Awaji Island, nestled between Honshu and Shikoku, holds a rich and fascinating history. Connected to the mainland by the majestic Akashi Kaikyo and Naruto bridges, this expanse of land (roughly the size of Tokyo’s 23 wards) blends rugged coastline, fertile fields, and a pace of life that feels distinctly apart from Japan’s bustling metropolis hubs. What once stood as a crossroads of nature and myth has, over centuries, evolved into a destination where culture, cuisine, and design invite curiosity and exploration.

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Long before modern tourism took shape, Awaji earned an important place in Japan’s culinary history as one of the Miketsukuni, literally “lands of imperial provisions.” From the Nara to the Heian periods, the island’s abundant bounty of seafood, salt and other natural riches was regularly sent to the Imperial Court in Kyoto, a testament to its reputation for quality and variety. Historical texts and poetry, including entries in the Manyoshu, reference Awaji’s seafood and salt as prized gifts for the emperor, showcasing a legacy of gastronomy that still informs the island’s identity today.

In recent years, Awaji has emerged as a getaway that satisfies many appetites at once. It is a place for immersive entertainment and family-friendly parks, thoughtful wellness retreats framed by ocean and forest, and a rich dining scene rooted in local tradition and innovation. Whether savoring modern soba with sea views, indulging in farm-forward cuisine, or wandering seaside markets, visitors now find on Awaji a story woven from land, sea, and centuries of culture.

Entertainment and Immersive Worlds

At the forefront of the Awaji Island revitalization project lies a bold reimagining of entertainment, fusing pop culture, landscape, and experience. The vast Hyogo Prefectural Awaji Island Park has been transformed into Nijigen no Mori, an open-air theme park unlike any other in Japan. Spanning an area equivalent to 28 Tokyo Domes, the park dissolves the boundaries between nature and fiction, inviting visitors to step into Japan’s most iconic anime, manga and games.

Nijigen no Mori’s appeal lies in its immersive, walk-through design. Forest paths, open fields and wooded hills become stages for interactive narratives. Among its most striking attractions is the Godzilla Interception Operation Awaji. A life-sized Godzilla, stretching approximately 120 meters, lies frozen mid-rampage, forming the centerpiece of an elaborate interactive mission. 

Visitors are cast as members of the fictional National Awaji-Island Institute of Godzilla Disaster, tasked with investigating and neutralizing the threat. Whether entering the creature’s body via a zipline through its open jaws or gliding alongside it on an external course, the attraction combines adrenaline with theatrical storytelling. It also houses the world’s first permanent Godzilla museum, reinforcing Awaji’s role as a site where entertainment and cultural iconography intersect. Dining and retail experiences, including Godzilla-themed menus and exclusive merchandise, further anchor the attraction within the broader Nijigen no Mori ecosystem.

Equally hands-on is Naruto & Boruto Shinobi-Zato, designed as a physical and mental training ground. It encourages participants to test their agility, observation skills and teamwork, echoing the ethos of the ninja anime itself. Nearby, fans can refuel at Ramen Ichiraku, a faithful recreation of Naruto’s favorite ramen shop, where steaming bowls offer a comforting pause after a day of activity. 

The park’s lighter, more playful side comes through at Crayon Shin-chan Adventure Park, which gives the whole area a relaxed, family-friendly energy. With athletic courses and water ziplines designed for both kids and adults, it is less about spectacle and more about moving your body and having fun together. The activities feel naturally woven into the surroundings, encouraging visitors to play, explore, and enjoy the fresh air rather than queueing for rides.

Video game fans can discover Dragon Quest Island: Zoma and the Archipelago’s Origin, a “field RPG” that seamlessly blends real-world exploration with digital storytelling. Visitors become players navigating a recreated castle town, forests, and the Demon King’s fortress. The experience extends beyond gameplay, with themed dining at Luida’s Bar offering character-inspired dishes that deepen the sense of inhabiting the Dragon Quest universe.

