Books
The Sound of Waves: Kamishima Island and Okinawa
Mishima's novel The Sound of Waves (Shiosai) is set on Utajima, a fishing island based on Kamishima in Mie Prefecture, with a lighthouse, a shrine and a ruined observation post that fans still visit.
The route follows young fisherman Shinji and the pearl diver Hatsue from the island to a typhoon in Okinawa's Unten Port and back to the lighthouse. Kamishima is the model for the island; the novel renames it, so the island stops share one approximate pin.
Timeline & locations
What do the location labels mean?
- Exact
- The pin marks the actual place where it happened or was filmed.
- Approximate
- The right area — a town, park or district — but not a precise spot.
Shinji Kubo lives with his mother, a pearl diver, and his younger brother, and works as a fisherman. Mishima set the story on a fictional island, Utajima, but based it on Kamishima, a small island at the mouth of Ise Bay. He visited in 1953 to research the book and liked the place at once: no bars, no pachinko parlours, cut off from city life. Kamishima is part of Toba, and a ferry runs from Toba port.
Location precision: The novel renames the island Utajima; the pin marks Kamishima as a whole.
Visitor guidance: A municipal ferry from Toba port reaches Kamishima fishing harbour; a walking path circles the island.
Sources
- 潮騒 (小説)
- Locator:
- Plot, setting, tourism sections
- 神島 (三重県)
- Locator:
- Overview, tourism
- The Sound of Waves
- Locator:
- Plot
- 潮騒 (小説)
The island's shrine was set up for the Eight Dragon Kings and keeps many old treasures. In the novel it is where Shinji and Hatsue press their hands together in prayer, and it is now a stop on the Sound of Waves tour. On 1 January, before dawn, the shrine hosts the Geta festival, an old island ritual.
Location precision: No exact pin was found; the pin marks Kamishima island, not the shrine itself.
Visitor guidance: Part of the walking tour of Kamishima; the Geta festival takes place at dawn on 1 January.
Sources
- 潮騒 (小説)
- Locator:
- Plot, setting, tourism sections
- The Sound of Waves
- Locator:
- Plot
- 潮騒 (小説)
Shinji and Hatsue first bump into each other here by chance. The concrete ruin was once an army post for watching shell fire from Irago Cape. On a rainy day off from fishing, Shinji waits there and dozes by a fire. Hatsue tells him to jump over it. The ruin has since been reinforced against earthquakes, and a literary monument and park were finished in 2013.
Location precision: No exact pin was found; the pin marks Kamishima island, not the ruin itself.
Visitor guidance: A stop on the Kamishima walking tour.
Sources
- 潮騒 (小説)
- Locator:
- Plot, setting, tourism sections
- 潮騒 (小説)
To prove himself, Shinji ships out on the Utajima-maru, a cargo vessel. When it comes into Unten port from Naha, a typhoon strikes. Shinji volunteers to dive into the rough sea and saves the ship, which wins him the respect of Hatsue's father. Unten is a major port at Nakijin on Okinawa's Motobu Peninsula.
The lighthouse keeper's daughter, Chiyoko, comes home from university in Tokyo for the spring break, and her jealousy sets the rumours going. At the end, Shinji and Hatsue watch the beautiful night light from the lighthouse. The real tower first shone on 1 May 1910. Beside it a plate marks the island as a sanctuary for lovers.
Visitor guidance: Reached on foot from the harbour along the island path.
