Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to visitors, but it's more a long stretch of rather desolate coral stone and tidal basins on the
northwest coast of Kikai.
Karimata Spring, a sacred fresh water spring.
Now driving southwest, you'll soon come to the village of Onotsu (
小野津
; Onotsu).
here is one minor attraction here and one nearby.
It so happens that the 130th East Longitude Meridian Line (
東経
130
度線
-
子午線 モ
ニュメント
; Tōkei 130 (sha ku tan jie) do-sen-Shigosen Monyumento) runs through Kikai's
northern end. To celebrate this invisible meridian, there's a small marker and a couple of yel-
low lines in the road. It's right on the shore of town, perhaps 330 feet (100 meters) to the west
of the fishing port and overlooking the ocean. Naturally, the line would continue across the
island and indeed continue around the world from the North to the South Pole. It exits Kikai
someplace near the east coast village of Sōmachi (
早町
; Sōmachi) but there's nothing special
over there to mark it although it is indicated where it passes through Hyakunodai Park.
Let's admit it, there are longitude and latitude lines all over the face of the earth, at least
on maps. We don't normally pay too much attention to them unless they are, for example,
the Greenwich Prime Meridian, International Date Line, Equator, Arctic Circle or something
like that. But this is Kikai and things are on a slightly smaller scale here. Embrace it.
From Onotsu it's just a bit up the hill leaving town and you'll see a sign for the Karimata
Spring (
雁股の泉
; Karimata-no izumi). Again, it's nothing too, too special, but one can easily
imagine that it was something special a few hundred years ago. Miraculously flowing fresh
water supplies on small islands surrounded by the un-drinkable ocean are always special,
usually revered. The Japanese town website reports that there is a wealth of legend sur-
rounding this particular fountain and thus it is a sacred place. If fresh water springs interest
you, there is another one, which includes a small waterfall, in the village of Ōasato (
大朝戸
;
Ōasato), which is approximately in the center of the island, on the east side. Its waters are
brilliantly clear.
