Shimanami Kaido Bikeway

The Shimanami Kaido Cycling Road (しまなみ海道サイクリングロード) runs between Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture and Imabari in Ehime, allowing cyclists to hop across several islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

This 70km bikeway connects Onomichi on the main island of Honshu through a series of 7 bridges and 6 islands with Imabari on Shikoku. You're welcome to walk or jog any length of the bridge, but cycling is the best way to go. The route consists of wide dedicated lanes for bikes and pedestrians, typically alongside but separated from the car roadway. Special bike lanes have been created to provide reasonable approaches to each of the modern bridges connecting the islands.

Once every two years, usually on a Sunday in late October/early November in even years, the area hosts Cycling Shimanami, one of Japan's largest bicycle events with up to 7,000 participants. During the event, for one day only, the expressway itself is closed to cars and opened up to bicycles instead, including all tunnels and bridges. There are eight courses ranging from 30 km to the full 140 km round trip, with tickets ranging from ¥8000 to 28,000 (2026). Reservations are mandatory and must be made early: "premium" tickets go on sale in April, while regular entry starts in June. Special transport services for participants & their bikes are available, but must also be booked in advance.

While it's not a competitive timed event, many people seem to treat it like one anyway and you'll see a lot of racing bikes. While on the expressway, you're not supposed to stop outside designated rest areas, and accommodation etc is packed. If you're here for the scenery and want to take it easy, the regular bikeway on a different day is probably the better option.

The route is quite popular, so it's strongly recommended to reserve your bike ahead of time, especially if you need a larger or more exotic bike. If you have not booked, you'll want to get to your starting point by 10am, especially on weekends.

The main provider is Shimanami Cycle, which has 14 bike depots along the route. You can return your bicycle at another depot for a ¥1000 surcharge. Bike depots have a variety of bicycles including 8-speed road bikes, 3-speed "upright" bikes, and electric assist bikes. Battery-assisted bikes can be rented for multiple days, while e-bikes are only available for single day rentals. Helmets are available but sizes may be limited.

If you're a more serious rider, Giant has shops in Onomichi and Imabari that rent out touring bikes and the like, at a price of course.

If you're going one-way and have large bags that are impractical to carry by bicycle, you can arrange to have your luggage sent from one end of the route to your destination through the bike rental locations.

An excellent English language brochure is available at the bike depots and online here. The brochure provides riders with side-trip directions to sights on each island and alternate routes for those who desire more strenuous rides. The brochure also has information on rest stops, bike depot locations, public transport (if you get tired) and other facilities and there are many choices along the way for lunch, snacks, and other stops. If staying overnight in Onomichi, it is recommended that you pick up a brochure from the bike depot the night before your trip.

The route can be approached from both ends, but most visitors start at Onomichi and end in Imabari.

Onomichi, at the northern end of the bikeway, is a major city and a worthwhile destination in itself. Using the San'yo Shinkansen (bullet train), Shin-Onomichi is about 40 min east of Hiroshima and 1 hr west of Osaka, and it's a 20-min bus ride from here to the city center. Only a few trains stop at Shin-Onomichi though, so especially when coming from Osaka, it's often faster to disembark at Fukuyama and hop on the local JR San'yo train for the 20 min to Onomichi station. There are two main places to hire your bike here:

• 34.404833133.1936671 Onomichi Station Rental Bike Terminal, near JR Onomichi stn, just west of Green Hill Hotel. Since 2025 located at JR Onomichi station itself (the previous store at the ferry terminal has closed), offers basic bikes that can be dropped off along 10 points along the route. From ¥3000/day.  (updated Jul 2026)
• 34.4021133.19022 Giant Store Onomichi (U2 Onomichi, near ferry terminal). Run by the Giant bicycle company, offers premium bikes at a premium price, all the way up to carbon fiber racing bikes for living out your Tour de France fantasies. Bikes rented here can only be dropped off here or at Giant Store Imabari, and an additional ¥3000 fee is charged for one-way rentals. ¥4000 to 17,160/day depending on model.  (updated Jul 2026)

Onomichi has ferries to Imabari, at the southern end, which is less of an attraction although it does have a fine reconstructed castle. It's on the JR Yosan Line between Matsuyama and Takamatsu in Shikoku, and also served by the Shiokaze express from Okayama (2.5 hours). There are three main bike depots here:

• 34.110278132.9774443 Sunrise Itoyama (サンライズ糸山). The closest option to the start/end of the bikeway, but it's about 7.5 km away from the city and there are only occasional buses to the station. Alternatively, walk to Hashihama stn and catch one of the hourly trains to Imabari.  (updated Jul 2026)
• 34.0649132.99364 i.i.imabari! (next to JR Imabari stn). The closest Shimanami Cycle bike depot to the station.  (updated Jul 2026)
• 34.064167132.9936395 Giant Store Imabari (in JR Imabari stn). ¥4000 to 17,160/day depending on model.  (updated Jul 2026)

The main route is generally flat except for reasonable and well-graded approaches to the bridges and one large hill on Oshima Island. Aside from the initial ferry to Mukaishima, the whole route is free of charge for cyclists and pedestrians; small tolls were previously charged at the bridges, but have been waived until 2028 to promote tourism.

