Kochi Barrier-Free Private Day Tour: A Wheelchair-Accessible Journey through Temples, Gardens, and Castle Town by Care Taxi
A private, fully accessible day through Kochi's temples, gardens, and castle town, travelling in comfort by wheelchair-friendly care taxi.
Overview
On the sunny southern coast of Shikoku, Kochi City unfolds as the easygoing capital of Kochi Prefecture, a place where the Pacific sets the rhythm of daily life. The city takes its emblem not from a castle or a crest but from a dish: katsuo no tataki, bonito seared hard over a roaring straw flame and served barely kissed by the heat. The rich fishing waters that shape this cuisine are never far, and visitors can even try searing their own catch over an open fire.
This private, one-day journey is designed so that everyone can share in that warmth. Travelling by welfare care taxi, a vehicle fitted with a rear wheelchair lift and driven by attendants trained in safe, unhurried assistance, you move seamlessly from temple to garden to castle town without the barriers that so often stand between a wheelchair user and the heart of a city. Every stop on the route has been chosen for both its beauty and its ease of access.
The day reaches from the sacred to the botanical to the historical. At Chikurinji Temple, the 31st sacred site on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage, you can learn the history of the ohenro route from the temple itself, its treasure hall guarding rare Buddhist statues that reach as far back as the Heian Period. At the Makino Botanical Garden, more than three thousand species flourish across the hillside, and at the Kochi Castle History Museum the story of the Tosa domain opens up beneath a panoramic view of the castle keep.
The tour ends where the locals themselves gather: Hirome Market, a lively warren of some sixty-five stalls where Tosa's food and drink, laughter and long shared tables spill together in the shadow of Kochi Castle. It is here, amid the clamour of communal tables and the aromas of Tosa cooking, that a day of discovery settles into something like belonging.
Details
❖ Kochi City Hotel
09:00
Your day begins in the comfort of your own hotel lobby in Kochi City, where your guide and driver are waiting. The tour travels by welfare care taxi: a vehicle fitted with a powered lift at the rear that carries up to two wheelchairs, operated by drivers experienced in handling wheelchairs safely and calmly. From the very first moment, the emphasis is on ease.
❖ Chikurinji Temple
09:15 - 10:15 (1:00 h)
Set on the wooded slopes of Mount Godaisan, Chikurinji is the 31st sacred site on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage, and one of its most atmospheric. Founded in 724 by the monk Gyoki, it joined the pilgrimage after Kobo Daishi trained on this mountain in the early ninth century. A towering pagoda rises above a large seasonal garden, while the temple's treasure hall safeguards rare Buddhist statues reaching back to the Heian Period (794 to 1185). Here you can hear the history of the ohenro pilgrimage recounted by the temple's own priest.
❖ Makino Botanical Garden
10:20 - 12:00 (1:40 h)
A short rise across the same Mount Godaisan brings you to the Makino Botanical Garden, opened in April 1958 in honour of Tomitaro Makino, the self-taught Kochi native revered as the father of Japanese botany. Across six hectares of gentle hillside, more than 3,000 species of plants are displayed along accessible paths and boardwalks. Do not miss the conservatory, where giant lily pads and orchids thrive and an indoor waterfall completes the scene.
❖ Lunch
12:00 - 12:50 (50 min)
Pause for lunch at a restaurant of your choosing. Your guide is glad to recommend somewhere suited to your tastes, whether you are curious to try Tosa's famed katsuo no tataki or would prefer something lighter.
❖ Kochi Castle History Museum
13:10 - 14:10 (1:00 h)
The Kochi Castle History Museum holds some 67,000 materials and artworks handed down by the Yamauchi lords who ruled the Tosa domain, with displays devoted to the domain and to Kochi Prefecture. From the museum's upper terrace, a panoramic view of Kochi Castle rises across the treetops, a fittingly regal backdrop to the history told within.
❖ Kochi Dai-jingu Shrine
14:15 - 14:25 (10 min)
A brief and delightfully unusual stop follows at Kochi Dai-jingu Shrine. You pass beneath golden torii gates into a small precinct where wild chickens strut freely among the visitors. In place of the customary guardian statues, a stone chicken stands watch, a quirk that makes this one of Kochi's most charming little shrines.
❖ Hirome Market
14:30 - 15:20 (50 min)
The day's final discovery is Hirome Market, set right beside Kochi Castle. Around sixty-five stalls trade in food, drink and local products, and communal tables fill the aisles with a convivial buzz. Beloved by locals and travellers alike, it is the perfect place to taste Kochi's specialities and pick up a souvenir before the tour ends.
❖ Kochi City Hotel
15:30
The care taxi returns you in comfort to your hotel, where the tour draws to a close.
OPTIONS
Notes
If more than one participant will use a wheelchair, please let us know when booking.
If you would like help finding an accessible hotel in Kochi, please contact us.
Please inform us in advance of any dietary or religious requirements.
Transport or weather conditions may occasionally require adjustments to the itinerary.
Japanese residents are also warmly welcome to join this tour.
During peak seasons (March, April, October, and 30 December to 3 January), an additional charge of ¥10,000 per group applies.
Meeting Point
Hotel pick-up in Kochi City
Your guide and wheelchair-accessible care taxi will collect you from your hotel lobby in central Kochi City at 9:00.
What's included:
Care taxi and driver
English-speaking guide
Lunch
Entrance fees
Photos of tour participants
Local tax
What's not included:
Personal carer or caregiver
Additional snacks, drinks, and souvenirs
Free cancellation up to 8 days before the experience starts (local time)
Private experience
2
-
3
Participants
Kochi
From ¥110,000 /group
6:30 hours
Traveler Photos
From ¥110,000 /group
6:30 hours
Kochi