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Culture and Society in the Islands of Kagoshima Sueo KUWAHARA

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Culture and Society in the Islands of Kagoshima Sueo KUWAHARA KAWAI, K., TERADA, R. and KUWAHARA, S. (eds): The Islands of Kagoshima Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands, 15 March 2013 Chapter 1 Culture and Society in the Islands of Kagoshima Sueo KUWAHARA 1. The islands of Kagoshima Islands because these islands remained under US apan extends roughly 4,000 km from northeast military control at this time. Instead, due to the de- Jto southwest along the northeastern coast of layed reversion of these islands to Japan, Special the Eurasian mainland, and comprises five main Development Acts were enacted for these islands islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, in order to reduce the gap in income level between and Okinawa, along with many “rito” - remote (or the mainland and these islands (KUWAHARA 2012). small) islands.1 According to the report The Pres- Kagoshima Prefecture, which is located in the ent State of Maritime Security, published by the southern end of Kyushu, stretches for 600 km from Japan Coast Guard in 1987, “rito” is defined as its northernmost to southernmost end. Within the having a coast of more than 100 m in circumfer- distance, there are 605 islands including 28 inhab- ence. According to this definition, the Japanese ited ones. The population of Kagoshima Prefecture archipelago consists of 6,852 islands, of which is about 1.8 million, while that of all the islands in 421 are inhabited and more than 90 % uninhabited Kagoshima is about 180,000, which is about 10 % (Nihon Rito Center 1996: 1-2). of the prefectural population. Thus, Kagoshima is Despite ranking only 61st in the world in terms one of the foremost island prefectures in Japan.3 of land territory (380,000 km2), Japan’s territorial The islands of Kagoshima are categorized into waters and EEZ combined are 12 times as large four groups of islands: the Koshiki, Osumi, Tokara (4,470,000 km2) as its land area, placing it 6th in the and Amami Islands, the last three of which togeth- world.2 Surrounded on all sides by wide expanses er with the Ryukyu Islands comprise the Nansei of sea, Japan is a nation that has extensive mari- (Southwest) Islands. There are different ways of time territory and enjoys the benefits of the sea in referring to a group of islands in Japanese. The the form of maritime trade and fishing. word “shoto” is used when a scattering of islands In 1952, the Japanese government implement- are taken as an area which comprises main islands ed a development policy for remote islands. Most and other surrounded islands. The Osumi Islands of the remote islands had been left underdevel- are such an aggregation and are called Osumi sho- oped in the pre-War period. In consequence, the to. The word “gunto” is used when a cluster of is- socio-economic gap between the remote islands lands are taken as an area and often refers to unin- and mainland Japan widened, and thus, ‘The Re- habited islands. The Amami Islands fall under this mote Islands Development Act’ was enacted. The category. The word “retto” is used when islands aim of this Act was to “eliminate backwardness” form a chain with a narrow distance between them. in remote islands. However, this Act was not ap- The Tokara Islands meet this definition. plied to the Amami, Okinawa, and Ogasawara The Osumi Islands comprise 7 islands: Tane- 1. The equivalent word of small islands in Japanese is “shoutou” or “kojima.” However, the word “rito” which means “remote island” is a commonly-used word. 2. The first is the US, the second Australia, the third Indonesia, the fourth New Zealand, the fifth Canada (Japan Institute of Construction Engineering: http://www.jice.or.jp/quiz/kaisetsu_04.html#02.) 3. The website “Nihon No Shima He Ikou”: http://imagic.qee.jp/sima4/kagosima/kagosima.html 2 The Islands of Kagoshima gashima Is., Yakushima Is., Kuchinoerabujima Is., Among them, Amami-Oshima Is. is a main and the Mageshima Is., Takeshima Is., Iowjima Is., and largest island with population of 50,000, and thus, Kuroshima Is. Among them, Yakushima Is. is the the islands form a “gunto.” Because of the semi- best known and most popular island because of its tropical climate and a distinctive historical expe- World Natural Heritage registration, achieved in rience, the islands are rich and diverse in nature 1993. About 300,000 tourists visit Yakushima Is. and culture. The key agricultural product is sugar every year to see attractions such as the famous cane, with Tokunoshima and Kikajima Is. having ancient “Jomonsugi” (Jomon cedar tree). On the the most extensive cultivation of the crop. Okino- other hand, Tanegashima Is. is well known as the erabujima Is. has long been known as an island of island where guns and Christianity were first in- agriculture, with its farmers successful in growing troduced by Portuguese in