Spinning Water

Trip Start Jul 28, 2010

Trip End Aug 01, 2011

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Flag of Japan Naruto, Shikoku, Japan
Monday, March 28, 2011

About a week into my trip, I took the train over to Naruto. I knew that I wanted to go to this city during my tenure in Japan. I just did not know when. My apartment building mate had told me about her trip and subsequent souvenir from Naruto. A twin of her key chain is pictured. I went there for one reason alone, whirl pools. It is a hello kitty dangling on the side of a whirlpool and I knew that I must also posses one.

I got up at 5 to get dressed. I walked up the hill and across the bridge from the place I was staying and jogged into town. It took near 20 minutes to get to town on foot and I almost missed my train. I spent a good deal in transit this day 3+ hours both out and back. After I got to Naruto, I found the bus out there fairly easily, but I did not exactly where to get off. This led to a trial and error stop finding method and caused me to miss lunch

Naruto Whirlpool

. I eventually found a tour company that went daily out onto the water, Aqua Eddy. My ticket is the first pic. My lunch became what I could pick out of their souvenir stand.

I got a ticket and waited in line. The boat could hold 80 people or so. It had a glass bottom and an upper viewing deck. The straights near Naruto form a natural occurring whirl pool that peaks once a month depending on the moon cycle. They have build a bridge that hangs right over them. I was lucky enough to catch it on one of its good days. The ship jetted up to and right through vortex. It was in word cool. One kid exclaimed, "Suge! (amazing)" and it was. It was really cool to see something so massive and made of raw power. Its span was at least 10m, but that is not even half the size during the Spring High. An enjoyable day all around and I checked off another must do on my Japan list.

“The strait between Naruto and Awaji island has a width of about 1.3 km (0.81 miles). The strait is one of the connections between the Pacific Ocean and theInland Sea, a body of water separating Honshū and Shikoku, two of the main islands of Japan. The tide moves large amounts of water into the Inland Sea twice per day, and also removes large amounts of water twice a day. With a range of up to 1.7 m (5.6 ft), the tide creates a difference in the water level of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) between the Inland Sea and the Pacific. Due to the narrowness of the strait, the water rushes through the Naruto channel at a speed of about 13–15 km/h (8–9 mph) four times per day, twice flowing in and twice flowing out. During a spring tide, the speed of the water may reach 20 km/h (12 mph), creating vortices up to 20 m (66 ft) in diameter.”

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