Starting from Onomichi, the "recommended" main route is as follows:

• Ferry from Onomichi's 34.4034133.19371 Ekimae ferry terminal (駅前桟橋 Ekimae-sanbashi) to 34.4133.19732 Tomihama ferry terminal (富浜桟橋 Tomihama-sanbashi) on Mukaishima. Ferries run every 10 min or so, take only 5 min and cost ¥110 for an adult with a bicycle.
  • While it is legal for bicycles to cross the 34.409389133.2166393 Onomichi Bridge to Mukaishima, the bridge is narrow, does not have provisions for cyclists, and requires a 5-km detour, so the ferry is a far better option.
• Mukaishima (向島, 9.8 km)
  • 34.356944133.1802784 Innoshima Bridge (因島大橋, 790 m)
• Innoshima (因島, 12.7 km), featuring the pirate Suigun Castle. This is also the departure point for ferries to the Yumeshima Kaido (ゆめしま海道) bonus loop of minor islands off the coast of Innoshima, which can add up to 63 km extra if you cover all of them.
  • 34.303972133.1502225 Ikuchi Bridge (生口橋, 1270 m)
• Ikuchijima (生口島, 15.6 km; or 5.7 km if you arrive at Setoda port). Worthy stops include the wacky Kosan-ji Temple and Hirayama Ikuo Museum, both along 4 km along the main route.
  • 34.259722133.0656 Tatara Bridge (多々羅大橋, 1480 m) - separating the two cities, Onomichi and Imabari
• Ōmishima (大三島, 7.2 km). The Oyamazumi Jinja shrine and Omishima Museum are well worth a visit, but will add a detour of about 15 km round-trip. If taking two days for the ride, Tatara on Omishima is a good place to spend the night before/after this side trip to Oyamazumi Shrine.
  • 34.215833133.0558337 Ōmishima Bridge (大三島橋, 328 m)
• Hakatajima (伯方島, 4.9 km)
  • 34.193611133.0741678 Hakata-Ōshima Bridge (伯方・大島大橋), two bridges totaling 1165 m
• Ōshima (大島, 15.9 km), the aptly named Big Island is the largest along the route
  • 34.1211133.0019 Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge (来島海峡大橋), three back to back bridges spanning over 4 km
• From the bridge, it's 3.6 km to the endpoint at the Sunrise Itoyama bike depot.

This route is well marked, with a blue stripe painted along the entire route. Follow the blue line to get to your destination. The only place this fails is towards the end when coming from Imabari. There is a very short ferry from the last island to Onomichi that isn't clearly marked.

Spend at least 2 days doing this route. Unless you are very fast, a single day doesn't leave any time for side trips, which is a missed opportunity.

On the way you will see many citrus plantations, especially tangerines and lemons. In the commercial street of Setoda on the island of Ikuchijima, you will find both in many forms (cake, salad, bottle of sauce to bring back as a souvenir…).

Hataka Island has a number of small eateries and a Lawsons, if you jump off the main road. Omishima Island has a roadside station with salt soft serve ice cream that's popular with cyclists, on the Imabari side of the Tatara bridge. Innoshima island has a number of eateries and shops, if you exit into town. If you're sticking to the main route, and cycling through in one day, without side trips, you'll want to check the map ahead of time for food and water stops as there are a number of gaps with few amenities.

Reserving an accommodation in the area is more complicated than usual in Japan: the reservation websites in English have a very limited number of offers. Getting help from someone speaking Japanese and able to reserve by Internet, phone or fax will give much more options.

Remember to bike on the left side of the road. If you get lost, look for the blue line painted on the road - it stretches from Onomichi to Imabari and marks how many kilomenters away you are from each city.

If you want to keep biking, check out the Akinada Tobishima Kaido (46 km), a much less traveled path along another set of islands in the Inland Sea. The Sekizen ferry runs from Shimanami terminus Imabari to Okumura, the starting point.

You can complete the triangle with the Sazanami Kaido (さざなみ海道) from Kure back to Onomichi. However, unlike the other two, you're basically cycling along National Highway 185 and sharing the road with cars, so this is more for the advanced biker.