Why Japan is one of the world’s great cycling destinations

Andrew Cornell

May 5, 2026 – 5.00am

If you ever find yourself cycling across the 1.3-kilometre Innoshima Bridge, which connects the serene fishing and citrus-growing island of Mukaishima with Innoshima, spare a thought for Japan’s long-moribund Liberal Democratic Party.

It is the LDP and its construction cronies that we have to thank for the spectacular Shimanami Kaido, a highway network linking seven quiet, sparsely populated islands via seven similarly spectacular bridges, including a bicycle highway.

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