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Setonaikai NP, Kagawa
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Shodoshima’s old shishigaki walls were built to keep wild boar and deer out of fields. By 1790, villagers had built a network stretching about 120 km around the island—a huge shared effort that took decades.
In the food shortages of 1945, islanders simmered sweet-potato vines in Shodoshima soy sauce to make a filling food. That resourceful postwar dish helped launch the island’s now-famous tsukudani industry.
In 1908, Japan tested imported olive trees in Kagawa, Mie and Kagoshima; only the Shodoshima trial succeeded. The island’s Nishimura site received 519 trees, helping set Japan’s olive-growing story in motion.
Somen may be a summer favorite, but Shodoshima makers traditionally stretch and dry the long noodles outdoors in winter. Their distinctive method uses local sesame oil, and some freshly stretched strands reach more than 2 m.
In the Kojiki’s creation story, today’s Shodoshima appears as Azukishima (あづきしま), one of the islands born to the deities Izanagi and Izanami. Its mythic alternate name is Oonudehime, the island’s goddess-name.
Shodoshima’s soy-sauce brewing grew in the late Edo period, when salt was being produced in excess and islanders sought other livelihoods. Around 1900, as many as 400 breweries were operating here.
Shodoshima brewers still use about 1,000 giant wooden koga vats. Microbes living in the wood help shape the soy sauce’s flavor, so the aging barrel is part of each brewery’s character—not just a container.
Local tradition traces Shodoshima somen to 1598: islanders returning from an Ise Shrine pilgrimage learned the noodle-making craft in Miwa, Nara, and brought it home. The island’s makers have kept refining that hand-stretched tradition ever since.
At the Hachininishi quarry, a roughly 5 m boulder still bears two rows of wedge holes: one row was split, the other left unfinished. It is one of many traces of the island’s 17th-century stone work for Osaka Castle.
In 1973, a local bus-company president built a Greek-style olive temple and Peace Bell on Shodoshima. A Greek sea-turtle conservationist noticed the tower’s resemblance to a turtle and suggested sister-island ties with Milos.
Shodoshima’s village Kabuki was once so popular that performances are said to have taken place at about 150 island venues in the Meiji era. Today, two villages keep the tradition alive, with local residents filling every role.
The large Yahata-maimai snail, also called the Kankakei-maimai locally, lives nowhere else in the world: its range is limited to the conglomerate-rock country of central Shodoshima. Its shell can span about 5.5 cm.
Shodoshima forsythia is a small deciduous shrub that grows naturally only in the conglomerate-rock area around Kankakei. In spring, its yellow flowers appear on the very rocky slopes that make this landscape unusual.
A festival picture offered at Ikeda’s Kameyama Hachiman Shrine in 1812 shows taiko floats and spectators in the stone stands—but also a boat race and sumo that are no longer part of the festival. It is a snapshot of celebrations past.
The island’s stonework has a surprising modern landmark: Shodoshima stone was used for the Imperial Palace’s stone bridge. At the old Mori-ga-taki quarry, cut rock faces and rain-filled quarry pools still mark where stone was taken.
Twenty-Four Eyes was written by Sakae Tsuboi, born in Shodoshima’s Sakate district. The novel appeared in 1952; its 1954 film brought the island to national attention, and Tsuboi went on to publish more than 300 works.
The famous 88-temple pilgrimage has an island-sized counterpart: Shodoshima’s own circuit covers about 150 km. Some temples perch high on mountains or cliffs, making this a compact but rugged pilgrimage route.
At low tide, the Angel Road’s sand path links a chain of four small islands; when the water rises, it disappears again. Local lore says that crossing hand in hand with someone dear brings a wish true.
