Awaji Island

Awaji Island

The Awaji Island belongs to the island chain on the eastern side of the Seto Inland Sea and is the biggest island found on this body of water.

Access to both Honshu and Shikoku is convenient since this island is linked to the former by Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (longest suspension bridge in the world) and to the latter by the Onaruto Bridge (Great Naruto Bridge).

The Kuniumi Shinwa (birth-of-the-land mythology) in the Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters," a historical document of Japan completed during the Nara era) mentions that the Awaji Island was the first island created in Japan and it indeed is one with long history and tradition. Because it is surrounded by the ocean, an abundant amount of fresh seafood can be caught. Due to its mild climate, it is also a land suitable to produce agricultural crops.

The whirpools of the Naruto Strait between Tokushima Prefecture and the southwestern side of Awaji Island occur due to the difference ways the tides ebb and flow in the Seto Inland Sea and Pacific Ocean. Some of them grow into a size as big as 30 meters in diameter.
There is an all-glass pedestrian overpass on the Onaruto Bridge's Awaji-side bridge beam that offers a view of the whirlpools from a height of 45 meters.

Additionally, in the Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park near Hokudan Kenmin Sun Beach (beach on the northwestern side of the island), you will find the cross-section of the Nojima Fault that appeared because of the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in 1995. It is preserved in its original state to heighten awareness of earthquakes and disaster prevention.