When walking along the Kujukuri beach, you can see many clam shells lying around. If you look closely, you will see that many of the shells have fallen in pairs, and like fingerprints, each has a different pattern, which is symmetrical when paired, so when the shells are lined up, they fit together perfectly. Because of this characteristic, clams were used in the Heian period as a game of shell matching, and 360 shells were used to represent the number of days in a year at that time, in connection with astronomy and calendar studies. This time, in keeping with the astronomy-related game of shell matching, the 360 shells are likened to outer space, and the sun, moon, and 10 representative planets that humans can observe are depicted on 18 pairs of shells each (the number 18 comes from the 18 worlds of Buddhism, and represents the 18 senses and sensory organs that represent the existence of this world through the human senses).
