There’s no contest. Golden Route, eat your heart out. Board the bullet train at Tokyo Station, and in two and a half hours you’ll have crossed the midriff of Japan’s main island, Honshu ...

The Tobishima Kaido is a network of bridges linking seven Seto Inland Sea islands. The route starts in Shimo-kamagari near Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture and extends to Okamura in Ehime Prefecture.