The Saiki Coastal Road

One of Oita’s most spectacular roads skirts the prefecture’s intricate coastline from central Saiki to Oita’s southern borders. It then continues on into neighbouring Miyazaki Prefecture; with light traffic it is an ideal road to explore for both adventurous touring cyclists and motorised transport. The Saiki Coastal Road, which is not formalised nor signposted as such, is approximately 70km in length and composed, in order by Routes 604, 501, 388 and 122, and threads it way through small fishing communities, around bays, high up to the top of towering cliffs that offer spectacular views across the seas to Shikoku, before finally reaching Hatotsu beach. Beyond is Miyazaki Prefecture. Tsurumisaki, which lies south just outside central Saiki, and Kamae’s Nishiura peninsulas make excellent diversionary additions. Other wonderful diversion include taking the small passenger ferry from Kamae to the sparsely populated islands of Yakatajima and Fukashima. Besides great views en route, sites to look out for include Kamae’s Michi-no-Eki wayside station, which sells a plethora of locally caught and raised fish, and the Marine Culture Centre, which was designed by one of Japan’s leading architects, Kiyonori Kikutake.