Onomichi Travelogue (3) – Sea in Onomichi

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Onomichi faces the Seto Inland Sea, but the distance from Onomichi to Mukaijima Island, an island opposite to Onomichi, is narrow – about 200 meters to 300 meters. Please look at the photo below. In the photo, Onomichi is on the right side, Mukaijima Island is on the left side, and an area between them, which looks like a river, is the Seto Inland Sea. This sea area is, accordingly, also called the Onomichi Channel.

Onomichi Channel

There are many islands in this area and many bridges were built between the islands. In May, 1999, Shimanami Kaido roads were opened to traffic to link Onomichi to Imabari in Shikoku. Nevertheless, many ferry boats linking Onomichi to various islands on the Seto Inland Sea frequently come and go from morning till night.

Please enjoy views of the Seto Inland Sea visible from the seashore.

1. Sea Seen from Hotel
We saw ferry boats coming and going without interruption from the windows in the hotel we stayed in, which stands beside the sea. The width of Onomichi Channel is very narrow, as described above. When I saw the sea from the window, I thought if a person was good at swimming, the person could reach the opposite shore.

2. Sea in Morning
It was fine the day after we arrived in Onomichi. We got up early and strolled on a promenade along the sea (Kaigadori). Although we had walked on the same promenade in the afternoon of the previous day, I had quite different impressions from the same place than those of the previous day. The ferry loading places and dockyards were bathed in the rising sunlight and glittered. We found many large fishing boats tied up, which might set sail to catch fish in the daytime. Unfortunately, we couldn’t catch the sunrise, but the speed of the rising sun was so fast that I felt apprehensive that I couldn’t photograph the sea momentarily changing. We really had a very exciting and happy stroll.

3. Sea in Afternoon
On the first day, it was unfortunately raining when we arrived at Onomichi; however, it stopped raining in the afternoon. So, we took a walk on a promenade along the sea. We saw the whole view of Onomichi Channel from the roof floor of the newly built Onomichi City Hall, and could clearly look at boats coming and going in the sea as if it were right in front of us. The promenade was well-managed and we could pleasantly take a walk. During the walk, we met a cat. Not only this case, we met cats when we walked on the shopping street and when we went out to dinner. The cats in Onomichi are used to humans and had good coats of fur.
On the second day, we went to Mukaijima using a ferry boat. The fare was 100 yen and it took about 2 or 3 minutes. It can be understood that the mountains and the sea are at close quarters in Onomichi when we see Onomichi from Mukaijima Island.

4. Sea in Night
We spent a night in Onomichi in this trip, and so we could also see the sea in night. It magical, different from the sea when the sun is shining. The promenade has street lamps on both sides and so you can take a walk even at night. Cranes in the dockyards were beautifully illuminated.

Did you enjoy this Onomichi travelogue? Before the trip, my information about Onomichi was only just as follows: I want to eat Onomichi ramen noodle; there are locations of films made by Director Oobayashi there, and we might see many stray cats here and there. When I went there, I found that the town has a long history and the local people value their culture and art. I thought that as a result of their wide breadth of mind and kindness, they care for the cats in the town. In addition, there are many temples in the town, which proves that this town has prospered since long ago. Furthermore, recently, the town has been famous for cycling even oversea. We came across upon the Japanese or foreigners riding on bicycles in the town and at the station. Although the town never emits a sparkling atmosphere, we can feel the gentle vigor of the local people and land, as I wrote in the previous post introducing the Onomichi shopping streets. Onomichi was a place where we could somehow take a breather.