Seto Inland Sea

 The coastal area of Seto Inland Sea ( seto-naikai ) is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Japan.  This was appointed as the first  National Park (kokuritsu koen ) of Japan in 1934.

Even before Japan opened to foreigners in the middle of the 19th century, its beauty was praised and introduced to the Western world by some foreigners who visited Japan. Philipp Franz von Siebold,  a German doctor, was the one who really loved the fine view of the Inland Sea.  He was the first European who taught Western medicine in Japan.

Historically the Inland Sea has served  good transport lines due to the place that was surrounded by Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. There are almost 3,000 islands in it, thus there are lots of ferry lines you can use.

Since the 1980s, Honshu and Shikoku have been connected by the three routes including the Great Seto Bridge ( seto-oo-hashi ).  This is the world longest two-tiered and suspended bridge, which is 13.1km (8.13 mile ) long. Crossing the bridge takes 20 minutes by car or train. The problem for us is that we have to pay the toll 4,850 yen ( $42 ) for an ordinary vehicle. takai yo~    $84 for a round ticket!

Due to the moderate climate and beautiful landscapes, fishing, agriculture and maybe tourism were supposed to bring a lot of income to the area. However, since around 1995, nitrogen ( chisso ) and phosphorus ( rin ) in the sea started to affect plankton.  Furthermore,  its periodic red-tide ( aka-shio ) was caused by dense plankton and resulting in the death of large numbers of fish in some part of the sea recently.

Fishermen said that it'd had something to do with Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995.  It killed a total of 6,433 people mainly in Kobe. It might have changed the surroundings.

Despite that, the area is still a good place to fish.  Now it is a great season of Kan-buri, which is fattier winter yellowtail.  I like the Sashimi ( sliced raw fish ) !