Arched around the underbelly of Shikoku and following the great indentation of Tosa Bay carved into that island by the Pacific, Kochi Prefecture is one of those places over which a sense of isolation has long seemed to hang.
At one time, the impenetrable mountains of central Shikoku meant that Tosa (Kochi's old provincial name) was approachable only by sea. Traveling there from the then-capital Kyoto was an arduous, hazardous business through pirate-infested waters.
While the worst that modern travelers have to face on the flight to the prefectural capital of Kochi might be a nasty spot of turbulence, it's clear upon arriving in this subtropical southern city of palm-flanked avenues that they've reached a different sort of Japan.