page_title: Seto Inland Sea
section_title: Major tourist sites
hierarchical_section_title: Seto Inland Sea / Major tourist sites
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 下関市みもすそ川公園の源義経・平知盛像 English: Statue of Minamoto no Yoshitsune on the bay near Shimonoseki at the exit of the Seto Inland Sea. This is the location of the decisive battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans.
context_page_description: The Seto Inland Sea, also known as Setouchi or often shortened to Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the five main islands of Japan. The region that includes the Seto Inland Sea and the coastal areas of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū is known as the Setouchi Region. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Bay and provides a sea transport link to industrial centers in the Kansai region, including Osaka and Kobe. Before the construction of the San'yō Main Line, it was the main transportation link between Kansai and Kyūshū.
  Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Okayama, Hyōgo, Osaka, Wakayama, Kagawa, Ehime, Tokushima, Fukuoka, and Ōita prefectures all have coastlines on the Seto Inland Sea; the cities of Hiroshima, Iwakuni, Takamatsu, and Matsuyama are also located on it.
  The Setouchi region is known for its moderate climate, with a stable year-round temperature and relatively low rainfall levels. The sea is famous for its periodic red tides caused by dense groupings of certain phytoplankton that result in the death of large numbers of fish.
context_section_description: The coastal area of the Seto Inland Sea is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Japan. Even before Japan opened to foreigners in the middle of the 19th century, the sea's beauty was praised and introduced to the Western world by those who visited Japan, including Philipp Franz von Siebold, and after the country's opening, Ferdinand von Richthofen and Thomas Cook.
  Its coastal area, except for Osaka Prefecture and a part of Wakayama Prefecture, was appointed the Setonaikai National Park (瀬戸内海国立公園, Setonaikai Kokuritsu kōen) on March 16, 1934, as one of three oldest national parks in Japan.
  Itsukushima Shrine, on the island of Itsukushima in the city of Hatsukaichi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most famous Japanese sites outside Tokyo and Kyoto. Shōdoshima, nicknamed the "island of olives", and the Naruto whirlpools are two other well-known tourist sites. Neighboring locations like Kotohira and Okayama are often combined with the tour of the Setouchi region. Some historic sites, including Yashima in Takamatsu and Kurashiki, also attract many visitors. Hiroshima is the neighbor city to Itsukushima Shrine and another UNESCO World Heritage Site because of atomic bomb damage in 1945. Idol Unit STU48 operate on a cruise on the Setuchi.
  The eastern end of the Sea is now famous for the Setouchi Triennale set up in 2010 with the next event happening in 2019. Some of this takes place on the island of Naoshima, known colloquially as the art island, and the home of several permanent museums. 
  At the far eastern extremity, as the Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, are the Naruto whirlpools that can be reached by sight-seeing boats.
  The Shiwaku Islands are a defined group numbering 28 that can be reached by ferry boat from Marugame. Here Richard Henry Brunton built one of his lighthouses that can still be seen, and the grave of Frank Toovey Lake, a young midshipman in his survey party has become famous.
  In the central area of Seto Inland Sea is Mount Ishizuchi on Shikoku. It is the highest mountain in western Japan and the highest mountain in Shikoku. 
  In the western end of the Sea is Mimosusogawa Park (ja:みもすそ川公園) in Shimonoseki. It commemorates the final stage of the Genpei war between the feudal Taira clan and Minamoto clan (1180–1185).
caption: Mimosusogawa Park (ja:みもすそ川公園) in Shimonoseki
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX S10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6001.18000", "Image DateTime": "2009:10:29 05:13:04", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2332", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "7532", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "1998", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/2711", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:11:17 12:51:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:11:17 12:51:37", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1757", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "7366", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "A2667CF465A34375BBDEF2A8A6655902", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4156"}