佐柳島

The ferry from Tadotsu cuts northwest across the Inland Sea, stopping first at Takamijima before reaching the narrow ridge of Sanagishima. Two small harbors, Honura and Nagasaki, anchor the island at either end, and between them the population is barely enough to fill a single train carriage. Cats outnumber people here, sunning themselves on stone walls and the edges of fishing nets left to dry.

The work of the island remains tied to the water — gill-net fishing, octopus pots, small plots of beans and sweet potatoes worked between the houses. At Jōrenji, a temple set back from the shore, the grave of Hirata Tomizō, one of the crew of the Kanrin Maru, still stands; the late-Edo currents that carried Sakamoto Ryōma and the Kaientai brushed against this island too, though you would not guess it from the quiet of the lanes today.

The Sanyō Kisen boat from Kasaoka calls only on Saturdays, and the Tadotsu line follows its own unhurried timetable, so the rhythm of arrivals shapes the day. Such places, perhaps, are best understood not by what they offer but by what they ask: patience with the ferry schedule, attention to the shape of a coastline only a kilometre or two wide, and a willingness to let the hours pass without filling them.