Awaji Island
As a transit between those two islands, "Awaji" originally means "the road to Awa", the historic province bordering the Shikoku side of the Naruto Strait, now part of Tokushima Prefecture. Geography. The island is separated from Honshū by the Akashi Strait and from Shikoku by the Naruto Strait. Since April 5, 1998, it has been connected to Kobe on Honshū by the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world. Since its completion the Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway across the island has been the main eastern land link between Honshū and Shikoku. The Naruto whirlpools form  in the strait between Naruto, Tokushima and Awaji. The Nojima Fault, responsible for the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, cuts across the island. A section of the fault was protected and turned into the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum in the to show how the movement in the ground cut across roads, hedges and other installations. Outside of this protected area, the fault zone is less visible. The and the are located near Fukura. History. According to the creation myth in Shinto, Awaji was the first of the "ōyashima" islands born from the "kami" Izanagi and Izanami. Awaji constituted a province between  the 7th and the 19th century, Awaji Province, and was a part of Nankaidō. Today the island consists of three municipalities: Awaji, Sumoto and Minamiawaji. The Awaji Ningyō-Jōruri, a more-than-500-year-old form of traditional puppet theater, or "ningyō-jōruri", daily performs several shows in the in Minamiawaji, Hyōgo in the southern part of the island and is designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Japan. The Awaji puppets perform popular traditional dramas but have their origins in religious rituals. Starting in the 1830s, the local potter Minpei started producing what would be then known as Awaji ware, also  known as Minpei ware. Tadao Ando designed several structures on the island, amidst them the and the Awaji Yumebutai, both located in Awaji, Hyōgo. In 1995, this island was the epicenter of the Kobe earthquake, which killed over 5,502 people. Municipalities. There are 3 municipalities in Awaji island: Awaji, Sumoto and Minamiawaji. They are part of Hyogo Prefecture.