The Sound of Waves

Mishima's simple, luminous love story is set on Uta-jima, a small fishing island in Ise Bay drawn from the real island of Kamishima, where the young fisherman Shinji and the diver's daughter Hatsue fall in love against a tide of gossip. The whole island is the book: the fishing village and its harbour, the steep stone steps of the Yashiro shrine to the sea god, the lighthouse on the height, and the sea itself, worked by the boats and the diving women.

Shinji

The fishing village

Chapter 1

In the small, close village where everyone knows everyone, the poor young fisherman Shinji lives with his widowed mother and works the boats. Mishima renders the island's hard, honest labour and its watchful community, the world against which the pure love of Shinji and Hatsue must prove itself.

Chapter 1

inspired by The island of Uta-jima and its fishing village are drawn from the real island of Kamishima in Ise Bay; the harbour and village are sited there.

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