Ōsakishimojima (大崎下島) is an island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. Administratively, it is part of the city of Kure, Hiroshima.

Understand

The island's main attraction is the port town of Mitarai (御手洗), which during the Edo era was the Island Sea's Vegas-like pleasure palace full of brothels and drinking dens for passing mariners. The triple whammy of faster ships, improved inland road links and the post-WW2 ban on prostitution killed this industry off for good, but the town's remoteness also prevented it from getting redeveloped like so much of the rest of Japan. In 1994, central Mitarai was gazetted as an Important Preservation District, and now a steady but small tricky of tourists makes its way here to experience a tiny piece of the elusive Old Japan.

Get in

The reason the island is not inundated with tourists is that getting there with public transport is a royal pain. From Hiroshima, the nearest major city, the fastest route involves taking the JR Joban line to Shiraichi or Mihara (45-60 min), connecting to a bus to the port of Takehara (30-60 min), and then taking an all-stops Habu Shosen ferry to Mitarai or the nearby port of Ōchō (大長). This takes at least 3 hours, often more.

If you have a car, the trip is considerably easier: you can island hop across a series of bridges from Kure via the Akinada directly to Mitarai, taking about 90 min all the way from Hiroshima.

If you're traveling the Shimanami Kaido by bicycle, there are no direct bridges or ferries from any islands on route to Ōsakishimojima. However, it's possible to take one ferry from Munakata on Omishima to Kinoe on Ōsakikamijima and make your way around the island to Akashi, from where you can connect to ferries to Ōsakishimojima. To maximize confusion, Akashi has services to both the ports of Ochō (小長) and Ōchō (大長), so pay attention to the kanji!

See and do

The maze-like Edo-style warren of the Mitarai preservation district

• Mitarai preservation district
• Wakaebisuya