Current Time in Kochi, Japan

Kochi is the capital of Kōchi Prefecture, on the Pacific coast of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands. The city occupies a plain between the mountains and the sea, crossed by the Kagami and Enokuchi rivers and facing the wide sweep of Tosa Bay. Cut off from the rest of Shikoku by a mountain range, the region developed a strong and independent character, and the old provincial name Tosa is still used with pride by residents today.

About 320,000 people live in the city, which serves as the commercial and administrative centre for a prefecture of some six hundred thousand. Kochi has one of the warmest and wettest climates in Japan, and the abundant sunshine supports early vegetable growing under greenhouses, along with citrus fruit, particularly the fragrant yuzu, of which the prefecture is the country's leading producer. Fishing remains vital, especially for bonito, and forestry is important in the mountainous interior.

The modern city grew around the castle built in the early seventeenth century by Yamauchi Kazutoyo, whose family ruled Tosa domain until the Meiji Restoration. Kochi Castle survives with both its original main keep and its palace intact, one of only twelve original keeps left in Japan and the only one where the lord's residence also remains, making it among the most complete castle sites in the country. Tosa played an outsized role in the events that ended the shogunate, and its most famous son, Sakamoto Ryōma, is honoured with a museum and a large statue overlooking Katsurahama beach.

Kochi is celebrated for its markets and its food culture. The Sunday market on Otesuji street has been held for more than three centuries and stretches for a kilometre, selling vegetables, knives, plants and street food. Hirome Market, an indoor hall of small stalls and shared tables, is the best place to try katsuo no tataki, bonito seared over a straw fire and served with garlic and salt, washed down with the local sake for which Tosa is renowned. The city's drinking culture is legendary in Japan and comes with its own traditional games.

In August the Yosakoi Festival transforms the streets, as tens of thousands of dancers in bright costumes perform with wooden clappers to music that blends folk melody with rock and samba. Begun in Kochi in 1954, the festival has since spread across the country. Other attractions include Chikurin-ji temple on Mount Godai, a stop on the Shikoku pilgrimage, the Makino Botanical Garden dedicated to the pioneering botanist born in the prefecture, and the beaches and headlands of the coast.

Transport includes an airport with flights to Tokyo and Osaka, limited express trains across the mountains to Okayama, expressways, and a historic tram system that has run through the city centre since 1904 and is among the oldest in Japan. Kochi University and several colleges provide higher education.

With its intact castle, its exuberant festival, its markets and its open, sociable atmosphere, Kochi offers one of the most distinctive regional identities in Japan.