Hiroshima: ‘Ponyo’-Linked Town Gets New Tunnel for Traffic Relief; Tomonoura Inspired Setting of Ghibli Film

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:16 JST, April 10, 2025

FUKUYAMA, Hiroshima — A long-awaited tunnel has opened in the Tomonoura area, a scenic spot in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, which was the inspiration for the setting of 2008 anime movie “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.”

Tomonoura is a popular tourist spot, with its old townscape, but the main roads in the area are too narrow for cars to pass each other. Tour buses cannot even enter the area.

In 1983, the prefectural government planned to reclaim about two hectares of the water of Tomo Port to build a 180-meter-long bypass road as a measure to ease traffic congestion.

However, some residents opposed the plan, fearing it would damage the beautiful landscape of the spot. Objections were also voiced from all over Japan. Residents filed a lawsuit demanding that the plan be withdrawn. In 2009, the Hiroshima District Court ordered the plan to be canceled.

As an alternative, the prefecture proposed building a 2.1-kilometer tunnel on the mountain side of the area. Construction work began in 2022.

The population in the area has fallen by more than half in the four decades since the initial road plan was compiled. There are high hopes for the newly opened “Tomo Mirai Tunnel.” The prefectural and city governments will build shopping and eating facilities near the tunnel and new parking spaces for tour buses.

A 40-year-old man who runs a local seafood processing and sales company said: “Tourists who formerly passed us by will surely visit this area. It’s an opportunity to improve our brand value as a tourist spot.”