Tomogashima Island 友が島
2019年 12月 18日
和歌山市西端の町加太からフェリーで20分。紀淡海峡に浮かぶ友が島は、晴れた日には呼べば声が届きそうな近くに見えます。しかし、この島は明治時代から第二次大戦終戦までは一般人の立ち入りが厳しく制限された幻の土地でした。外国艦船の侵入を防ぐため6基の砲台が建設され、軍事要塞としての役割を担うことになったのです。
Tomogashima Island
A 20-minute ferry ride brings visitors to Tomogashima Island, which is located off the western tip of Wakayama City. On sunny day, Tomogashima appears to be within call from the other side of a strait.
Today, the ruins of brick-made magazines provide a nice background for young visitors who enjoy costume-playing and taking photos to be uproaded onto Instagram.
Their senior sailors had the authority to blow up mines in the sea in case those war ships approached. The listening post building has decayed over the years. Metal window frames were stolen during the Korean War in the 1950s when prices of scrap metal sored. Only the muting material covering the ceilings remains, suggesting this used to be a wartime facility.
Their senior sailors had the authority to blow up mines in the sea in case those war ships approached.
戦後、友が島は一般にも開放されました。珍しい植物が生い茂る島を自然動物園にする計画も持ち上がり、島外からシカ、リス、クジャク等が持ち込まれ放たれました。ハイキングコースを歩いていると、今でもこのような動物たちとひょっこり遭遇することがあります。
Tomogashima has also been a sacred place for those who practice mountain ascenticism, or Shugendo. Enno Ozunu, who established the religion in the 7th century, is believed to have buried scriptures in two caves on Torashima (Tiger Island.) His statue stands on top of a cliff. In the 17th century, the names of five sacred places on Torashima were inscribed on the surface of a rock there. Every spring, a group of Shugendo followers come to Torashima and exercise rituals, including rock climbing.
Tomogashima was open to the public after the war. The government aimed to turn the island, abundant with rare plants , into a natural zoo. Deer, squirrels and peacocks were brought in from outside and released. The animals can be sometimes spotted on hiking trails on the island. (Mayumi O)