A small silhouette quietly awaits opposite Megijima and Ogijima.
This is Ōshima Island. Its perimeter is just over 7 kilometers.

Taira warriors fled here after their loss at Yashima. Pine trees were planted to mark the site of their graves, and they still stand to this day.
One such tree tells a tale of the fickle fortunes of war.
It marks this small island as a place that receives the exiled and their prayers since antiquity.

And it would make history anew in the modern age.
In 1909, the Ōshima Seishōen Sanatorium for leprosy was opened.
Only patients, their families, and medical staff lived on this “hospital island,” leading their lives quarantined from the world.

However, this history is far from secret – in fact, they speak openly about it.

The Ōshima Memorial Museum has altered the old resident housing into an exhibition complex that teaches the history and basic knowledge of leprosy.
Monuments and plaques were erected in the island, inviting visitors to ponder its history.

An artwork created in collaboration with hospital patients was also displayed at the Setouchi Trienniale.

At a glance from a ferry window, Ōshima seems like yet another quiet island of the Inland Sea.
But its size belies its history. You can feel the weight as you walk its contours. A past solemnly worn.