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Ise-Shima NP, Mie
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At the 2016 G7 working dinner on Kashikojima, chef Hiroe Higuchi served Shima Kanko Hotel’s Ise-lobster cream soup. A local report says the leaders lingered over it—Ago Bay seafood became part of summit memory.
Kashikojima’s name is said to come from “Kachikoe-jima,” the island people could walk to when the tide was out. The pronunciation evolved, and the kanji 賢島 came into use with the island’s 1929 development.
When promoting Kashikojima for the 2016 G7, Mie Prefecture pointed to its island setting and access over just 2 bridges as a security advantage. The geography visitors notice helped bring world leaders here.
A year after the 2016 summit, a memorial museum opened on the second floor of Kashikojima Station. It displays the actual round table and chairs used by the leaders—diplomatic history tucked above the railway platforms.
The island itself was not Mikimoto’s first pearl-farming site: in 1893, Kokichi Mikimoto established a farm on nearby Takatomijima and in the surrounding waters. That neighboring island helped make Ago Bay a pearl-growing center.
Pearl harvesting has a solemn side: mother-of-pearl oysters are sacrificed to recover their pearls. At Kashikojima’s Maruyama Park, a memorial honors them, and an annual ceremony is held there on October 22.
To find the opening of Karei naru Ichizoku, novelist Toyoko Yamasaki watched the sun set over Ago Bay from hotel viewpoints—even a semi-basement boiler-room window. Her writing desk and chair are displayed at the hotel.
Kashikojima became a pearl-science hub in 1955, when the National Pearl Research Institute opened here. Its marine laboratory and experimental grounds were on neighboring Takatomijima, letting researchers study pearl oysters and pearl quality in the bay.
Kashikojima once had a second rail terminus: Shinju-ko, meaning “Pearl Port.” The final 0.3 km from Kashikojima Station carried freight trains only, serving the pearl trade until the spur closed in 1969.
Matsui Pearl Shop opened beside Kashikojima Station around 1929, when the railway arrived. Mie’s cultural-property office describes it as probably the first retail shop in a pearl-producing area; the shop is now nationally registered as a cultural property.
Kashikojima’s historic Matsui Pearl Shop also appeared in the 39th film in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, released in 1987. The same harbor-side building is still recognized as a cultural landmark of the island’s pearl trade.
Part of Shima Kanko Hotel began as a 1944 gathering hall for senior staff of the Suzuka Naval Air Group. With wartime materials scarce, Kawakita Handeishi donated pine from his mountain for its beams and columns; the building was later moved to Kashikojima.
Kashikojima Port took shape because the old landing at Ugata was too shallow for ships. Railway promoter Morimoto brought the line to the island and used his own money to reclaim land near the station, creating a more useful harbor.
When Shima Kanko Hotel opened in 1951, Kashikojima had a serious water problem: digging wells did not provide enough. Hotels and other facilities endured shortages until the Shima water supply began reaching the island in 1973.
Just months after Shima Kanko Hotel opened in 1951, Emperor Shōwa stayed there. A poem he published the following New Year admired the island’s sarutori-ibara and soyogo berries; its inscription still stands in the hotel garden.
