You might think you’re looking at a river, but actually, you’re seeing the ocean.
The Setouchi Region has served as a main thoroughfare for maritime traffic between the mainland, Kyushu, Nara, Kyoto and Osaka since ancient times. The currents change every six hours, so ancient sailors had to not only mind the direction of the wind, but the direction of the tides as they calculated the timing of their journeys. High-tide harbors were built at various points along the shores of the Inland Sea; one of which is Onomichi.
First, we want to draw your attention to Senkō-ji and its mountaintop views. Below you flows the Onomichi Waterway. It probably looks like there’s a river flowing between two mountains, right? However, that is actually the ocean, flowing between Onomichi and Mukaishima Island.
“Seto” is the Japanese word for “channel,” and true to its name, the Setouchi Region largely consists of such channels, but the Onomichi Waterway is rare even by Setouchi standards for its unprecedented narrowness. At its most narrow point, it separates Mukaishima Island from Onomichi by only 200 meters. This river-like stretch of ocean was prized by many merchants as a convenient route to the Seto Inland Sea. It was a well-trafficked route for people, goods and treasures from the San’in region, which ensured that Onomichi would flourish as a great port city.
Looking out from Senkō-ji, you’ll probably notice how many temples are clustered together along the mountain’s surface. Their existence is owed to the many Edo-Period merchants and shippers who grew rich off their “Kitamae-bune” cargo ships between Hokkaido and Osaka, as they invested in the erection of mountainside temples. As the area continues to modernize , one may see high-class houses and villas flooding the mountainsides from the windows of the San-yo Bullet Train in the future.
Onomichi is generally split between Buddhist and Shinto shrines in the mountains, and residences and commercial facilities along the ocean. In practice, the expansion of a city sandwiched between mountains and oceans has resulted in encroachment of homes on both the mountains and the seaside. If you take any road from the temples back down to sea level, you can probably see all the different layers of history here.
