Harima Sea () is the eastern part of the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Located on the south side of the southwestern part of Hyogo Prefecture (formerly Harima Province), it is bounded by Awaji Island to the east, Shodoshima to the west, and

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

in the south, with the Ieshima Islands in the northwest. The area of the sea is approximately , and the depth is around , however in some areas the depth exceeds . An important route crosses from the

Kinki region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...

to the Chugoku,

, and

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

regions. There are many rocky reefs, which are good fishing grounds for

sea bream The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a ...

Sand lance A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lances are commonly known as "sand eels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, and all names of the fish are ...

are often caught, and

Tsukudani is small seafood, meat or seaweed that has been simmered in soy sauce and mirin. As a flavorful accompaniment to plain rice, tsukudani is made salty enough to not go bad, allowing high osmotic pressure to preserve the ingredients from microbial ...

(sand lance simmered in soy sauce and mirin) is a specialty of Banshu, but production has been declining due to the damage to sand lance habitat caused by the extraction of sea sand.

Rivers

* Hyogo prefecture ** Kakogawa, Ichikawa, Yumesakigawa, Ibogawa, Chikusagawa (collectively referred to as Harima Gokawa), Senba River, Noda River, Ōtsumo River (

Himeji City file:Himeji City Hall 20180505.jpg, 260px, Himeji City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of ...

), Mihara River (

Minamiawaji is a city in the southern part of Awaji Island in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 45,489 kn 19856 households, and a population density of 200 persons per km².The total area of the city is . Geography The cit ...

) * Kagawa Prefecture ** Minatogawa (Higashikagawa City)

Port towns

* Sakoshi * Iwashihama * Iwami * Murotsu * Fukuura * Hiketa * Takasu ( Takasago City) * Hinase (Okayama Prefecture) * Ushimado (Okayama Prefecture)

Industrial ports

* Himeji Port (Shikama, Hirohata, Aboshi) * Higashiharima Port

Islands

* Awaji Island * Ieshima Islands ** Ieshima ** Tanga Island ** Boze Island ** Nishijima * Shodoshima

References

External links

播磨灘
-

環境省 The is a Cabinet of Japan, Cabinet-level ministry of the government of Japan responsible for global environmental conservation, pollution control, and nature conservation. The ministry was formed in 2001 from the sub-cabinet level Environmental ...

* Seas of Japan Seto Inland Sea {{Japan-geo-stub