An island of sweet onions and whirlpools
Awaji Island, across a long bridge from Kobe, is Japan's best-known onion island, where harvested onions are hung in sheds to cure until they turn sweet. At its southern tip, facing the whirlpools of the Naruto Strait, eat whole roasted onions and onion burgers with a view of a giant suspension bridge, then take onions home from a farm market. It is about two and a half hours from Osaka by train and highway bus, and a car makes getting around much easier.
A restaurant with glass walls facing the strait and the bridge, where the onions come whole: roasted inside a curry gratin, or stuffed with meat. It takes no reservations, so go early on busy days. It is closed on Tuesdays.
A burger shop inside the roadside station by the bridge, whose burger stacks a thick fried onion cutlet with Awaji beef. After eating, go up to the rooftop to see the bridge. It is closed on Thursdays.
A farm market as big as a gym, with island onions piled high beside local vegetables, plus onion dressings and snacks to take home. It is about 20 minutes inland from the strait by car, so it suits a stop on the way.
A free hall on a headland, with terraces and a rooftop that look straight across the strait to the bridge. Outside sits a 2.5-meter onion sculpture, and you can borrow an onion headpiece to wear for photos. The shop sells onions and dressings; it is closed on Tuesdays.
A roadside station (michi-no-eki, a highway stop with local food and shops) right beside the bridge, rebuilt in 2025 with a rooftop deck. From the deck you see the bridge and the whirlpool strait side-on, almost at eye level.
A one-hour cruise from Fukura Port on a boat built like an old sailing ship, out under the bridge to see the whirlpools up close from the water. They are biggest around high and low tide, so check the tide table before picking a sailing. Tickets can be booked online on an English site.