Onomichi: The City of Temples and Cats That Climbs from Sea to Hillside

Onomichi clings to the hillside rising from the Onomichi Channel, a narrow arm of sea that separates it from the island of Mukaishima. It is a port city that stopped growing in the 1960s, and for that reason has preserved an urban fabric the rest of Japan demolished long ago: wooden houses, temples hidden among cypress trees, stairways thick with moss.

The Temple Walk

The Temple Walk is a 2.5-kilometre path connecting 25 Buddhist and Shinto temples scattered across the hillside. It begins at Jiko-ji at the base and climbs to Senko-ji, from which the view sweeps across the entire city, the channel and the islands of the Inland Sea. Along the way you encounter small cemeteries, Zen gardens, moss-wrapped Jizo statues. The ropeway up to Senko-ji is the shortest in Japan — three minutes — but the footpath is the soul of this place.

The city of cats and literature

Onomichi is famous for its stray cats that preside over every corner of the hill's lanes. The Neko no Hosomichi (Cat Alley) is marked by feline sculptures scattered along the route. But Onomichi is also a literary city: writer Fumiko Hayashi and poet Sanki Saitō both lived here. The old library turned literary café, the murals of quotations on the walls of abandoned houses, the silence of the lanes at dusk — everything speaks of a culture that chose contemplation over commerce.

The Shimanami Kaido

Onomichi is the starting point of the Shimanami Kaido, the most spectacular cycling route in Japan: 70 kilometres of suspension bridges linking six islands all the way to Imabari on the island of Shikoku. You can rent a bicycle in Onomichi and return it in Imabari (or vice versa). The islands in between — Innoshima, Ikuchijima, Omishima — are rural, quiet, dotted with citrus groves and small shrines.

Practical information

Onomichi is on the JR Sanyo line, 1 hour 20 minutes from Hiroshima and 30 minutes from Fukuyama. The Temple Walk takes 2–3 hours. The Shimanami Kaido deserves a full day. The best time is spring (cherry blossoms along the temple path) or autumn.