平郡島

The ferry leaves Yanai port and bears south into the Iyo-nada, and after a while a long, narrow island rises from the water, its central ridge steep enough that the terraced fields seem to climb directly toward the sky. This is Heigun-tō, reached by the Heigun route, and life here has long divided itself between an eastern and a western settlement, linked only by a road that runs along the northern shore.

Walking inland, the terraces tell most of the story. Mikan and natsumikan trees hold the slopes; carnations are cultivated where the ground allows; strips of kiriboshi-daikon dry in the open air. Down by the shore, the rocky inlets and seaweed beds yield ji-dako, tachiuo, hijiki, funori, sazae — a working coastline rather than a scenic one. The Heigun-higashi and Heigun-nishi community centers anchor each village, the kind of buildings where notices for the next gathering simply appear on the door.

Aging has thinned the fields, and some of the old plots have returned to scrub, yet the rhythm of boat, slope, and tide continues without performance. The quiet here is not curated; it belongs to the island's geography, to the Seto Inland Sea around it, and to the people who still go down to the rocks at low water. Such places, perhaps, ask only that one arrive on the schedule of the ferry and stay long enough to learn which path leads where.