Opinion Ishigaki: a model for Japan By Roger Pulvers	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
自らの文化を誇りに思うこと 石垣島への旅を通して気付いたこと - - それは日本が今、失ってしまっている 自らの文化に対する健全な誇りの大切さだった。

I had the good fortune, in early June, to travel to Ishigaki, more than 2,000 kilometers from Tokyo. The rainy season was still upon the island, though this did not seem to deter the intrepid tourists in their heavily logoed T-shirts and shorts. (Ishigaki draws 600,000 tourists a year, the vast majority of them Japanese.)

This was not my first time on the island, which is one of a group of islands known as the Yaeyama Islands. I spent a month on the Yaeyamas at the end of 1977, traveling around from Taketomi to Iriomote and the somewhat remote Hatoma. What I found on this trip, however, was a Japan that is not only vital, beautiful and unspoiled, but one that seems to have genuinely retained certain values that most of the country has long ago forfeited.

It may come as a surprise to you that the people of Yaeyama do not consider themselves Okinawans. They are Yaeyamans. When they travel to Naha, they say they are "going to Okinawa." Needless to say, the people of both Yaeyama and Okinawa see themselves as being very different from the Japanese, whom they usually refer to as being natives of Yamato or naichi, which here means "mainland."

Yaeyamans are, in fact, a mixture of a number of nationalities: Japanese, Ryukyu, Chinese and perhaps even Polynesian. In their look, manner, demeanor and attitudes, you can see that they have a more relaxed and open view to life than you find up north.

I have always been impressed by their unabashed pride in their unique culture, as it is represented in their food, dance and fabrics, in particular. They need not justify their preferences or attempt to explain them away in the face of the American-style pseudo-internationalization that has overtaken most of the rest of Japan. There is no McDonald's on Ishigaki, nor is there a Starbucks. And as one old resident told me, "Even after years of American occupation, we are still the worst speakers of English in Japan. That's an achievement!"

It is the fabric design that one finds most stunning. The minsah weaving is Ishigaki's traditional art, with its symbolic 5-4 pattern that means itsu no yo made, or "forever and ever." The jofu weave is exquisite and sophisticated, often using banana leaf and linen, as well as cotton. This fabric was originally woven in and around Ishigaki and sent up to the Okinawan court.

But perhaps the most striking thing about Ishigaki is the consideration and compassion of its inhabitants. Three American fliers were captured and killed there in April 1945. Many years later, the people of the island erected a huge peace monument in their honor, inviting the families of the fliers to Ishigaki to attend the unveiling ceremony. It would be nice to see other countries express the sentiments of regret in this way.

As I walked along the lovely beaches in the rain, leaned against the tropical trees that cover the island, spoke with Yaeyamans who would rather have their natural tranquility than a host of garish hotels, it struck me that true internationalization of customs and ideas begins at home. A healthy pride in your own culture combined with an honest compassion may be just what is needed more than ever in today's Japan.

Shukan ST: July 4, 2003

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