Naruto whirlpools
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The Template:Nihongo are tidal whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, a channel between Naruto in Tokushima and Awaji Island in Hyōgo, Japan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The strait between Naruto and Awaji island has a width of about Template:Convert. The strait is one of the connections between the Pacific Ocean and the Inland Sea, a body of water separating Honshū and Shikoku, two of the main islands of Japan. The tide moves large amounts of water into and out of the Inland Sea twice a day. With a range of up to Template:Convert, the tide creates a difference in the water level of up to Template:Convert between the Inland Sea and the Pacific. Due to the narrowness of the strait, the water rushes through the Naruto channel at a speed of about Template:Convert four times a day, twice flowing in and twice flowing out. During a spring tide, the speed of the water may reach Template:Convert, creating vortices up to Template:Convert in diameter.
The current in the strait is the fastest in Japan and the fourth fastest in the world after the Saltstraumen outside Bodø in Norway, which reaches speeds of Template:Convert, the Moskenstraumen off the Lofoten islands in Norway (the original maelstrom) reaching Template:Convert; and the Old Sow whirlpool in New Brunswick, Canada with up to Template:Convert.
The whirlpools can be observed from the shore on Awaji island, from tourist ships, or from the Uzunomichi Walkway of the 1985 Ōnaruto Bridge spanning the strait. The suspension bridge has a total length of Template:Convert, with the center span over the strait having a length of Template:Convert and a height of Template:Convert above sea level.
The whirlpools inspired the name for narutomaki surimi.Template:Sfn Franziska Ehmcke, professor of Japanese studies at Cologne University, theorized that they also inspired the name of Naruto Uzumaki from the manga and anime Naruto, "Uzumaki" (うずまき) meaning "whirlpool".<ref name="Ehmcke">Template:Cite book</ref> The storyline starts with building the Great Naruto Bridge (なると大橋, Naruto Ōhashi) into The Land of Waves (波の国, Nami no Kuni) which is based on the Naruto Bridge spanning the Naruto Strait.