Akinada Tobishima Kaido

The Akinada Tobishima Kaidō, officially the Akinada Islands Link Bridges, is a road connecting Kure, Hiroshima to seven of the Geiyo Islands in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan.

Route

The route spans, with a maximum altitude difference of. Along its length are seven bridges with a cumulative length of, connecting the islands of Shimokamagari,,, Ōsakishimojima, and before terminating at Okamura Island. The seventh of the bridges, Okamura Bridge, crosses the border from Hiroshima Prefecture to Ehime Prefecture. The entire route has gentle gradients, marked cycle lanes and is equipped with five designated cycle stations, making this a popular cycling destination.
An eighth bridge connecting Okamura to Ōsakikamijima is planned, but construction has not started. An alternative series of bridges to Ōmishima Island has also been proposed. Currently, there are ferry services from Okamura to Ōmishima and the city of Imabari, Ehime in Shikoku.

Nickname

After a public naming competition that received 3,118 entries, the route was given the official nickname Akinada Tobishima Kaidō in 2008. Akinada is the open expanse west of the Geiyo Islands, while tobishima comes from tobi-ishi, the Japanese name for stepping stones in a garden. The route is also unofficially known as the Ura-Shimanami Kaidō after the nearby Shimanami Kaido expressway, which connects Onomichi and Imabari, going through nine of the Geiyo Islands, including Ōshima, Ōmishima, and Innoshima.