The Shimanami Kaido has become a prime cycling destination in Japan. It’s success has created a virtuous circle with new facilities springing up to offer more choices to visiting cyclists. There’s something for everyone here.
What is it?
It’s started as a 60km toll road for motorists between the big islands of Honshu and Shikoku. Don’t let that put you off because for cyclists there’s a network of roads and dedicated cycling paths. They built spectacular bridges for the toll road and, using segregated cycle lanes, cyclists cross from island to island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Where is it?
It’s in the Seto Inland Sea (sometimes called the Setouchi) to the east of Hiroshima. The route runs between the towns of Onomichi and Imabari. You can get the Shinkansen train to Hiroshima or Wakayama, then local train to Onomichi.
The route one-way is about 70km. You can ride as much or as little as you like, visiting an island or two. Do a return journey and you can take different roads in between the bridges so there’s variety.
Why ride it?
You can go island-hopping by bike and the bridges are an attraction themselves, several offer stunning views of the sea. Much of the route is on quiet cycle paths and marked roads, you just follow the blue line painted on the roads for as long as you want. It’s well-signposted and hard to get lost. The Seto Sea ensures a mild climate allowing for a long tourist season, you can visit from March to November and hope for nice weather. Citrus fruit grows here and there’s a whole side industry in lemon cakes, yuzu ice cream and more. It’s all perfect by bike too because to walk it would feel slow, even the most gentle cycling will allow you to cover more ground.
What does Shimanami Kaido mean?
Something like the “Island Wave Sea Route” is the quick answer. Think of a wavy ribbon going from island to island.
Is it free?
There was talk of tolls for cyclists but the route seems so popular they don’t want to deter people. But you do pay for the five minute ferry ride between Onomichi and Mukashima, it’s ¥110 per person with a bike.
How long does it take?
Really it’s up to you, there’s no time limit. You could just visit an island or two in the morning if that’s the kind of cycling you like. If you can manage 150km you can do a return journey in a day. But it’s probably not a Strava segment with bragging rights, this is a route that rewards detours and stops.
If you’re an occasional cyclist be warned the route is not entirely flat, to reach the bridges you sometimes have to wind up the hillsides but you’re rewarded by the views and the sea crossings.
Who is it for?
I think the best thing is that there’s something for everyone here. If you’re visiting Hiroshima this makes for a nice day drip, you can show up in jeans and rent a shopping bike or an e-bike from outside Onomichi station.
Or you can go full lycra on a team-issue road bike and ride all the way to Imabari for lunch and detour via some climbs for the hilltop views of the sea. Everyone can get something from it.
Its success has created a virtuous cycle – pun intended – where the arrival of cyclists has seen cycle-friendly facilities proliferate. This attracts more cyclists so more facilities spring up. There’s a range of services from cycle-friendly hotels, bike rental, right down to ordinary convenience stores and cafés having bike racks and pumps to help out.
It’s not all citrus fruits sea views and blue skies. Start in Onomichi and the ferry ride is fun but the next ten minutes out of town are a bit underwhelming. Also the area is big on shipbuilding and at times you’ll ride past shipyards and hear the hammering of metal and the crackle of welding torches.
Explore
My advice here is to explore. This could be taking a different route around an island than the suggested course marked by the blue lines. For example if you start in Onomichi, then when you’ve crossed the first bridge to reach Innoshima and come off the cycle path from the bridge then head straight on rather than turn left or right to climb up and get a great view of the sea.
Or go big. The extent of the facilities mean that bike company Giant has stores in Onomichi and Imabari where you can rent a decent road bike for a day or more. Here you can try the Shimanami Kaido but you can also go elsewhere. Behind Onomichi there are some quiet hills with many farms. Imabari is a gateway to Shikoku and you can find rindo forest roads to Nibukawa lake or climb to 1,000m above sea level on the twisting Kuromori Pass (黒森峠).
So you can go away from the coast for some rindo (forest roads) using the facilities that cater for the Shimanami Kaido.
Travel tips
- There’s something for everyone, make a day trip on an e-bike, or include this as part your bikepacking tour across the country
- It’s easy to follow the blue road markings for the cycle route but explore and you can tour citrus farms, find unusual cafes, climb up for views… or go for a dip in the sea
- Onomichi had seen better days but tourism is doing its part to brighten up the town and it’s a pleasant place to stroll around too, it’s becoming a destination itself too
- The road bike rental options mean you can come for the Shimanami Kaido but also go inland to explore the hills
