Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [362]
Regular ferries shuttle across from Miyajima-guchi (¥170, 10 minutes). JR passholders should use the one operated by JR. High-speed ferries (¥1800, 30 minutes, six to eight daily) operate direct to Miyajima from Hiroshima’s Ujina port. Another ferry (¥1900, 45 minutes, 12 daily) runs between Miyajima and Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
Getting Around
Bicycles can be hired from the JR office in the ferry terminal. Alternatively, everywhere on the island is within easy walking distance.
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INLAND SEA
The beautiful Inland Sea (Seto-nai-kai) offers travellers a chance to experience a part of Japan that is much slower-paced than the metropolitan centres. The most interesting area of the Inland Sea is the island-crowded stretch from Shōdo-shima (accessible from Okayama and Takamatsu) and Miyajima, near Hiroshima. There are said to be more than 3000 islands and islets in all, most of them uninhabited.
The Inland Sea can be explored by ferry from the main islands. There are now three bridge systems linking Honshū with Shikoku; the westernmost, known as Seto-Uchi Shimanami Kaidō, comprises 10 bridges and crosses nine islands.
Information
Brochures, maps and general tourist information are readily available, but Donald Richie’s classic The Inland Sea, originally published in 1971, makes an excellent introduction to the region.
The following Inland Sea section starts with its second-largest island, Shōdo-shima, and moves west. Occasionally, an island closely associated with a particular place on the mainland appears in that place’s chapter. Miyajima, for example, is included in the Hiroshima section, and Megi-jima appears in the Takamatsu section of the Shikoku chapter.
Getting Around
Besides the regular ferry services between Honshū, Shikoku and the various islands, SKK (Seto Naikai-kisen; ; 082-253-1212; ticket office 7am-9pm) offers day cruises on the Inland Sea from Hiroshima. The trips take around 2½ hours and include a brief stop to admire the famous shrine gates at Miyajima. Cruises with lunch/dinner cost from ¥4800/7500.
The Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) and other tour operators also run seasonal cruises in the Inland Sea.
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SHŌDO-SHIMA
0879 / pop 33,000
Famed for its olive groves and as the setting of the classic film Nijūshi-no-hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes; it tells the story of a village school teacher and her young charges), Shōdo-shima is a mountainous island with a number of interesting places to visit, and it makes an enjoyable escape from big-city Japan. It’s a popular destination for Japanese tourists during the summer and when the autumn leaves are at their peak in October and November.
Orientation & Information
Tonoshō, at the western end of the island, is the biggest town and the usual point of arrival from Takamatsu or Okayama. Tonoshō has a small tourist information booth (62-5300; 8.30am-5.15pm) inside the ferry terminal, and another among the souvenir stalls a couple of minutes’ walk inland.
Sights & Activities
AROUND THE COAST
Heading anticlockwise from Tonoshō along the south coast, the first point of interest is the Shōdo-shima Olive Park (; 82-2200; Nishimura-misaki 1941-1; admission free; 8.30am-5pm), where the island’s olive-growing activities are celebrated with several whitewashed buildings, some fake Grecian ruins and a souvenir stand selling olive-flavoured chocolates and olive-themed Hello Kitty key rings. Past the Greek windmill and the Olive Museum (; admission free; 8.30am-5pm) is the Sun Olive Onsen (; 82-2200; admission ¥700; noon-9pm, closed Wed), where you can enjoy views of the Japanese Aegean from a variety of herbal baths.
Shōdo-shima’s first olives were planted in 1908, but the island was famous for its soy beans long before that, and several old soy-sauce companies are still in business here (as frequent whiffs around the island will remind you). The Marukin Soy Sauce Historical Museum (; 82-0047; Nouma; admission ¥210; 9am-4pm) is in an old building on the