Osakikamijima to Kure

The bridges of the Tobishima Kaido

My morning visit to the baths was beautiful.  There were three women there when I arrived but they soon departed and I enjoyed the morning view in the outdoor bath as the sun was rising. Totally refreshed and relaxed, we had a morning coffee then ventured to breakfast which was a buffet style with lovely views from the large (perfectly clean) windows.  We filled up on scrambled eggs and bacon, yoghurt and fruit and various cuts of bread and jam. 

To ensure we were in plenty of time for the ferry to Ocho, we were wheels rolling by 8:30am.  The downhill from the hotel and flat coastal roads meant we covered the 5 kilometres in quick time. The lady in the ticket was ever so helpful and organised the ferry tickets and then presented Simon with a bag of mandarins.  We waited on the seats inside the office and she emerged a little later, offering us candy for our bike ride. She seem delighted that we were travelling by bicycle

As always, the ferry left right on time and some 20 minutes later we were disembarking at Ocho port.  I was keen to visit the historic town of Mitarai, a small village built around the harbour in Osaki Shimojima Island.  Its narrow lanes were lined with with historic buildings built when Mitarai was a regional hub for trade, entertainment and pleasure due to its location on the sea route to Osaka.

We visited the Tenmangu Shrine, where legend has it that the mythical empress Jingu washed her hands in the stream that runs through the shrine. The name Mitarai means “washing of the hands”. We also stopped to pay our respects to Harukichi Nayamura who was born in Mitarai and is considered to be the first Japanese man to cycle around the world in the early 1900s. As we rode through the quiet laneways, I was very impressed with the flower arrangements in little vases on bamboo matting that adorned many of the houses.

Passing through Mitarai meant that we cycled the island in the opposite direction to the Tobishima Kaido. This gave us the advantage of being on the sea side, so we could really appreciate the coastal views, though it was quite windy. We found a sheltered spot for morning tea with a view of local fishermen and the Toyohama Bridge which links Osaki Shimojima Island with Toyoshima Island.  As we headed around Toyoshima we met another cycle tourer, who lived in Kure.  He was so excited to see us that he doubled back and insisted that we pose for a selfie with him. 

We crossed the Toyoshima Ohashi Bridge and onto Kami-kamagari Island and headed uphill through a tunnel decorated with mandarins and passed a series of quarried rock faces and the turnoff to Kaigahama beach before heading uphill again.  At the top we found the Hana Mizuki restaurant, perfectly situated with views across the sea.  We enjoyed a beef curry which was tasty though included only a single small piece of beef.

Just before the Kamagari Bridge we spotted a little roadside station, the Deai-no-yakata where we stopped for a Asaki salt icecream - just to see how it compared with others.  Mine seemed to include some kind of red bean - I think Simon’s milk salt icecream was better. 

Once on Shimo-kamagari Island, we took some photos around the Shotoen Gardens and then stopped at the Rantokaku Art Museum, with its massive dragon boat in the parking lot.  There was an exhibition of the ceramic works of Imai Makimasa which included sculptures of animals that were really engaging with interesting facial expressions and colourful features.  His work was also in Shirasakien Park. Titled “Life”, these two towering sculptures were made from fired ceramic plates, each with a special glaze coating made from the ash of local citrus trees. 

Akinada Bridge was the last one, and it took us back to the mainland where we cycled a few kilometres along the main road before picking up the back streets to our accomodation at Otomachi Kanran. We were greeted in English by a Spanish girl who is helping out at the hostel for a couple of months.  She gave us a tour and let us know that the owner of the hostel was rehearsing in the living area, singing with a guy on guitar.  The rehearsal was still going on after we had showered, so we decided to head out to Bar327,  The barman greeted us in English and it turned out he was from Chicago and had been living in Japan for the last six years. He had come to Japan to teach English and was now married to a Japanese woman and taking a rest from teaching.   

I had an excellent glass of red and Simon had a G&T whilst we chatted to him about life in Japan. We were the only customers.  We asked for a dinner recommendation and he suggested a local Indian, so we took his advice and had a chicken curry with the biggest naan bread (though no rice)