Three bridges, three islandsHow a scattered island group stitched itself together — ending sea-lane school runs and midnight ferry births

Ikema Ohashi came first, in 1992, tying the northern fishing island to the main island across a reef channel. Kurima Ohashi followed in 1995 in the south. Both replaced boats that stopped whenever weather said so — which for schoolchildren, pregnancies and hospital runs was the difference between inconvenience and danger.

The masterpiece is Irabu Ohashi, opened in 2015 after nine years of construction: 3,540 metres, the longest toll-free bridge in Japan, humped in the middle so ships can pass beneath. Irabu’s five thousand residents gained a road to the hospital, the high school and the airport; drivers gained what may be the most beautiful five minutes of road in the country.

Reading them from a port day

The bridges are the rare sight that costs nothing and cannot disappoint, because the attraction is the crossing itself — Miyako blue on both sides, scaled by engineering. Irabu is the one to prioritise; the lookouts on the far side face back at the span. Ikema pairs with the northern cape and the salt works; Kurima faces Maehama beach across the strait.

One honesty note: on the far side of Irabu, the famous “17END” lagoon by the airport runway is closed to cars — you park before the gate and walk the last stretch, which at low tide is worth every step.