Travel Guide to the Island of Manga Art
Takaikamishima Island is a tiny island in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea. It is only accessible by boat. According to the town’s website, the population was 11 as of March 2024. The 1.34-square-kilometer island has a circumference of 5.3 kilometers. There are many abandoned houses on the island, indicating a substantial decrease in population.
To save the island from extinction, the residents got help from artists to create an island of manga art. Now, the walls are adorned with images of many well-known manga characters, and tourists like me have come to the island to enjoy them despite its inconvenient location.
Wild boars have invaded the island, and the residents live in a small, fenced-in village to separate their habitat from that of the boars. Thus, visitors can only walk in very limited areas of the island. I walked to the edge of the village and found several wild boars near the fence. I was told that the boars can swim long distances, which is how they got to the island. Other than viewing the wall art or going fishing, there isn’t much to do on the island. The internet was unavailable when I was there. Just relax and enjoy the art, nature, and ruins.
Accommodation
I came to this island because one of ADDress guesthouses is near the island. ADDress is a rent subscription service. You need to purchase tickets to stay at any of more than 250 houses and hotels that have the contract with ADDress. The price starts from 9800 yen for 2 tickets (2 nights) per month and goes up to 99800 yen for 30 tickets per month. ADDress is good for long term travelers. Anyway, I stayed at Shiomi House in Sashima Island, Ehime Prefecture. The Kamijima website may be helpful to understand about Shiomi House, Takaikamishima and the whole area called Kamijima. The host of Shiomi House speaks English well, and a few foreign guests were staying while I was there. We usually cooked and ate together with guesthouse staff and other guests. The guesthouse has a very friendly atmosphere. I also stayed one night on Takaikamishima Island. There was no shop on the island, and I needed to bring my own food for dinner and breakfast. You may be able to catch some fish if you are a fisherman. The staff of Shiomi House arranged the accommodation on Takaikamishima for me. You probably cannot make a reservation through a regular hotel reservation website.
About this area
Takaikamishima and Sashima are part of a larger area called Kamijima. Kamijima is located just off the Shimanami Kaido, a road that connects Onomichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture and Imabari City in Ehime Prefecture. All three destinations are popular tourist spots. The Shimanami Kaido connects nine islands via 10 bridges. The road is about 60 km long. The road is very scenic, and many people rent bicycles or small motorcycles to ride across the Seto Inland Sea. Consider staying in Onomichi or Imabari and renting a bike to explore the other side. Spend one night on one of the Seto Inland Sea islands to enjoy the sunset and/or sunrise. Some bike rental shops have multiple drop-off locations along the Shimanami Kaido. You can return your bike at any of these locations. Shimanami Japan is probably the largest bicycle rental shops in the area.
Access
There are several ways to go to Takaikamishima. The Kamijima website shows several ways to access this area. I will show the simplest routes to Takaikamishima.
From Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto
Take Shinkansen to Mihara Station. From Mihara Sta. walk to Mihara Port (290m). From Mihara Port take a ferry, Shimanami, to Habu Port (土生港).
from Habu Port, a ferry, New Uojima, goes to Takaikamishima four times a day. The ferry also stops at Yuge Port which is one of Kamijima Islands. You can find the schedule on Kamijima Town website. Below is the time table in English.
| Habu Port Innoshima | Yuge Port Yugeshima | Toyoshima Port | Takaikami Port | Uojima Port | |
| 1 | 8:00 | 8:10 | 8:30 | 8:47 | 9:02 |
| 2 | 11:00 | 11:27 | 11:57 | 12:12 | |
| 3 | 15:35 | 15:52 | 16:12 | 16:29 | 16:44 |
| 4 | 19:30 | 19:45 | 20:15 | 20:30 |
| Uojima Port | Takaikami Port | Toyoshima Port | Yuge Port | Habu Port | |
| 1 | 7:00 | 7:15 | 7:42 | 7:52 | |
| 2 | 9:15 | 9:30 | 9:47 | 10:12 | 10:22 |
| 3 | 13:00 | 13:15 | 13:55 | 14:05 | |
| 4 | 17:25 | 17:40 | 17:57 | 18:15 | 18:25 |
A sample Three day Itinerary
Day 1. From Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto, Take Shinkansen to Shin Onomiti. Check in a hotel in Onomiti City. If you have time, Take Senkoji Temple Mountain Ropeway to Senkoji Park and Temple. The view from the ropeway and Park is great. Walk down the mountain via Cat Alley. You can find many cat objects along the way. If you are interested in night life in Onomiti, go to Shingai (新開) area. Many bars and restaurants are there. Some of them look very old and good for photography. I went to several bars and diners. Many people were drunk, happy and friendly. It may be a good idea to stay in a hotel in Shingai area, if you plan to hang out there.
Day 2. Go rent a bike or motorcycle.
Shimanami Rent Cycle is a big rental bike service. it has 10 store locations throughout Shimanami Kaido. It has all kinds of bicycles, such as tandem and e-bikes.
Giant Store Onomiti is for serious cyclists. Giant has stores in Onomiti and Imabari, so you cannot return your bike in the middle of Shimanami Kaido.
If you want to rent a motorbike Shimarider has five locations between Onomiti and Imabari.
If you have large luggage, you can either ask the hotel to keep your luggage or send it to your next accommodation. You just need luggage for one night. If you rent a small (50 cc) motor bike, you get to use the bike only road to go across the bridges. So you do not need to worry about speeding cars driving right next to you. Enjoy riding a bicycle along the Shimanami Kaido. Find a hotel in Innoshima Island or in one of Kamijima Islands. Go cycling in Innoshima Island or ride the ferry to go to Kamijima Islands to enjoy the rest of the day.
Day 3. Make a round trip to Takamikamishima then head towards Imabari City or return to Onomiti City. Alternatively, you can return the bike in Innoshima Island and go to your next destination by bus or ship.