I don my raincoat and head to the fields in the light rain. The wind carries the faint smell of plum blossoms. People laugh on the road as they search for “where the blossoms bloom,” like bees flying from flower to flower searching for honey.

The locals often say “They call it the Eight Views of Omi, but for us, it’s the Setouchi Shimanami.”

The islands float in the pond. These islands, which are patterned after the set of woodblock print paintings called “The Eight Views of Ōmi” by the artist Hiroshige, are called “Ho” (“Sail”), “Gan” (“Wild Goose”), “Kaminari” (“Thunder”), “Ame”, (“Rain”), “Kane” (“Bell”), “Seiran” (“Mountain Haze”), “Tsuki” (“Moon”), and “Yūbae” (“Sunset Glow”). However, passing over the zig-zagging bridges and lines of stepping stones feels more like crossing between the islands of the Seto Inland Sea.

The islands of Setouchi are intimately connected to each other. Of course, each island has its own name and special characteristics. So, let’s hop to the next island. Today, let’s go to the opposite shore. The distance between them feels small, making it easy to move from island to island. In fact, there’s no better place for island hopping than the Seto Inland Sea.

These little islets feel as if they were the real Setouchi islands. The mountains of Kagawa jut up from the plains here and there. The islands of the Seto Inland Sea are the same. In fact, there used to be a mountain range in the Sea. But when the water level rose at the end of the Ice Age, those mountains became islands.

You could say that, by walking across the stones in the garden, we are experiencing the Setouchi islands in a way. This seaside garden used to be called “the eden of the sea,” and is a manifestation of the spirit of the people who live by the Setouchi Inland Sea.

The garden itself has connections to the sea. After experiencing a land subsidence due to the Nankai earthquake, the land outside of the garden was reclaimed, but before that, there used to be a swimming area to the north of the garden. The pond would also draw in water from the sea and it is said to this day, the pond water is a mix of freshwater and seawater. The pine trees growing on the beaches of Setouchi form a sand-proof forest, and there are over 1500 pine trees growing around this garden. This scene is known as “Shirasuna Aomatsu” or “white sand and green pines,”and it is a scene unique to the Setouchi area.

Occasionally, seabirds fly gracefully across the garden. Beyond the sounds of the garden, you can smell the faint scent of the tide, and hear the sounds of the ocean and the cars driving through the city.

In this garden you’ll witness the link between the earth and sea, the ordinary and the extraordinary. Once you leave, you’ll find that the world you once took for granted has grown more dear to you, and you’ll be ready to hear stories from the Setouchi area.