History & Culture
Origin of the island name
There are various theories about the origin of the Shishijima island's name, but we will only introduce one of them.
The Totsuka Sword,one of the treasures that symbolized the imperial throne, was enshrined on this island.
These treasures are called "sinji" in Japanese, and "sinji" was abbreviated to "shishi".
Many shrines
Shishijima Island, where up to 1,000 people lived, has many shrines despite its small size.
Representative ones include Santo Shrine, Totsuka Shrine,
Hachiman Shrine, Myojin Shrine, and Kojin Shrine.
A festival is held at each shrine once a year.
By the way, Santo Shrine is said to bring people good health and a good catch. It is also said that Totsuka Shrine brings people safe childbirth.
Golden Island/Flower Island
Because the surrounding sea was blessed with good fishing grounds, fishing was flourishing from the Edo to Taisho periods, and Shishijima Island was once called the "Golden Island" as a treasure trove of fish.
After World War II, islanders changed their occupation from fishing to cultivating flowers such as calendula and pyrethrum in order to earn a stable income.
At its peak, there were over 100 flower farmers.
Although there is not much flat land on this island, the industrious islanders cultivated the steep land that reached up to the sky.
At that time, the island looked like a patchwork of flowers when seen from the air, and was also called "Flower Island".
However, due to the depopulation and aging of the population, there are no longer any flower farmers on the island, and many flower fields have disappeared from the island.
Umebaka
Long ago, in western Japan, there was a custom called the "Ryobo system".
It is a system that creates two graves for one deceased person.
One is a grave for the burial of the deceased and is called "Umebaka".
The other is a grave where the soul of the deceased is enshrined, and is called "Mairibaka".
Cremation is common in Japan today. Since burials are not performed, these are rarely seen.
Remnants of this custom can be seen on Shishijima Island and surrounding islands.
Among them, "Umebaka" on this island is unique because it is shaped like a hut with a colorful roof.
Movie location
Shishijima Island was chosen as the filming location for "Otokowatsuraiyo", a hugely popular Japanese movie that has continued for 50 films.
Other movies are also being filmed here.