1 / 6Megijima or OgijimaPhoto: 屋嶋の仙人 / CC BY-SA 4.0
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Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
The near art islands. Twenty minutes to Megijima with its cave and its wind-walled village; forty to Ogijima and its hillside of white houses. Both carry Setouchi Triennale works, and both are near-empty compared with Naoshima. Outside the Triennale (every three years; the last was 2025), most of the art is closed on weekdays and in winter, so on a weekday go for the cave, the lookout and the village.
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Only on 6h+" — the 10:00 out and the 13:20 back put you at the gangway about 13:50, so this needs a call that sails at 15:30 or later. on a shorter call, take the 11:20 back for an hour at the port village, without the cave bus.
- Cave 8:35 to 16:55, last entry 16:30 (secondary). Lockers at the port 8:20 to 17:30 — the cave's hours come from a regional tourism site, not the ferry operator. the operator's page lists the island bus at ¥800 return for adults but gives no bus timetable, so phone 087-821-7912 or ask on arrival..
- 4 hr 30 min door to door needs a 6.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
Why Megijima or Ogijima is famous
Two small islands in the Inland Sea, both Setouchi Triennale sites with permanent art in and around working villages. Megijima is identified in folklore as the ogre island of the Momotaro story and has caves to prove it. Ogijima is a hillside of narrow lanes with a lighthouse at the end.
Megijima sits 20 minutes from the Takamatsu waterfront, and is known as Onigashima, Ogre Island. The ferry operator's page describes the Ogre Cave, called Onigashima Daidokutsu, on the summit, and a 188 m lookout, Washigamine, with a 360-degree view over the Seto Inland Sea. A regional tourism site gives the cave as 400 m long and about 15 minutes to walk through.
You land at the port, where the Oni-no-Yakata (ogre house) has a light-meal restaurant, shops and coin lockers, and the island bus to the cave leaves from there. Walking is the way to get round the rest of the island, and cars are not allowed.The ferries are few, so the plan is built around the ferry times.
The catch is that the timetable is the schedule: the ferry runs every two hours. Miss the 13:20 and you wait until 15:20. The bus fare and cave fee are on top of the ferry, and the operator's page gives no bus times. On a stormy day check the operator before you leave the ship. If you want contemporary art instead of folklore, take the Naoshima guide.
Things worth knowing
- Fix your return ferry before you set out: from Megijima they leave at 9:20, 11:20, 13:20, 15:20 and 17:20.
- Tickets are sold from 30 minutes before departure and foot passengers are first come, first served.
- Bring cash: the cave fee is cash only, according to a regional tourism site.
- The island bus is ¥800 return for adults (¥400 for children) from the Oni-no-Yakata at the port. It does not run every day off-season and stops in winter, so phone 087-821-7912 before you count on it.
Where the 4 hr 30 min goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
30 minutes each way is the measured figure for ferry 20–40 min, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 3 hr 30 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions people send us
How do I get from Takamatsu cruise port to Megijima?
Walk about 10 minutes to Prefectural Pier No. 3 beside JR Hotel Clement at Sunport and take the Meon ferry. It sails at 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:10 and takes 20 minutes, ¥370 one way or ¥740 return.
When is the last ferry back from Megijima?
On the ordinary timetable (not 1 to 20 August), ferries leave Megijima at 9:20, 11:20, 13:20, 15:20 and 17:20, each reaching Takamatsu 20 minutes later. On a call that sails at 17:00 or earlier, aim for the 15:20 at the latest.
How much is the Ogre Cave on Megijima?
A regional tourism site gives ¥600 for adults and ¥500 for visitors aged 65 and over with proof of age, cash only, open 8:35 to 16:55 with last entry at 16:30. The island bus from the port is ¥800 return for adults, per the ferry operator.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~3hRitsurin Garden
Seventy-five hectares, six ponds, thirteen landscaped hills and Mount Shiun standing behind it as borrowed scenery.
See the detail
Eat · ~1.5hUdon at a self-service mill
Kagawa eats more udon per head than anywhere in Japan.
See the detail
See · ~7hNaoshima
A copper-smelting island turned over to contemporary art from the 1990s: Tadao Ando concrete sunk into the hillside so nothing breaks the skyline, a Kusama pumpkin on the jetty, and old houses converted one at a time in Honmura.
See the detail