mid-16th century. The flowers and vegetables. Yoronjima Is. is a small island is also famous for rocket launching and the island with a population of about 5,500 and has space center. Thus there can be seen a sharp con- a tourism focus. The island experienced a tour- trast between Yakushima and Tanegashima Is. The ism boom in the late 1970s but despite the number former symbolizes nature, while the latter symbol- of annual tourist visitations gradually decreasing izes technology and science. Mageshima Is. is a from around 150,000 to 50,000 during the last 30 tiny uninhabited island, but gathered nationwide years, this industry is still the island’s main focus. attention because the Japanese government pro- In the East China Sea off the Satsuma penin- posed the island as the location for a Field Car- sular, there is also a group of islands called Ko- rier Landing Practice (FCLP) facility for the US shikijima Retto, which is made up of three inhab- Navy. People in Tanegashima Is. and Kagoshima ited islands, that comprise, from north to south, Prefecture expressed strong opposition to this, and Kami-Koshikijima Is., Naka-Koshikiijima Is. and launched a campaign against FCLP.4 Iowjima Is. Shimo-Koshikijima Is. The total population of the is known as an island with an active volcano and a islands is about 6,000. Kami-Koshikijima Is. and historical legend which has often been performed Naka-Koshikijima Is. are connected by bridges, in Kabuki. and Shimo-Koshikijima Is. is due to be bridged The Tokara Retto comprise 12 small islands, to Naka-Koshikijima Is. in a few years. The main of which 7 islands are inhabited. The “retto” com- industry is rice cultivation and fisheries. Koshikiji- prises a village called Toshima-mura, which ex- ma’s “Toshidon,” a deity which visits our world to tends about 160 km from north to south, thus, the bring blessings, is well known and was registered village is said to be the longest one in Japan. The as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity highest peak is 979 m in Nakanoshima Is., the 10th with UNESCO in 2009. in Kagoshima Prefecture. Out of the 7 inhabited As we see above, the islands of Kagoshima islands, three islands have active volcanos. The to- are important not only in their natural and cultural tal population of the village was 663 people and diversities, but also as the islands at the national 365 households in 2004.5 The main industry is ag- frontier. riculture, especially animal husbandry. Most of the islanders keep cattle. The Tokara Islands are also 2. Summary of this section very distinctive in history and culture, especially his section comprises 7 articles, which are cat- the masked deity Boze of Akusekijima Is. is well Tegorized into four main themes, that is, socio- known through its annual Autumn festival. religious history, education in remote areas, food The southernmost island group of Kagoshima culture and health and social welfare. is the Amami Islands, which consist of 8 inhabited KUWAHARA describes how Amami society and islands with the total population of about 110,000. culture have been studied, identifies Amami’s most 4. Nishinoomote City website. http://www.city.nishinoomote.lg.jp/gyoukei/magemondai/magemondai.html 5. Toshima Village website. http://www.tokara.jp/profile/gaiyou.html#stats 3 Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands distinctive cultural assets and proposes potential those of Southeast Asia, Micronesia and East Asia. research resources in Amami. TAKEZAKI, NIIMURA and KUWABARA discuss spe- TAKARABE and NISHIMURA describe the reli- cial health and medical issues in Amami Islands gious history of Amami by dividing it into four which concern the relatively high proportion of the parts, that is, introduction of folk beliefs in Ryukyu population with age longevity and factors related Period, the introduction of Buddhism in Satsuma to shorter life spans in males. They identify that Period, the introduction and missionary activities relatively rapid changes of lifestyle have increased of foreign (or outside) religions in the Meiji Pe- the mortality rate in middle-aged males in Amami, riod, and current religions. They then point out that while the lifestyles of the older population have the distinctive aspect of Amami religion resides in been relatively stable in cases where appropriate a mixture of religions premised on the basis of folk environment and social background persist. Thus, religions; an aspect that was made possible by the they argue that the prevention of lifestyle-related fact that in pre-modern Amami, there were no tra- diseases for young and middle-aged people merits ditional or organized religions, and thus, there was more attention. no backlash or resistance against the newly incom- NODA’s article discusses the problems of water ing religions. resources from the case studies on Suwanosejima HATTA discusses about the remote islands edu- Is., Kikaijima Is., Okinoerabujima Is.
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