Great Seto Bridge

It is not one bridge but six: three suspension bridges, two cable-stayed bridges and a truss bridge, hopping across small islands between Kojima in Kurashiki and Sakaide in Kagawa. The bridge section is 9,368 meters long, 13.1 km including the viaducts, and it opened in 1988. The upper deck carries the Seto-Chuo Expressway and the lower deck carries JR trains, so the cheapest way across is the Marine Liner rapid between Okayama and Takamatsu, roughly an hour end to end. From the train the steel truss cuts up the view, so for photos stand outside. On the Okayama side, Washuzan, a 133-meter hill in Kurashiki, looks along the whole line. On the Kagawa end, the Seto Ohashi Tower in Seto Ohashi Memorial Park lifts a rotating 100-person cabin to 108 meters over about ten minutes; it costs 800 yen and is closed on Mondays. Yoshima Parking Area sits mid-strait on Yoshima, but you can only reach it from the expressway. For a closer look, JB Honshi Expressway runs guided tours to the top of a main tower of the North Bisan-Seto Bridge, 175 meters above the sea, on set dates each season; they must be booked ahead and take only those aged 12 and over. The bridge is lit up mainly at weekends and holidays.