Kashikojima Island
Accessible by limited express train from Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya, the town around Kashikojima Station has an old-world atmosphere. Kashikojima is the largest island in Ago Bay, a center of pearl cultivation. The numerous pearl shops are testimony to the close link between Kashikojima and this industry. Further evidence can be found at Maruyama Park, where there is a monument to Japan’s three pioneers of pearl cultivation, as well as a memorial to the oysters that have been sacrificed for their pearls.
Various boat tours can be taken from the town’s ferry terminal. The larger boats often stop at a pearl factory, where visitors can observe the delicate process of implanting irritants into the shells to stimulate the formation of cultivated pearls. The smaller boats allow visitors a different experience, offering a close examination of the pearl culturing rafts and indented coastlines of Ago Bay's smaller islands.
Kashikojima was also chosen as the location for the forty-second G7 Summit in 2016, which was held at the Shima Kanko Hotel. The Ise-Shima Summit Memorial Museum inside Kashikojima Station gives an insight into this historic event. Visitors can try sitting in Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s chair at the actual table used for the eight leaders’ discussions.