuki plain to Zentsuji, the birthplace of the monk Kūkai, and to Kotohira, where Mt Zōzu, with the shrine of Konpira-san on its slope, stands to the right of the train. The overhead wires end here; beyond, every train is diesel.

Over the mountains

South of Kotohira the line passes the sunflower fields of Mannō and starts to climb, on gradients as steep as 1 in 40, into the Sanuki range. The Inohana tunnel, 3,845 metres long, takes it under the main ridge into Tokushima Prefecture, and on the far side Tsubojiri sits alone at 272 metres in a wooded ravine. It is a switchback station: a train that stops runs past the platform into a siding and reverses in, and leaves the same way. From there the line drops to Awa-Ikeda, crossing the Yoshino River on a bridge 571 metres long.

The gorges

From Awa-Ikeda the line turns upstream along the Yoshino River, the second-longest in Shikoku. Past Awa-Kawaguchi it enters the gorges of Koboke and Ōboke, about eight kilometres of grey-green schist that the river has cut through over two hundred million years. The gorge is both a natural monument and a place of scenic beauty, and from the train it appears in flashes between the tunnels. Ōboke station stands on the river's bank, with a view of the water from its side platform.

The trains

The Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari is three KiHa 185 railcars rebuilt by JR Shikoku for its first run in 2017, each dressed for a season: green for spring in car 1, blue and white for summer and winter in car 2, and red for autumn in car 3. Inside they are panelled like an old farmhouse, with a seven-metre bench sofa in car 2. Every seat is in the Green Car. The morning run to Ōboke is the Sora no Sato Kikō, the afternoon run back the Shiawase no Sato Kikō. The regular limited express, the Nanpū, runs from Okayama to Kōchi with JR Shikoku's 2700-series diesels, which have worked every Nanpū since March 2021; five of its round trips are painted as Anpanman trains.

The Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari makes one return trip on its running days: mostly Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, all year, with a break in the first half of January. JR Shikoku's calendar is published to March 2027. Every seat is reserved, and boarding on the morning run is only at Tadotsu, Zentsuji and Kotohira.

Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari

Limited expresses, Tadotsu to Ōboke

Limited expresses, Ōboke to Tadotsu

Good to know:

• Tsubojiri is served by three local trains a day each way: towards Awa-Ikeda at 12:34, 14:53 and 16:53, towards Kotohira and Tadotsu at 06:56, 08:29 and 13:53. The limited expresses run through without stopping; the Sennen Monogatari pauses there and passengers may step onto the platform.
• Local trains between Kotohira and Ōboke mostly need a change at Awa-Ikeda.
• Tadotsu times for trains towards Okayama are departures; the train arrives a minute or so earlier.

Times as of October 2026, from JR Shikoku's station timetables and the Sennen Monogatari's own seat-availability page. Check your date on JR Shikoku's timetable page (opens in a new tab) and the train's running calendar (opens in a new tab).

On the Nanpū, a single from Tadotsu to Ōboke is ¥1,430 for the fare and ¥1,200 for an unreserved limited-express seat, ¥2,630 in all; children pay half. The Sennen Monogatari is all Green Car, so the fare, a limited-express ticket and a Green ticket together come to ¥5,130 from Tadotsu, or ¥4,940 from Zentsuji or Kotohira. Children pay half the fare and express ticket but the full Green charge. A table for three or four is ¥9,000 a table on top of each passenger's fare and express ticket.

Seats are sold at JR ticket offices and, for journeys from 2 October 2026, through JR West's e5489 site; they go quickly at weekends. The lunch is a separate meal ticket booked through JR Shikoku's travel reservation centre, not on e5489. Fares checked October 2026 against JR Shikoku's fare table and the train's ticket page; Japanese yen.

The regular trains are covered; the Sennen Monogatari mostly is not. The ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass, for visitors to Japan, gives unlimited travel in ordinary unreserved seats on JR Shikoku's limited expresses and local trains: ¥12,000 for three days, ¥20,000 for seven. It does not include Green seats, and the Sennen Monogatari has no others. The Japan Rail Pass covers JR Shikoku too, ¥50,000 for seven days in ordinary class or ¥70,000 with Green Car seats.

For this journey alone, no pass is worth buying: the Nanpū is ¥2,630 each way and the Sennen Monogatari ¥5,130. A three-day ALL SHIKOKU pass can pay when Ōboke is one stop on a wider trip around the island.

Checked October 2026 against JR Shikoku's ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass notice (opens in a new tab) of 6 August 2026 and the Japan Rail Pass prices (opens in a new tab).

With a limited express every hour, any stop costs an hour at most. The morning Sennen Monogatari sets down only at Ōboke, so to see Zentsuji or Kotohira on the same day, ride the regular trains for that part of the trip.

Kotohira is the easier base for the morning train, which calls there at 10:48. At the other end, a night by the gorge at Ōboke leaves a whole day for the boat and the Iya Valley before the afternoon train back.

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