Kagawa · Shiwaku IslandsNo.853★★Open in map →

Awashima Island

— Three hills tied into one island off Mitoyo

localOff the trail — and worth it

An island off Mitoyo in the Seto Inland Sea, shaped where separate hills were joined by sandbars. Japan's first training school for seamen stood here for ninety years, and its wooden buildings survive in a park above the harbour.

FromSuda Port
~15 minAwashima Kisen ferry from Suda
Get off atAwashima Port (Awashima Kisen ferry)
On foot
Awashima Island

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Awashima has been on visitors' maps since the Setouchi Triennale began using it, so it is not undiscovered. It stays quiet for a duller reason. The boat is small and the sailings few, and the two things people come for, the art post office and the maritime school, keep restricted days or are shut for work. Anyone who arrives without reading the timetable ends up walking, which is in fact the best use of the island.

Where it is

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What to look for

The Missing Post OfficeNozomi-N700 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Awashima Portthe ferry pier and ticket office, with the waiting room and the island's inn beside it
Awashima Marine Memorial Parkthe grounds of the former seamen's school, its pale green wooden buildings closed to entry for works
Awashima Artist Villagestudios in the old school buildings, used during the Setouchi Triennale and on set days
The Missing Post Officean art project holding letters addressed to people who cannot receive them, open on Saturday afternoons
Jonoyama lookoutthe path to the island's high point, looking out over the strait and the neighbouring islands

How to actually get there

Takuma Station → Suda Port (community bus).
Suda Port → Awashima Port (Awashima Kisen ferry, about 15 minutes).
Awashima Port → the marine memorial park, the artist village and the Missing Post Office (on foot along the shore lane).
Jonoyama lookout, then back down to the harbour for the return boat.

Takuma Station to Awashima by community bus and ferry: A community bus links Takuma Station on the JR Yosan Line with Suda Port, and Awashima Kisen crosses from Suda to Awashima Port in about fifteen minutes. Sailings are limited through the day, so fix the boat before anything else in the plan.
Back from Awashima Port to Suda: The same ferry returns to Suda Port, where the community bus runs back to Takuma Station. Neither runs late, so treat the last boat as the hard edge of the day and start down from Jonoyama with room to spare.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Awashima sits in the Shiwaku group off Mitoyo, and its outline is the first thing to understand. Three hills — Jonoyama, Ashimayama and Shikiyayama — were joined by sandbars laid down by the tides until they read as a single island with a propeller-like shape. The highest of them, Jonoyama, rises 222 metres, and a lookout near the top takes in the strait and the neighbouring islands. The flat necks between the hills carry the village, the harbour and the lanes. Cars barely come into it: the island is walked, and because of that shape the sea is rarely out of sight on either side.

How to enjoy it

The crossing from Suda Port takes about fifteen minutes and the sailings are limited, so the return boat sets the shape of the day, not the walking. Two of the draws keep set hours: the Missing Post Office opens on Saturday afternoons, and the maritime school grounds are currently shut for works, so a Saturday buys more. Climbing Jonoyama takes about an hour from the village and is the one thing here that never depends on an opening time.

Background & history

The village opened a training school for seamen here in 1897, the first in Japan, and generations of merchant crews learned the trade on an island where the sea was the only way in or out. It ran for ninety years and closed in 1987, after which the grounds became a marine memorial park with the wooden school buildings kept standing. The rest of the island's story is the one told across the Shiwaku islands: crews, freight, and then people leaving.

Before you go

Cash: The walking and the lookout cost nothing. The Missing Post Office charges a small admission on its open days. The island has an inn, a guest house and a restaurant rather than a row of shops, so bring cash and buy anything you particularly want before boarding.
Good to know: The marine memorial building is reported closed to entry for works, so the school is something you see from outside. The Missing Post Office and the artist village open only on set days. The climb up Jonoyama is on an unlit path, and there is no late transport of any kind on or off the island.
Another way: The same operator's boats also serve Shishijima, so one crossing can be combined with the other for a day that takes in both islands.
After you get off: From Awashima Port the lane runs along the shore into the village, and the marine memorial park with the old school buildings is a few minutes along it. The path up Jonoyama branches off beyond the village.