is a small, uninhabited island in the Uwa Sea (

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

) off the coast of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It belongs to the town of

Ikata is a small peninsula town located in Nishiuwa District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,497 in 15638 households and a population density of 90 persons per km2. The total area of the town is Following a rece ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

. Though the island is uninhabited now, in the 13th-century text is written the following legend:

In the
Antei was a after ''Gennin'' and before '' Kangi.'' This period spanned the years from December 1227 to March 1229. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du Japon'', pp. 238-241 Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō S ...
era (1227–1229), in the Yano area of the
Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...
there was an island called Kuro-shima. It was about one '' ri'' (4 km) from the nearest settlement. On the island lived a fisherman known as the Daiku of Katsurahazama (thought to be modern-day
Honai Honai is a traditional house of the people of the Central Papua and Highland Papua, particularly the Dani. Honai has a simple, round-shaped structure with small doors and no windows. The height of the house is about 2.5 meters, and is divided int ...
). One night he was walking around looking for a good place to set his nets when he saw that the spots with fish appeared to glow in the night darkness. By every shore of the island the light glowed so brightly that he gleefully put out his nets, only to find that there were no fish at all. Instead what he pulled up was countless rats. After he pulled them ashore the rats fled, disappearing into the darkness. The fisherman was stunned. How strange this was! The island thus became full of rats, which ate all of the crops, and made the land infertile to this day. Though rats can of course be found on land, what a strange thing it is that they would be at the bottom of the sea!

References

Places in Japanese mythology Islands of Ehime Prefecture Ikata, Ehime {{coord, 33, 27, 22, N, 132, 20, 55, E, type:isle_region:JP, display=title