Complementing Nijigen no Mori is Hello Kitty Smile, a waterfront attraction showcasing a softer, more whimsical side of Awaji’s cultural transformation. Dedicated to one of Japan’s most beloved global icons, the facility blends multimedia art, dining and retail into an experience that charms visitors of all ages. Set against the Harima Sea, Hello Kitty Smile takes guests on a journey through an imagined underwater realm inspired by the Dragon Palace of Japanese folklore, brought to life through projection mapping. The experience culminates in Hello Kitty’s own room, a popular photo spot where visitors can slow down, take pictures, and enjoy a quieter, more whimsical moment by the sea.

From Themed Rooms to Quiet Retreats

Where you stay on Awaji Island shapes how you experience it. Rather than functioning as isolated resorts, the island’s main accommodations are closely tied to their surroundings, using views, food, and design to create a strong sense of place. Two of the most distinctive options, Grand Chariot and Senshin Waho, approach hospitality in very different ways, offering contrasting moods that suit different rhythms of travel.

Perched at the highest point of the Hyogo Prefectural Awaji Island Park, Grand Chariot sits above a 134-hectare expanse of forest and open land. From the terrace and dining areas, the view opens out toward the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge, with Kobe’s skyline glinting across the water on clear days. Up here, the air feels noticeably cooler, and the mix of sea breeze and forest scent reinforces the sense of distance from the city below.

Grand Chariot distinguishes itself by weaving Awaji’s pop-cultural energy into a refined luxury setting. Its themed character rooms invite guests to extend their immersion into the worlds encountered at Nijigen no Mori, inspired by Demon Slayer, Godzilla, Crayon Shin-chan, Monster Hunter, Hello Kitty, Naruto and Dragon Quest. Far from novelty alone, these rooms carefully balance playful imagination with comfort, appealing to families, enthusiasts, and travelers seeking an experience that feels both distinctive and thoughtfully curated.

Culinary excellence forms another cornerstone of the Grand Chariot experience. Dining here is overseen by Chef Haruyuki Yamashita, a recipient of the World Gourmet Summit Award, who crafts menus that foreground Awaji Island’s exceptional produce. Guests can enjoy a refined course dinner featuring seasonal ingredients, including indulgent hot pot courses centered on prized Awaji beef. Mornings begin with a beautifully composed assortment of bite-sized dishes that celebrate seasonality and balance, served in a dining room bathed in natural light and framed by expansive views of the surrounding landscape.

If Grand Chariot represents elevated indulgence, Senshin Waho offers a more introspective form of luxury, rooted in wellness and tradition. Conceived as a modern Japanese retreat, Senshin Waho invites guests to slow down and engage with Awaji Island’s natural rhythms. The facility blends contemporary comfort with time-honored aesthetics, creating an environment where physical rest and mental clarity are equally prioritized.

At the heart of Senshin Waho is its serene Japanese garden, a contemplative space that reflects the principles of traditional landscape design. This atmosphere of calm extends to the natural hot springs, where free-flowing thermal waters gently ease fatigue and tension. The baths are designed to be restorative rather than ostentatious, reinforcing the idea of wellness as a quiet, deeply personal experience. Each of the 20 rooms offers ocean views and faces the Japanese garden, creating a continuous visual dialogue between interior and exterior. Guests can choose between traditional tatami rooms with open-air hot spring baths and modern Japanese-style rooms defined by warm wood tones and understated design. In every case, the emphasis is on harmony between architecture and nature, comfort and restraint.

Cuisine at Senshin Waho further reinforces this philosophy. Under the supervision of Chef Fushiki, a specialist in ancient Japanese fermented food culture, meals highlight subtle flavors and textures. Served at a leisurely pace, the food invites contemplation, savoring taste, smell, and listening to one’s body, particularly when tasting the light smokiness of the fish, the deep umami of the fermented vegetables or the way a dish evolves slightly as it cools.

