"The ocean parts to make a path" (from the song, "Chindo Monogatari")

You don't have to be Jewish to believe in the miracle of the parting of the sea to let people cross over on dry land. What would you think if that same miracle occurred once each month? This phenomenon occurs in several places in Japan, as Yoshimi Tendo sings in the song Chindo Monogatari: "Each year a little path opens up." On Dogashima of Izu Penninsula, at the time of spring tide one can cross over to Sanshiro-jima and on Shodo-shima at ebb tide a walkway to Yoshima appears. There are dozens of other places where this occurs. In the south-east district of Hiroshima Prefecture where I was born and reared, there are walkways where you can cross over to an island. Once I went with my father to gather shells when it was almost too dangerous to return along the walkway. Yoshima in Tonosho on the island of Shodoshima is formed by four islands. A hotel on the beach opposite Yoshima has named the walkway "Rainbow Road" as a tourist attraction. A movie about a diplomat during the war who tried to be a bridge between Japan and the US was called "A Bridge Over the Rainbow."

Walking at Ebb Tide: Yoshima on Shodoshima Island