Umashima: The Island in the Middle of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge (Reached by Lift)
There is an island in the middle of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, and you get down to it in a lift.
That sentence sounds wrong until you have done it. Umashima sits under the Shimanami Kaido, roughly halfway across the first great bridge out of Imabari. Cars cannot go there. Fewer than ten people live on it. And any cyclist or walker crossing the bridge can drop in for an hour or two, then carry on to Onomichi as though nothing happened.
Why stop here
Most people photograph the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge from a distance. On Umashima you stand underneath it, at sea level, looking up through the piers at the current running between the islands. It is a completely different view of the same structure, and almost nobody takes it.
The island itself is small enough to walk in an hour or two, and it holds more than its size suggests: a shrine with a startlingly cheerful pair of guardian dogs, a lighthouse, a sea cave eroded clean through the rock, and a small stone Jizo standing on a boulder above the water.
It also costs nothing. There is no admission and no ticket. You simply get out of the lift.
Getting onto the island from the bridge
You reach Umashima the same way whether you are cycling or walking — along the cycling and pedestrian path of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge.
Partway across, an entrance to an underpass appears beside the path. This is the way down to the island.
Go through the underpass, which runs beneath the road deck, and come out at the pier on the other side. The lift down to the island is there.
One thing to watch. The lift goes up as well as down, and the level above is the moped road, where bicycles and pedestrians are not allowed. Do not go up. Take it down.
The car is see-through, so on the way down you get the bridge pier and the tidal current sliding past the glass.
At the bottom
Step out of the lift and you are on Umashima. There is a toilet directly in front of you.
Turn right and you get the bridge piers, the sea, and the ships working through the strait. This is the view worth stopping for.
From there the path drops down toward the shore. Cyclists take the road; on foot the steps are shorter. Either way you arrive at a signboard pointing to GLAMPROOK, the glamping resort on the island.
Left takes you to GLAMPROOK. Right takes you through a tunnel and out onto a small beach.
Heading left, you pass a visitor rest house. Do not expect much of it — it is a toilet and a place to sit, and that is all. On an island with nothing else, that turns out to be enough.
Umashima Shrine, the lighthouse and the sea cave
Continue past GLAMPROOK and follow the shoreline, and you come to Umashima Shrine, the only shrine on the island.
It is up a flight of stone steps.
At the top you meet the guardian dogs, and they are worth the climb on their own. Komainu are supposed to look fierce. These two look delighted to see you.
Alongside the shrine, carrying on further in, is Uzuhana Lighthouse.
Go around the back of the shrine and you find the sea cave — a hole worn clean through the rock by the sea, large enough for a person to pass through.
Beyond it, a small stone Jizo stands on top of a boulder above the water.
The view from there — the strait, and the bridge running over the top of it — is the one you will remember.
There are no shops and no vending machines
This matters more than it sounds. Umashima has no shop and no vending machine. Whatever you want to drink, buy it before you cross the bridge.
In summer this is not optional advice. There is shade on the island but nowhere to buy water.
Allow one to two hours from stepping out of the lift to getting back into it, walking the whole loop at an unhurried pace.
Getting there from JR Imabari Station
- By bicycle: follow the Shimanami Kaido cycling route from the station. It is about 6 km to Itoyama at the foot of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, then out along the bridge itself — Umashima is roughly midway across. Bikes can be hired in Imabari.
- On foot: the same path. Walking the whole way from the station is a long day, so most walkers ride or take a bus to the bridge approach first.
- By boat: a local ferry runs from Hashihama Port, calling at Kurushima and Kojima before Umashima.
- Map: Umashima on Google Maps
For cyclists: this is the rare detour that costs you almost nothing. Umashima is on the route rather than off it — you stop where you already are, drop down, walk for an hour, and come back up to the same spot on the bridge.
The cycling toll on the Shimanami Kaido is currently free; the exemption has been extended to the end of March 2028 (mopeds are not included). Check the official Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway site for the current position before you travel.
Questions visitors ask
Can I drive there? No. General vehicles cannot enter the island. The lift from the bridge, or the ferry, are the ways in.
Is the lift free? There is no charge to use the lift or to visit the island.
Can I bring my bicycle down? The lift takes bicycles. Once on the island the roads are quiet, and much of what you have come to see is reached on foot anyway.
Is there anywhere to eat? No. Bring what you need with you.
Are there toilets? Yes — one directly outside the lift, and one at the rest house.
How long should I allow? One to two hours on the island.
Can I stay the night? GLAMPROOK Shimanami, the glamping resort, is on the island. Guests arriving by car use a dedicated car park in Imabari and are brought over by the resort.
Fitting it into a Shimanami day
Umashima works best as a mid-morning break on the ride out of Imabari. Look at the bridge from above at Itoyama Park first, then cross and drop down to see it from below.
If islands with something odd on them appeal to you, the same local ferry that serves Umashima also calls at Kojima, where a Meiji-era coastal fortress is slowly being reclaimed by the trees. Bicycles can be hired using this guide, and Kissuke no Yu beside Imabari Station is the natural end to the day.
Original article in Japanese: 来島海峡大橋のエレベーターで降りる島々馬島