Completing this vision of restorative hospitality is Zenbo Seinei, a Zen wellness retreat that shifts the focus from indulgence to introspection. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Shigeru Ban, the facility unfolds along a 100-meter wooden deck set above the treetops, offering a rare 360-degree panorama of Awaji Island’s unspoiled landscape. Built from Japanese cedar and celebrated with multiple design awards, Zenbo Seinei invites guests to step barefoot into a space where architecture, nature, and stillness converge. Here, Zen meditation, calligraphy, yoga and mindfulness practices are paired with gentle, plant-based cuisine, rice porridge, tofu and seasonal dishes crafted to restore balance from within. Overlooking changing skies by day and star-filled darkness at night, the retreat embodies slowing down, listening and reconnecting body and mind with the rhythms of the natural world.

From Field to Table

Across the island, restaurants and retail spaces have been conceived as environments where landscape, design, and local production converge, inviting visitors to engage directly with Awaji’s agricultural and maritime heritage.

Set against the calm expanse of the Seto Inland Sea, Oh-SOBAR offers one of the island’s most refined culinary experiences. The restaurant pairs contemporary soba cuisine with uninterrupted sea views and the gentle rhythm of waves, culminating in sunsets recognized among Japan’s Top 100. Designed by Yasumichi Morita, the interior balances understated elegance with architectural clarity, framing both the food and the surrounding seascape as equal protagonists.

Oh-SOBAR reinterprets the tradition of soba with a modern sensibility rooted in nourishment and seasonality. Alongside classic 2:8 soba (80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour), the menu features variations infused with nutrient-rich akamoku seaweed and mineral-dense chomeiso herb, offering subtle yet distinctive flavors. The experience is further elevated by thoughtful pairings with local Awaji sake, aged varieties, and sparkling sake, each chosen to complement the island’s produce and the soba’s delicate aromas.

A more pastoral approach to dining awaits at Farmers Restaurant Haru San San, where the emphasis shifts from refinement to sustainability and connection with the land. Also designed by Shigeru Ban, the restaurant is set within a lush agricultural environment, its structure built from environmentally conscious materials and crowned with a thatched roof designed to return naturally to the earth. The architecture itself becomes a quiet statement about circularity and respect for nature.

Haru San San’s menu is vegetable-forward and resolutely local, drawing from produce harvested in the surrounding fields and from Awaji’s wider farming community. The adjacent market extends this philosophy, offering seasonal vegetables and island specialties for visitors to take home. Workshops held on-site invite guests to engage with farming practices and reflect on how nature’s rhythms might be woven into daily life, transforming a meal into an educational and reflective experience.

For a livelier, resort-like atmosphere, Craft Circus brings together dining, shopping and seaside leisure in a single open setting. Overlooking the sea and one of Japan’s celebrated sunset views, the complex unfolds as a playful marketplace divided into distinct yet interconnected zones. At Kaiou Ichiba, seafood is prepared directly from on-site fish tanks, offering casual bowls and barbecues centered on freshness. Craft Kitchen serves generous dishes such as island pizza, Awaji beef burgers and paella, best enjoyed from the ocean-facing terrace.

Beyond dining, Craft Marché highlights Awaji’s agricultural identity through carefully curated products: vegetables from local farmers, onion-based specialties and artisanal seasonings from across the Seto Inland Sea. Nearby, GLOBAL MARKET broadens the horizon further, presenting handcrafted goods and traditional items sourced from Japan and countries as varied as France, Italy, Vietnam, Sweden and Thailand. Even leisure extends to all family members at the Dog Terrace, a dog-friendly café with ocean views, a dedicated pet menu, and an expansive dog run.

An Evolving Experience

Taken together, Awaji Island’s attractions, places to stay, restaurants and small businesses suggest an ongoing experiment. Entertainment may be what first brings visitors across the bridge, but it is the slower layers (eating, walking, relaxing) that shape the experience over time.

Easy to reach by express bus from Osaka and Kobe, with shuttle routes linking major sites, Awaji functions today as both a getaway and a work in progress. Ideas about food, wellness, design, and daily life are being tested side by side, not always seamlessly, but with clear intent. Rather than offering a polished blueprint for life beyond Japan’s major cities, the island invites visitors to observe a place in motion, one that is still evolving, still experimenting, and interesting precisely because the outcome is not yet fixed.

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