Awajishima

Awajishima stretches about 55 kilometres from north to south at the eastern end of the Seto Inland Sea, separating Osaka Bay from the Harima Sea. The Akashi Strait at its northern tip is spanned by the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge to Kobe; at the southern end the Ōnaruto Bridge crosses the Naruto Strait to Shikoku. Together they carry the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway, making the island a land bridge between Honshu and Shikoku.

In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Awaji is the first island born from the union of Izanagi and Izanami, and its name is traditionally explained as 'the road to Awa' (Tokushima). The island was long a supplier of food to the imperial court and is still an agricultural region, known for onions, beef, dairy and flowers, and for producing most of Japan's incense sticks.

The 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake had its epicentre off the island's north, and the Nojima Fault that ruptured is preserved as a memorial. Stretches of the south coast, including the Naruto Strait with its tidal whirlpools, belong to Setonaikai National Park.

The island is a block of granite and sedimentary rocks lifted along active faults, with the Tsurugi range in the north and the Yuzuruha range in the south, separated by the Mihara plain. The Naruto Strait between Awaji and Shikoku narrows to about 1.3 kilometres; tidal differences between the Inland Sea and the Pacific create whirlpools that can reach about 20 metres across at spring tides.

The island's natural vegetation has largely given way to farmland and secondary forest, but the south coast and the sand beaches of Keino-matsubara remain notable landscapes. The Naruto Strait's strong currents are rich fishing grounds for sea bream, and the waters are known for seaweed farming.

Awaji ningyō jōruri, a puppet theatre tradition over 500 years old, flourished here and influenced the bunraku of Osaka. The island's food is famous across Japan: sweet Awaji onions, Awaji beef and conger eel and pike conger from the surrounding sea.