Photo/Illutration Kotohira Bus Co. employees in front of a microbus, right, used for sightseeing tours and a large shuttle taxi in Kotohira, Kagawa Prefecture (Provided by Kotohira Bus Co.)

KOTOHIRA, Kagawa Prefecture—Kotohira Bus Co. based here is offering regular sightseeing bus tours to take visitors on day trips from Kotohira to the Miyoshi's Oboke-Iya valley area in neighboring Tokushima Prefecture.

The company also operates a large shuttle taxi service to ferry tourists to Chichibugahama beach in Mitoyo, also in Kagawa Prefecture, which is famed for its similarities to the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia.

Both services are mainly aimed at overseas tourists. But anyone can use the services.

The new offerings are intended to encourage visitors to extend their stays and establish the Kotohira town as a sightseeing base for the Shikoku and Setouchi regions.

Kotohira is home to Kotohira-gu shrine, and while it attracts many visitors, many of them only spend one night in the town and an increasing number are opting for day trips via car.

The sightseeing bus tour leaves Kotohira in the morning and stops at the Kazurabashi Yumebutai tourist facility, Iyakei valley and Hotel Obokekyo Mannaka before returning to the town in the evening.

Tours are conducted with a microbus that can seat up to 21 passengers and have two pricing options—a standard 9,800 yen ($64) ticket and a 13,650 yen package that includes hot spring bathing and lunch.

Meanwhile, the shuttle taxi service makes four round trips between Kotohira and Chichibugahama a day. It also stops at a restaurant complex and a guesthouse.

Of those four daily circuits, two also make a side trip to a craft chocolate and coffee workshop in Manno, Kagawa Prefecture. 

Taxis have a nine-person capacity and cost 2,200 yen to transport passengers between Kotohira and Chichibugahama. The fare is the same for children and adults.

For reservations, go to (https://www.kotobus-express.jp/timetable/chichibugahama/en.html). 

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