On the beach of this town is a giant picture of a coin drawn in the sand. Said to have been made in the Edo era, it is a sand picture in the shape of an old coin, and from an observation deck on the mountain that looks down over the beach, its whole form can be taken in at a glance. It has been handed down that to see it is to live long and to want for no money. This land, a harbor town at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea, became one with two neighboring towns in 2005, widened its present city area, and, after once greatly increasing its population, now quietly loses its number. Kanonji’s numbers are the record of a town carved by the history of a Seto Inland harbor town and a sand picture.
A Sanuki harbor town facing the Seto Inland Sea at the western edge of Kagawa Prefecture. To read its population, one must account for a merger. In 2005 Kanonji City became one anew with two neighboring towns and widened its city area. The population of the former Kanonji City just before the merger, in 2005, was 44,086; on the post-merger city area, in 2010, it was 62,690. From there it moved to 57,438 in 2020. What I (Atlas) want to read here is not the sign "a Seto Inland port town," but the causal thread: how the history — a Seto Inland harbor town and a sand picture — is translated into today’s population and finances.
01 · Seeing the present Kanonji in its numbers
In the latest Population Census the population is about 57,000 (57,438 in 2020). To read this city’s population, one must account for a merger. In the autumn of 2005 Kanonji City became one anew with two neighboring towns and widened its city area. The population of the former Kanonji City just before the merger, in 2005, was 44,086; on the post-merger city area, in 2010, it was 62,690. The population step between 2005 and 2010 in this article mirrors the widening of the city area by this merger. From there it fell gently after the merger to 59,409 in 2015 and 57,438 in 2020.
Looking inside, the figure of a Seto Inland port town appears. The share aged 65 and over rose from 22.4% in 2000 to 33.8% in 2020, passing three in ten. The household-with-children share was 20.0% in 2020, and the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The Fiscal Capacity Index was 0.59 in fiscal 2023 — a middling level, able to cover about six-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue. The figure of a harbor town holding a sand picture on its beach, losing population on the post-merger city area while advancing in age, appears in the numbers. Why it takes this shape cannot be read without going back over the history of a harbor town and a sand picture.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency) / Real Estate Information Library (MLIT)
02 · The Seto Inland harbor at the western edge of Sanuki, the giant coin sand picture on the beach, the merger with two neighboring towns — the history behind the numbers
This town’s skeleton is set by the harbor position of the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea, the sand picture drawn on the beach, and the merger with two neighboring towns. The starting layer is the harbor. This town lies at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea, and was, from old, a harbor town opened to the sea roads. The boats coming and going over the sea, and the lives that made the sea their workplace, were at the seaside center of this town.
On the beach of this harbor town is a giant sand picture. Drawn in the sand of the beach, in the shape of an old coin, it is said to have been made in the Edo era. About 345 meters around, its whole form can be taken in from an observation deck on the mountain that looks down over the beach. It has been handed down that to see it is to live long and to want for no money, and it still remains on the beach as this town’s symbol. Upon this harbor town, the widening of the city area overlapped. In the autumn of 2005 Kanonji City became one anew with two neighboring towns and widened the present city area. The Seto Inland harbor at the western edge of Sanuki, the giant coin sand picture drawn on the beach, and the merger with two neighboring towns — this town’s shape stands upon the history of a harbor town and a sand picture, held by the land of the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea.
Source: Kanonji City, "the Zenigata sand picture, Kanei Tsuho" (the giant sand picture of the Kanei Tsuho coin drawn on the sand of Ariake Beach, said to date from the Edo era; viewed from the summit observation deck of Kotohiki Park; about 345 m around — overview) / Kanonji City (formed on 2005-10-11 by the equal merger of the former Kanonji City with Onohara Town and Toyohama Town of Mitoyo District; a port town at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea; the Zenigata sand picture in Kotohiki Park — overview)
03 · A harbor holding a sand picture raises its age on the city area widened by merger
What characterizes Kanonji is that, while holding the history of a harbor town holding a sand picture on its beach, it loses population and advances in age on the post-merger city area. From 62,690 on the post-merger city area in 2010 to 57,438 in 2020, some five thousand fell over ten years. Even in this town that prospered as a harbor of the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea, one can read that a part of the young generation has moved to nearby larger cities and the age of the whole town has risen. That the share aged 65 and over reached 33.8% in 2020, past three in ten, is one expression of this.
