1 / 5Ikema Ohashi & the north capePhoto: Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY 2.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 5 photographs, every one credited.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
The 1992 bridge to a fishing island, with the Yabiji reef — Japan’s largest coral table — under the horizon beyond. Pair with the salt works on the cape road.
- Short enough to be certain of: 2 hr door to door, so even a tender day works.
- Free to cross to visit — no toll. a travel directory lists about 100 free parking spaces; a roadside restaurant and shop at the plaza are separate costs..
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Tight" — works with a taxi held for you: out, the plaza for about 20 minutes, and back, with lunch in hirara after.
- Open always; the road and plaza are public — the bridge carries a prefectural road with no toll. the plaza at the island end has car parking, toilets and shops, per the prefecture's own bridge sheet; their hours are not published there..
- 2 hr door to door needs a 4-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Ikema Ohashi & the north cape is famous
The 1,425-metre bridge to Ikema island, opened in 1992, running over some of the clearest water around Miyako. The north cape beyond it looks out on the Yabiji reef, and on a low tide you can see the coral flats from the road.
Ikema Ohashi joins Miyakojima to the small fishing island of Ikema, 1.8 km off its north-west tip. The Okinawa prefectural bridge sheet gives it as 1,425 m long, opened on 14 February 1992, built as a prefectural road, with a 6.25 m carriageway and a 1.5 m footpath, for a cost of about ¥9.9 billion. The prefecture says that since it opened it has improved islanders' medical and living conditions as well as drawing many visitors.
What you see is the bridge as a line of piers over the cobalt-blue shallows, which the prefecture says the design was meant to show, with star-shaped panels in the railings taken from the island's woven cloth pattern. The plaza at the Ikema end lets you look back along the full span, and it has parking, toilets and shops; a travel guide names a restaurant and a rooftop terrace there. Drive across, stop at the plaza, and come back.
The catch is distance and that it is all view. At about 20–30 minutes each way it is the farthest of the three guides here, with no public transport that works for a port call and a small taxi pool at the terminal. Do not stop on the bridge: a travel guide notes stopping and parking on it are prohibited, and the tourism association says unsafe stops at viewpoints are a frequent cause of accidents. If you want sand and swimming, go to a beach instead.
Things worth knowing
- Keep the taxi for the whole trip; there is no rank at the plaza.
- Do not ask the driver to stop on the bridge: stopping and parking on it are prohibited. Use the plaza on the Ikema side.
- The 1.5 m footpath is in the bridge's design sheet, but crossing it on foot in strong sun and wind is not advisable for a short call.
- Pick a clear, bright day if you can; the view is the whole point and there is nothing indoors.
Ikema Ohashi & the north cape and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 2 hr goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
30 minutes each way is the measured figure for car ~30 min, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 1 hr in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions people send us
How long is Ikema Ohashi and when did it open?
The Okinawa prefectural bridge sheet gives 1,425 m, opened on 14 February 1992, with a 6.25 m carriageway and a 1.5 m footpath. It cost about ¥9.9 billion. There is no toll.
How far is Ikema Ohashi from the Miyakojima cruise port?
About 14.2 km by road from the cruise terminal, roughly 15 minutes by a computed route, so allow 20–30 minutes in real driving. A taxi on the 2023 remote-island tariff should show about ¥3,400 each way before any time charge. The berth is about 1 km from the terminal and linked by a passenger shuttle.
Can I walk across Ikema Ohashi?
The bridge has a 1.5 m footpath in the prefecture's design sheet, and a travel directory says it can be crossed on foot or by bicycle. On a port call the distance from the terminal makes it impractical; the plaza at the island end is the usual stop.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
3 hr 30 min for bothIrabu Ohashi crossing
The longest toll-free bridge in Japan — 3,540m humped over open turquoise.
See the detail
3 hr 30 min for bothMiyako soba at an old house
Flat noodles, clean pork-and-fish broth, toppings hidden under the noodles in the old tax-era style — the story of the island in one bowl..
See the detail
3 hr 50 min for bothSunayama Beach
Over a sand dune and down to a cove with a wave-cut arch.
See the detail