Kii Channel

The Kii Channel (紀伊水道, Kii-suidō^[1]), also called the Kii Strait,^[2][3] is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Kii Channel
紀伊水道 (Japanese)
Harima Nada Naruto Strait Osaka Bay Awaji Kitan Strait Kii Channel Shikoku Kii Peninsula Landsat 7 view of Kii Channel
Kii Channel Location in Japan
Coordinates	33.9692°N 134.872°E / 33.9692; 134.872
Type	strait
Basin countries	Japan

The name of the strait derives from Kii Province, a former province on the Kii Peninsula.

The strait is surrounded by Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku, Wakayama Prefecture on Honshū, and the southern coast of Awaji Island in Hyōgo Prefecture. It is connected to Osaka Bay via the Kitan Strait and to Harima Nada (the eastern part of the Inland Sea) by the Naruto Strait. Part of the channel is designated as Setonaikai National Park.

Western maps from the 19th century also refer to this waterway as the Linschoten Strait.^[4]