Travel around Setouchi on the Setouchi Shimatabi Line high-speed cruiser, the SEA SPICA

The Kure Bay area (focused on Kure Port) was once known as the largest naval port in the Orient. It was particularly famed for building the Yamato, the world’ s largest warship at the time. As the current home for a base of Japan’ s Maritime Self-Defense Force, cruises by here provide close-up views of numerous submarines, destroyers and other Self-Defense Force vessels. Depending on the time of day, meanwhile, passengers may also witness the raising and lowering of the naval flags on these ships.

The Straits of Ondo reach between Japan’ s main island of Honshu and Kurahashi Island in the Seto Inland Sea. The passage is said to have been opened by Taira-no-Kiyomori (famed military leader over 1,000 years ago). Two deep-red arch bridges span this passage (Ondo Bridge and No. 2 Ondo Bridge), combining to form a source of true scenic beauty. Due to the swift currents and narrow width, these straights are renowned as a difficult stretch to navigate. Located nearby is Ondo-no-Seto Park, where spring brings the blooming of some 2,300 cherry and 8,300 azalea trees. This furnishes yet another exquisite view from the SEA SPICA deck.

Shimo-Kamagari Island is the first island along Tobishima Sea Route in the Sea of Aki. Several centuries ago, the isle served as the gateway for the local feudal clan in providing a warm welcome to Korean envoys to Japan. Documents attesting to this visit (appearing in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register) are stored at a museum in Shotoen Park. Among the other antique structures here, visitors may enjoy a cup of tasty green tea at Hakusetsuro, a former school with a magnificent view of the tranquil Seto Island Sea.

Scene from Mitarai, located on Osaki-Shimojima Island ‒ the fourth island along Tobishima Sea Route in the Sea of Aki. This port town retains clear vestiges of the Edo Period, when vessels waited here for favorable winds and tides. There are stores of various sizes, teahouses, shrines, a seawall and other structures dating from that era. From the Hill Overlooking History Park, a site rich in historical ambience, photos can capture an impressive range of the scenic islands of Setouchi Inland Sea below. There is also a traditional inn and boathouse later renovated as a cafe, offering leisurely passage of “island time” at its finest.

Chigirishima Island, located off the coast of Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, is an unusual island whose surface is completely covered by a lead smelting plant. Its distinctive appearance has earned it the nicknames “Gunkanjima of the Seto Inland Sea” and “Living Gunkanjima”. It is the only plant in Japan that smelts lead from domestically mined ore, and more than 40% of Japan’s lead is smelted on this island.

Okunoshima Island enjoys special fame as the “Rabbit Island” of Setouchi. True to that nickname, over 600 rabbits are estimated to inhabit the isle, and can be encountered in most all areas. In the past a poison gas plant was operated here, with the government deleting the island from all published maps. Traces of those days remain, fostering a unique and thought-provoking atmosphere.