Tokushima (Shikoku Island, Japan)

Tokushima-shi is a port city and the capital of Japan's Tokushima Prefecture (Shikoku Island) with population around 260,000. The city is in the Prefecture's northeastern part and located at the mouth of Yoshino River. Tokushima received city status in 1889 - at the time being ranked as Japan's 10th largest city. Awa Odori Airport (fka Tokushima Airport) links the city with China (seasonal flights to Hong Kong) but mainly serves regularly scheduled domestic flights (linking to Tokyo, Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Sapporo).

At the end of WW2 (1939-1945), Tokushima was heavily bombed by the US Air Force. On July 3, 1945, the city was air raided by 137 US military planes dropping a total of 1050 tons of incendiary bombs and destroying 2/3rd of all buildings. As a tourism travel destination, Tokushima is popular for its annual Obon Festival (held in August) and Awa Odori (Japanese traditional dance festival).

Regularly scheduled passenger ferries link Tokushima with Wakayama (via Nankai Ferry service) with 8 daily crossings (travel time 2 hours). Cruiseferries also link Tokushima with Kitakyushu, Shimonoseki, Matsuyama, Kobe-Osaka, Tokyo.