A Seaside Walk from Onomichi to Innoshima

 

Late August, and day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and the next temple is located on Innoshima Island in the Inland Sea.

From Onomichi I take a sunrise ferry across the narrow channel separating Onomichi from Mukaijima.

Then I hug the coast road around the western side of the island.

I have walked this before when I walked the whole length of the Shimanami Kaido, but this time my route will differ after I cross over to Innoshima.

What is noticeable is the much bigger tides than what we get on the Japan Sea coast...

On the Inland Sea low tide reveals mud flats extending some way out.

I am passed by several cyclists clad in spandex and going hell-for-leather.... obviously going to do the 70k crossing to Shikoku in one day....

I reach and pass under the bridge that connects Mukaijima Island with the smaller Iwashi Island.

I carry on down the west coast and enjoy the views which are fairly typical for a lot of the Inland Sea area....

As I head around to the south side the bridge over to Innoshima comes into view.

It's a pretty major bridge, a suspension bridge about 1,339 meters long with a central span of 770 meters.

When it was built in 1983 it was the longest centre span of any suspension bridge in Japan.

Pedestrians and cyclists cross on the lower level below the road section. It was also the first suspension bridge on the Shimanami Kaido.

A very curious sight awaited on the opposite side, last photo.

I highly recommend the Shimanami Kaido, not least for the amazing views you get from the bridges. Obviously walking is best, but even driving would be worth it if you stopped at all the viewpoints.

The previous post in this series was on Senkoji Temple which I visited the day before.

The Views From The Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge

 

The Kurushima Kaikyo Suspension Bridge(s) are the last of the bridges on the Shimanami Kaido, the road that connects Honshu with Shikoku across a series of island-hopping bridges. A post about this amazing structure I posted earlier.

The views across the island -studded Inland Sea are great from any highish point and the bridges tend to get quite high, so.........

The Inland Sea was once the major transportation route of Japan, and it is still a very busy waterway so you can look down on many boats and ships.

As you approach Shikoku, Imabari is clearly seen to the SE.

Kurushima Kaikyo Suspension Bridges

Claimed to be the longest suspension bridge structure in the world, the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge is actually 3 connected suspension bridges. Its total length is a tad over 4 kilometers, a little longer than the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge further along the Inland Sea which also connects to Shikoku and is still, I believe, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

I walked across it on the third day of my walk along the Shimanami Kaido, the route that connects Honshu to Shikoku via a series of bridges across the islands.

If you are on foot like  I was, or cycling or using a moped then the crossing is much more than 4k as a series of gradually rising loops take you up and down to the height of the bridge.

The bridge connects Imabari on Shikoku with Oshima. I had crossed Oshima fairly quickly after spending the night on Michika Island in view of the Hakata-Oshima Bridge. Later I will post some shots of the stupendous views from the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridges....

Sunset from Michika Island

Michikajima, Michika Island, is a tiny, uninhabited island in the Seto Inland Sea. It is located between Hakata Island and Oshima Island and is part of Ehime.

It is on the Shimanami Kaido that connects Shikoku with Honshu. It connects to Hakata Island by the Hakata Bridge, and to Oshima Island by the Hakata-Oshima Bridge which can be seen in some of these photos. There is a small campsite on the island but is only accessible for cyclists, pedestrians, or moped/scooter riders.

I spent the night there at the end of my second day walking along the Shimanami Kaido, and I had the island completely to myself.

I know many of you are in lockdown right now, and I hope you are all staying safe and well. There will come a time when we can all go out and visit such places again.....

Across the Tatara Bridge

By lunchtime of my second day walking along the Shimanami Kaido that connects Honshu with Shikoku via six islands it was time to cross over from Ikuchijima to Omishima using the Tatara Bridge.

Considered by most to be the most elegant of all the bridges on the route, it was, when built, the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, but has since been superceded by a couple of bridges in China.

The two towers are 220 meters tall, and the central span between them is 890 meters.

For cyclists and pedestrians, there are fairly steep approaches to get up to the bridge.

Ikuchijima Island-Wide Art Museum

On the second day of my walk from Honshu to Shikoku along the Shimanami Kaido I left Kosanji Temple and started walking down the west coast of the island. On the beach looking westward was this statue, a Jizo I think.

A little further, set on a rock in the water was an unusual modern sculpture, "Wings of the Waves" by Susumu Shingu, one of 17 modern sculptures located around the island in what they call the Island-Wide Art Museum

Sunset Beach runs down the coast almost to the Tatara Bridge which crosses over to Omishima.

At the southern end of the beach another couple of sculptures. In the foreground is "Calm Time-Red form / Inclination by Keiji Uematsu, and in the background "Clairvoyance" by Shin Matsunaga.

Art can take many forms, but this old bus is not part of the Island-Wide Art Museum.

Purchase a selection of ema from GoodsFromJapan

Hill of Eternal Hope Revisited

Miraishin no Oka, the Hill of Eternal Hope is a sculptural work located on a hill above Kosanji, the somewhat bizarre temple located on Ikuchijima along the Shimanami kaido that connects Hishu with Shikoku.

I have posted about it before, the link is here Heights of Eternal Hope for the Future

All the statues and in fact the surface of the hill top, is constructed out of Carrera marble from Italy where the Japanese sculptor, Kazuo Kuetani lives and works.

I revisited it while on my second day walking along the Shimanami Kaido, a route most often cycled by visitors.