Japan's little-known seafaring past
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Loading... - Daiki Tanaka
- 10 Mar 2022
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Speeding along at 65m above sea level with an exhilarating view of islands in all directions and cargo ships in the churning waters below, I felt like I was parasailing. In fact, I was driving on the world's longest suspension structure, the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge.
More than 4km in length, the bridge is one of eight long-span bridges on the 60km Nishi-Seto Expressway, known as the Shimanami Kaido, which means Island Wave Sea Road. The only route through the Geiyo Archipelago – a group of mountainous islands clustered at the heart of Japan's main waterway, the Seto Inland Sea – the expressway connects the islands to Onomichi City on Honshu Island in the north and Imabari City on Shikoku Island in the south.
Until the Shimanami Kaido was completed in 1999, the Geiyo Islands were a remote region, accessible only by boat. Around the islands are the most treacherous straits in the country. The Seto Inland Sea is where the Pacific Ocean flows through Japan; shifts in the tide create complicated underwater currents and fast whirlpools due to the islands' topography. Read More...
