Kamome Island

Geographical location

Kamome -jima (Japanese鸥 岛) is a peninsula in the Sea of ​​Japan, east of the coastal town of Esashi, Hiyama, Hokkaidō, Japan. She has several historical attractions and is protected as part of the Hiyama Prefectural Natural Park.

Geography

Kamome -jima is approximately 200 × 1000 m tall and rises only 27.6 m above sea level. It is connected with the country on a 500 m long sand bank on which a road passes. The peninsula forms a breakwater for the Port of Esashi. The west coast is eroded by the waves.

Name

Kamome is called " Seagull", and the peninsula of that name well because of their elongated shape reminiscent of a seagull. In the Edo period was called the peninsula Benten -jima (弁 天 岛), a name that many Japanese islands in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, which is called in Japanese Buddhism and Shinto Benten, wore or still wear. Benten is worshiped as the goddess of water and is regarded as the protector of fishermen. Their is therefore dedicated to many Japanese islands a shrine.

History

The peninsula was formed in the Edo period, a natural harbor for ships that traded with Hokkaidō with specialized or for on Pacific herring fishermen.

In 1615 a group of merchants built a shrine on the peninsula in honor of the god of the Japanese Sea, and since 1868 this Itsukushima Shrine is called. 1814 was a monument to Matsuo Bashō, the most famous poet of the Edo period, built in the vicinity of the shrine.

For a long time the Peninsula had problems with drinking water, which would have been necessary to supply ships. In 1876, therefore, the merchant Murakami invested from Esashi a significant sum to build a fountain on the peninsula. At this time the peninsula was also involved in conflicts between various Japanese clans and in 1852 two cannons were brought to the peninsula to protect them and the city Esashi.

Heishi Rock

Legend

The herring fishery also plays a role in the legend of the Heishi - iwa (瓶子 岩). This 500 year old legend says that when the herring disappeared, an old fortune teller got a bottle with a magic liquid. She threw the bottle into the sea and the herring came back. The bottle remained stuck in the seabed and turned into a rock, which is a representation of the God of the Sea of ​​Japan.

Religious Festivals

On the first weekend in July each year, the Kamome -jima Matsuri (かもめ 島 まつり) takes place, a two-day festival that pays tribute to the legend of the Heishi rock and draws tourists to the peninsula. A group of young men will then issue a blessing to a Shinto shrine. The men swim then, only with a traditional loincloth ( fundoshi ) dressed to rock, climb it and renew the thirty meter long Shimenawa surrounding the rocks. This ritual, made ​​of rice straw rope weighs about 500 kilograms. The renewal of a cable is the highlight of the festival when a rowing competition, a parade in traditional costumes, singing performances and a karaoke contest held.

Tourism

On Kamome -jima can fish, camp and hike all year round. The beaches are suitable for swimming in summer.

Flora and Fauna

The constant west wind ensures that the peninsula is largely only covered with grass, but there are also maples ( Acer pictum subsp. Mono) and Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica ). The marine fauna of the island is rich in species, especially hokke ( Pleurogrammus azonus ) and plaice in the spring, Hexagrammos otakii ( a Japanese style of the green compacts ) in the summer, mackerel and buri ( Serriola quinqueradiata, a species of Carangidae ) in the fall and hokke and octopus in winter.