Etajima

This article is about the island. For the city, see Etajima, Hiroshima.

Etajima (江田島) is an island in Hiroshima Bay located in southwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. From the city of Hiroshima, the island is about 7 km (4.3 mi) out at sea. The island is about 6 km (3.7 mi) from the city of Kure. It is connected to Kure by two bridges.

Etajima holds two annual marathons, including the "Mikan (Orange) Marathon", and the "Kaki (Oyster) Marathon". The Mikan Marathon has been held for more than two decades. It is held every year in October, at the beginning of the orange season. Each participant is rewarded for their efforts with a bag of locally grown oranges. The 23rd Annual Mikan Marathon in 2008 had over 2,000 participants for 1K, 3K, 5K, and 10K runs, and a half-marathon.

The Kaki Marathon is relatively a smaller scale marathon. Participants are rewarded with oysters.

History

On November 1, 2004, four towns on the island merged forming the city of Etajima. These towns were: Etajima from Aki District, and Noumi, Okimi, and Ogaki from Saeki District.

Further reading

• Cecil Bullock, Etajima: the Dartmouth of Japan (London, 1942)

See also

• Kure Naval District
• Naval Academy Etajima