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The Onaruto suspension bridge over the swirling, foaming currents of the Naruto Strait
Photo: katorisi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tokushima · viewpoint

Uzu no Michi (Onaruto Bridge Walkway)

大鳴門橋遊歩道 渦の道

Walk 450 m inside the Onaruto Bridge and look straight down through glass floors 45 m above the Naruto whirlpools. Time it with the tides to see them swirl.

The enclosed Uzu no Michi walkway inside the bridge girder, with mesh fencing on both sides
Photo: Kounosu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Steel framework inside the Onaruto Bridge girder, with the sea visible far below
Photo: TEMPA WATARU, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Walk inside the bridge out over the sea

Uzu no Michi is a walkway built inside the girders of the Onaruto Bridge, in Naruto Park, Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture. The Onaruto Bridge spans the Naruto Strait between Naruto City in Tokushima Prefecture and Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture.

The walkway is 450 m long. It is enclosed by mesh fencing, so you can feel the sea breeze and hear the waves as if you were outdoors. There are glass floor panels along the way, and an observation room at the end.

Looking down on the whirlpools through glass floors 45 m up

The observation room has eight glass floor panels, from which you can peer straight down at the whirlpools and currents from about 45 m above the sea.

The Naruto whirlpools form because the tides create a difference of up to about 1.5 m in sea level between the Seto Inland Sea side (the Harima-nada) and the Kii Channel side, producing a fast current. Whirlpools form at the boundary between the fast current in the middle of the strait and the slower water near the shore. According to Tokushima Prefecture, large ones can reach about 20 m across.

The best days and times to see the whirlpools

The whirlpools are not visible all day; there are best times to see them. The roughly one and a half hours around high and low tide are said to be best, and around oshio (spring tide, when the phases of the moon make the tides rise and fall the most) the whirlpools get bigger. By season, spring and autumn, especially from late March to late April, are when you can see large whirlpools.

The Uzu no Michi official website has a shiomihyo (tide table) showing the best viewing times for each day, so plan your trip around it.

Getting there

By train, take a local bus bound for Naruto Park from Naruto Station on the JR Naruto Line, get off at Naruto Park and walk about 5 minutes. By car, it is about 5 minutes from the Naruto-kita Interchange on the expressway. Uzu no Michi has no car park of its own, so use the paid car parks in Naruto Park.

Opening hours and prices vary by season, so check the official website. The Otsuka Museum of Art is in the same Naruto Park, and you can visit both together.

Tips

  • Once you know what day you are going, check the best viewing times in the tide table on the official website and plan to arrive then.
  • A temporary closure has been announced for 14 to 16 December 2026. Check the notices on the official website before you set out.
  • Work is under way to build a cycle path in the space inside the Onaruto Bridge girders (a Tokushima and Hyogo Prefecture project), and Uzu no Michi advises that this may cause some inconvenience in places.

Sources

Updated 28 September 2026. Opening hours and prices change, so check the official site before you go.

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