All About Japan

Island Hopping: 4 Days on the Seto Inland Sea

Islands Boat Seto Inland Sea Hiroshima Ehime Kagawa Okayama Chugoku Shikoku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxGx7U5v97s

Filmmaker Osamu Hasegawa headed out to the Seto Inland Sea for four brilliant days of videography.

He took some friends along in the boat as they went out to visit 10 of the sea's 727 islands, including Ujishima Island (Hiroshima), Toyoshima Island (Ehime), Manabeshima Island (Okayama), Yugeshima Island (Ehime), Hashirajima Island (Hiroshima), Ushijima Island (Hiroshima—where they interacted with some playful deer!), Mushima Island (Okayama), Awashima Island (Kagawa), Shishijima Island (Kagawa) and Honjima Island (Kagawa).

In addition to taking in the blue-green waters and local culture of the sea, they also hit Onomichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture, which offers brilliant views of the islands from its steep hillsides (as well as a close-up of a sleeping kitty), and Tomonoura, also in Hiroshima, which is said to be the inspiration for the seaside town in Hayao Miyazaki's celebrated film Ponyo.

Sandwiched between Shikoku and Japan's main island, the Seto Inland Sea is also known for the scenic bridges that connect its many islands, with Hasegawa giving us a taste with is signature drone shots and dynamic zooms.