Shōdoshima’s Legend of Two Dragons

Inside Nishinotaki Ryūsuiji: A cave of sealed dragons, sacred water, and sweeping views of the Seto Inland Sea.

^{This article contains many photographs, so I recommend reading it in the Substack app for the best viewing experience.}

After nightfall, two dragons, one male and one female, would descend from the mountain and ravage the fields at its foot.

That legend still survives on Shōdoshima（小豆島） today.

The two dragons that tormented the villagers were eventually sealed inside a vessel made from stone taken from the mountain. But the story did not end when the dragons disappeared from sight.

The stone vessel in which the dragons were sealed is called the Akazu no Ishigame（開かずの石瓶）. It remains enshrined inside a cave that leads deep into the rocky mountain. Beside it, water known as Ryūsui（龍水） continues to spring from the rock.

Inside the dim cave, the faint sound of water echoes through the stillness. Beyond the cave lies a vast view across the Seto Inland Sea（瀬戸内海） and its islands.

Why does water spring from the place where the dragons were sealed?

Who entered the mountain, and why did they choose to seal the two dragons inside a stone vessel instead of killing them? And why are the dragons that once tormented the villagers still enshrined at an altar today?

Because this is a legend, there is no way to know whether these events actually occurred. Yet the stone vessel said to contain the two dragons and the Ryūsui that springs beside it can both be found on Shōdoshima today.

That place is Nishinotaki Ryūsuiji（西之瀧龍水寺）, Sacred Site No. 42 of the Shōdoshima 88 Temple Pilgrimage（小豆島八十八ヶ所霊場）.

On an afternoon in mid-June, I drove up a narrow, winding mountain road toward the rocky mountain where this legend has been preserved.