On the other hand, the Childcare Waitlist was zero in both 2024 and 2025. The household-with-children share was 20.0% in 2020. A Fiscal Capacity Index of 0.59 is a level able to cover about six-tenths of expenditure with its own tax revenue — middling. One can read that the income of the households living in the Seto Inland harbor town supports the tax base at a middling level. The harbor town holding a sand picture on its beach now loses population on the post-merger city area while advancing in age. The population, swelled once by the merger, then gently drew back. Aging is 33.8%, past three in ten, and a fiscal capacity of 0.59 covers about six-tenths of expenditure on its own. The widened city area, the advancing aging, and the middling finances — the road a single city traced after the merger appears divided into these three numbers.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Local Government Finance Survey, Fiscal Capacity Index (MIC) / Childcare Facility Status Report (Children and Families Agency)
04 · A coin drawn in vanishing sand, remaining unvanished
What shaped Kanonji’s outline is its siting opened to the sea. One is the origin of being, at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea, a harbor town opened from old to the sea roads. Another is the character of holding, on its beach, a giant sand picture about 345 meters around in the shape of an old coin — making it, viewed from an observation deck on the mountain, the town’s symbol for wishing long life and the ties of money.
The geography of the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea bore a harbor town opened to the sea roads, left a giant coin sand picture on its beach, and in the autumn of 2005 bound two neighboring towns into one. The picture of the Kanei Tsuho coin, drawn on so vanishing a thing as sand, is still kept and carried on at Ariake Beach, and its whole form can be taken in from the summit of Kotohiki Park.
Source: Kanonji City, "the Zenigata sand picture, Kanei Tsuho" (the giant sand picture of the Kanei Tsuho coin drawn on the sand of Ariake Beach, said to date from the Edo era; viewed from the summit observation deck of Kotohiki Park; about 345 m around — overview) / Kanonji City (formed on 2005-10-11 by the equal merger of the former Kanonji City with Onohara Town and Toyohama Town of Mitoyo District; a port town at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea; the Zenigata sand picture in Kotohiki Park — overview)
05 · Atlas’s note — the numbers of a town that keeps a coin drawn in sand
Lay out Kanonji’s numbers and the indicators of a harbor town opened to the Seto Inland line up: a post-merger fall of population, an aging rate of 33.8%, a household-with-children share of 20.0%, and a fiscal capacity of 0.59. But in the habit of one whose eye stops at a corner of the financial statements, what I want to read here is the curiosity of a history in which "a giant coin sand picture" remains on this town’s beach. On the sand of the beach, a picture about 345 meters around in the shape of an old coin is drawn, and viewed from the mountain its whole form can be taken in. It has been handed down that to see it is to live long and to want for no money. The work of drawing a giant picture on so vanishing a thing as sand and carrying it on as the town’s symbol can be read as a playful spirit proper to a harbor town opened to the sea roads.
The other thing I want to consider is that this town’s population takes the form of "greatly increasing by merger and then gently falling." In the autumn of 2005 it became one with two neighboring towns and widened the city area, and the population once greatly increased. But thereafter, a part of the young generation moved to nearby larger cities, the age of the whole town rose, and the population fell gently. The thickness of population gained by widening the city area, and the gentle decline thereafter, overlap within a single city area. The harbor town holding a giant coin sand picture on its beach now, on the city area widened by merger, slowly raises its age. To draw a giant picture on sand — a thing that, left alone, vanishes — and carry it on as the town’s symbol for generations. Why has a harbor town opened to the sea roads poured such trouble into the playful spirit of a coin’s good fortune? Set the Ariake Beach sand picture side by side with the city area widened by merger, and where the people of this town have put their strength in living comes a little into view.
Source: Population Census (Statistics Bureau, MIC) / Kanonji City, "the Zenigata sand picture, Kanei Tsuho" (the giant sand picture of the Kanei Tsuho coin drawn on the sand of Ariake Beach, said to date from the Edo era; viewed from the summit observation deck of Kotohiki Park; about 345 m around — overview) / Kanonji City (formed on 2005-10-11 by the equal merger of the former Kanonji City with Onohara Town and Toyohama Town of Mitoyo District; a port town at the western edge of Sanuki facing the Seto Inland Sea; the Zenigata sand picture in Kotohiki Park — overview)
Editor’s note: all figures and sources are drawn from official statistics. The prose follows Atlas’s voice, and AI (atlas-handcrafted-reverse-v1 (Daiki 2026-06-02)) handled the shaping of the text. Evaluative or predictive language (such as “a good buy” or “attractive”) is intentionally left out. Revision id: wave22_9