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I'm traveling to Japan soon and would like to bike both the aforementioned trails. It seems that Shimanami Kaido has facilities available at the endpoints (Onomichi, Imabari), and all along the route.

I'd like to explore the less-trekked Tobishimi Kaido as well but it seems the bike rentals don't overlap. Is there a reliable way other than using a rinko (bike bag) on the train to transport a rented bike (and possibly myself) from either Kure (the head of the Tobishimi Kaido route) to either Onomichi or Imabari? This route could also be completed in reverse where I would need to transport myself and bike ƒrom Onomichi/Imabari to Kure.

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  • Thank you. I was going to ask exactly the same question. I'm planning on cycling the Shimanami Kaido in August.
    – xuq01
    Apr 25, 2019 at 7:31
  • A word: I'd probably recommend doing the Imabari -> Onomichi/Kure direction. Once you are in Ehime, the only ways to leave Shikoku are (1) by ferry, which brings you back to Hiroshima (or maybe you can catch the overnight ferry to Beppu), (2) on the JR Limited Express Shiokaze, which brings you to Okayama (which is good only if you're travelling north), (3) by plane. OTOH, there are many more ways to continue your journey once you're in Onomichi/Kure: go to Hiroshima and there are a variety of options.
    – xuq01
    Apr 25, 2019 at 11:01

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Hopefully this gets to you in time. I myself have traveled the Shimanami Kaido, but not the Tobishima Kaido.

After some research, this site(in Japanese) says that you can travel the Tobishima Kaido to the end, Okamurajima, and from there, take a ferry which goes to Imabari. The site says the ferries are bicycle friendly. And of course you can also come from Imabari to Okamurajima, and from there make your way back to the mainland through Tobishima Kaido.

The same cycling site shows that you can take the Sazanami Kaido, a route along the coast of the mainland to get to and from Kawajiri （or Kure) and Onomichi, completing the triangle.

That Cyclonoie site (also happens to be a guest house) is very useful about the area. Maybe looking at it through a translation site could help, though even just the maps alone are very useful.

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  • Thanks for this. We ended up making some game time decisions due to insufficient hardware (ahem, super sore butts) but really enjoyed our time on the Shimanami Kaido. Maybe some day in the future after a bit more preparation and training, I'll tackle this triangle.
    – imjared
    Apr 25, 2019 at 5:03
  • @imjared May I ask how long did you spend traveling on the Shimanami Kaido?
    – xuq01
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:53
  • @xuq01 we rode for two days. it gave us enough time to make a lot of stops and enjoy views, take pictures and do some side excursions like the old naval castle
    – imjared
    Apr 30, 2019 at 17:46
  • @imjared Hm, how long did you spend on the road each day?
    – xuq01
    May 1, 2019 at 0:11
  • @xuq01 We rode about 60km on day way from onomichi to omishima then reversed our route and cut out side trips on day two. on day one we rode and did sightseeing from 930am until about 4pm, on day two we started at 8am and rode until about 3pm
    – imjared
    May 1, 2019 at 3:40

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