[Setouchi/Shimanami Kaido] Landing at Nojima Castle ruins and tidal current cruise to the only sea castle ruins in Japan, a nationally designated historic site

Registration will be accepted at "Nojima Suigun" operated by the Miyakubo Branch of the Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative Association.

If you are traveling by car, head to the Murakami Kaizoku Museum, about 5 minutes from Oshima Kita IC from Onomichi, or about 15 minutes from Oshima Minami IC from Imabari. The reception desk is located in the building facing the sea, "Nojima Suigun: Seafood Direct from Farm, Pier, Restaurant."

Advance reservations can be made via the website

There are two types of cruises: the Miyakubo Tidal Current Experience, which operates every day except Mondays (when the Murakami Pirate Museum is closed), and the Nojima Landing Tour, which requires a reservation (departing on the hour, 9:45/11:45/13:45: 70-minute experience). This time we will introduce the landing tour.

Landing at Noshima Castle Ruins & Tidal Cruise

Put on your life jacket and head to the uninhabited island of "Noshima Castle Ruins"

For the landing tour, a guide from the local guide club boards the boat, and after everyone checks in their life jackets and uses the restroom (there are no toilet facilities on Noshima), we head to the pier and depart on the "Kojin Maru," a 64-person tourist boat anchored on the right. There is a best time for the tides. The times change daily, and can be checked on the tide table below.

Trend Best Time

Experience rapids and an uninhabited island that has remained untouched for 400 years: "Nojima Castle Ruins & Current Experience"

The boat heads to Kojin Seto, a rapids spot around Noshima. The steering skills are pirate-grade?! The boat navigates dynamically along the edge of the reef. Is it really the Seto Inland Sea? It might be easier to understand if you explain it as a rapids river cruise.

We landed on Noshima from a private pier! We started our walk on the southern flat area while listening to the guide's explanations. (We were given a map of Noshima.) Repair work was being carried out by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, but a new promenade has been constructed and it is very easy to walk. However, although the slope is gentle, there are some places where there are no handrails, so please be careful. (The Hakata-Oshima Bridge can be seen in the distance.)

Buried artifacts are still being discovered today. Feel the romance of history at the ruins of Sannomaru, Ninomaru, and Honmaru

*View of Taizaki Island and the mooring pier from Ninomaru Obikuru

Our guide told us that 10,000 pieces of "kawarake" (tiles) were discovered at the site of the main citadel. Amazingly, small pieces of pottery can still be found here and there today... Feeling the ever-changing currents and the pleasant breezes, we were reminded of times gone by.

2 hours 30 minutes from Hiroshima, 1 hour from Fukuyama (express bus)

Access is 2 hours and 30 minutes from Hiroshima Bus Center, or 1 hour from Fukuyama Station (express bus) and get off at Oshima BS (10 minutes by taxi: Oshima Taxi Reservation 0897-84-2629). Destination: Murakami Kaizoku Museum or Nojima Suigun. Tour participants will receive a "Castle Seal" as a memento, and at the "Jiba Cafe Nojima" shop inside the museum, there is a wide selection of souvenirs from the Shimanami Kaido and pirate goods that can only be obtained here.

Book your landing experience here

Noshima, with a circumference of 850 meters, is designated as one of the 100 most famous castles in Japan, and its exterior clearly shows that it is a sea castle. (From the left, the southeast enclosure, the main enclosure, and the arrow enclosure are seen.)