When you arrive at the observatory, stop and try to feel the element of the wind before getting caught up in the starry view. Can you feel it blowing against your skin? Is it a gust of strong wind or is it blowing gently?

The wind you’re feeling is coming from the Seto Inland Sea. It reaches Mt. Hoshigajo before descending down into the space below, the town of Shodoshima. The same wind you’re feeling will eventually help dry somen noodles or ferment the bacteria for making soy sauce. In this way, the wind is connected to Shodoshima’s food culture.

They say that the night view of the town of Shodoshima looks like the shape of a deer. From where you’re standing, the area on the upper-left side is where the head is, and the lower-right side is where the hind legs are.

Can you see it? How about the streak of street lights that shine conspicuously from the head to the neck of the deer? That’s the main street of Hoshio-no-Sato, lined with soy sauce storehouses. This soy sauce town started about 400 years ago and the craftsmen today continue the traditional work of providing the world with a taste of Japan. You can smell a waft of soy sauce just by driving through the streets. The wind is at the root of everything.

Now close your eyes and let’s dive deep into the layers of the earth. Shodoshima’s stratum is roughly divided into three layers. The top layer is the hard andesite that covers Mt. Hoshigajo. The second layer is the volcanic breccia that covers most of Kankakei. It’s the same stratum as the rice terraces of Senmaida in Nakayama, to the west of the gorge. Finally, at the bottom is granite, which is good for drainage, allowing olive trees to take root on the island.

Open your eyes again and look at the city lights. The bright horizontal line on the right side closest to Kankakei Gorge is the light from Uchinomi Dam.

Uchinomi Dam is said to be the longest dam in the Shikoku area, storing the water at Lake Kankakei. As the name suggests, the water flows from the gorge, accumulates at the top of Mt. Hoshigajo, and flows down to be used for daily life and for agricultural purposes such as cultivating the fields. Even before the dam was built, the villagers lived at the foot of the mountain and used its water.

Please continue to enjoy the night view from Kankakei Gorge. Each shining light is a glimmer of human activity. You might even see the lights of a ship sailing across the sea, which are not shooting stars but may impel you to make a wish.