Oshima

Overview

Oshima is a small inhabited island near the center of the Seto Inland Sea, lying on the western side of the swift Kurushima Strait and belonging to Imabari City in Ehime Prefecture. One of the Kurushima Islands, it covers about 0.50 square kilometers with a roughly three-kilometer shoreline, its outline often likened to a Japanese lute. What sets it apart is the network of Meiji-era fortress ruins scattered across the island, where a quiet fishing-village life sits side by side with the remains of modern military history.

Highlights

• ●Geiyo Fortress gun batteries and brick ruins across the island
• ●Views over the fast-flowing Kurushima Strait
• ●The distinctive lute-shaped silhouette of a small island
• ●A quiet island life of fishing, farming, and shipping

History

In the early 1900s, as Japan prepared for the Russo-Japanese War, the Geiyo Fortress was built on the island to help defend the Seto Inland Sea. Gun batteries, brick barracks, and ammunition stores from that era survive at many points around the island. Because the fortress never saw actual combat, its structures remain as a remarkably intact record of modern Japanese history. The village on the southern side of the island has long lived by fishing, farming, and coastal shipping.

Map

34.1261, 132.9797 · Wikidata

Suggested itinerary

1. 1Cross to Oshima by local ferry from a port on the Imabari side
2. 2Begin your walk from the village and landing on the southern shore
3. 3Explore fortress ruins such as gun batteries and barracks
4. 4Enjoy the strait views before returning to the mainland by ferry

Did you know?

💡 This tiny island, its shape compared to a lute, held a very small community of about 21 households and 33 residents as of 2007. The fact that the Geiyo Fortress finished its service without ever being tested in battle, leaving its structures almost untouched, makes Oshima an unusual place among Japan's many islands.

Nearby spots