The Hātokawa

The coastline of Ikaiguchi bears the scars of the sea’s violence, but nowhere is this clearer than the Hātokawa. This channel is famously rough, the seas surging with the tides and currents that pound through the straits. The bravest of the Aranami sail through the channel as storms rage, a proving ritual that demonstrates their bravery and skill on board. Fishermen, too, brave the channel, for the depths of the Hātokawa are home to vast shoals teeming between the scattered ruins of the deep.

The channel is also of cultural importance to the Aranami. Their ancestral home stood on the cliffs overlooking it until The Tragedy of Chinami, and the faces of the founders are displayed at its western entrance. They claim that the waters of the channel mirror the struggle between Arashi and Chinami, and thus pray to the gods for strong winds and calm seas.