An ancient chronicle called the Nihon Shoki preserves a story set on this island, centered on Emperor Ojin.

Emperor Ojin was once traveling through the Seto Inland Sea with his consort, whose homeland lay across these waters. When she eventually set out to return home, the emperor watched her boat depart from a hilltop and composed a poem. In it, he speaks of Awaji Island and Shodoshima, lying side by side in the sea. If these two islands can always remain together, he wonders, why must the two of us be apart? The islands before him became a way of expressing his sadness at their separation. Unable to forget his consort, Emperor Ojin later crossed the sea himself. According to tradition, he stopped at Shodoshima along the way. Stories of his visit still appear across the island, including places where he is said to have first come ashore and where he planted trees.

His journey is also said to have taken him to the dramatic gorge that rises in the center of the island. According to the legend, the emperor climbed its steep, rocky slopes and prayed from the summit for peace throughout the land. In time, people came to call the mountain “Kamikake,” a name associated with offering a prayer to the gods. That name is believed to survive today in “Kankakei.” The written characters have changed, but we can still hear the older name in the one we use today.

There is one more connection. After his death, Emperor Ojin came to be worshipped as a deity. You may know him by another name: Hachiman. Hachiman is worshipped at more than 20,000 shrines across Japan, and Shodoshima has a remarkable number of Hachiman shrines for an island of its size. The reason becomes clearer in light of these traditions. For generations, Shodoshima has been regarded as an island where Hachiman once walked as a human being, before he came to be worshipped as a god.

The high peaks of Kankakei also shape something else that has long influenced life on Shodoshima: the wind. Winds crossing the Seto Inland Sea meet these mountains and flow down toward the towns below. Islanders have learned to make use of them in everyday life. The wind dries curtains of white somen noodles hung outside and passes through the windows of soy sauce breweries, helping the “moromi” mash mature. In this way, the island’s winds have played an important role in shaping the distinctive foods Shodoshima is known for today.