"Mysterious Island Journey: Landscapes of Japan's Remote Islands We Want to Preserve for a Thousand Years" Hiroshi Shimizu Price: ¥869 #HiroshiShimizu #Hiroshi_Shimizu #Book #Geography/TravelGuide "The island is alive. What about you?" An island with a population of one, an island where nearly extinct customs remain, and an uninhabited island with a mysterious public phone. The author, who lives awkwardly in modern society and is exhausted from work, turns his back on his company and heads to a remote island. What did he find there? Just reading this will make you want to visit these islands! Small islands are schools for adults. Vanishing customs, lost ways of life, the feelings of the last remaining islanders— The author of the highly acclaimed book "Hidden Island Illustrated Encyclopedia" (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) visits remote islands throughout Japan and discovers altruism, the wisdom of living with the dead, and other lost landscapes of happiness. Japan has nearly 7,000 islands. Small islands are schools for adults. Vanishing customs, lost ways of life, the feelings of the last remaining islanders— The author, who lives awkwardly in modern society, visits remote islands throughout Japan and discovers altruism, the wisdom of living with the dead, and other lost landscapes of happiness. Table of Contents Preface: The population of remote islands is decreasing (Population trends on remote islands; Why the population of islands is decreasing, etc.) Chapter 1: People—Between inhabited and uninhabited islands (Keeping the island lights on—The island with a population of one, Kuroshima (Tomie-cho, Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture) and Rokushima (Ojika-cho, Kitamatsuura-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture) Not erasing the history of the island—Even the last person continues to live on the island, Maejima (Tokashiki Village, Shimajiri-gun, Okinawa Prefecture), etc.) Chapter 2: Customs—What still lives on (Not just thinking about your own children—The "guardian sister" custom of raising other people's children as your own, Tarama Island (Tarama Village, Miyako-gun, Okinawa Prefecture) Happiness resides in fullness—"Ojika Mori," serving people with overflowing food, Madarajima (Ojika-cho, Kitamatsuura-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture), etc.) Chapter 3: Years—What is disappearing (Living with indelible memories—Distant days living on the Northern Territories, Habomai Islands, Tarakujima (Nemuro City, Hokkaido) Changing scenery after the earthquake—The happiness of seeing the sea, the sadness of not seeing the sea, Oranda Island (Yamada-cho, Shimohei-gun, Iwate Prefecture), etc.) Epilogue: Dialogue with all things (Perspective on the island; Deer and uninhabited islands, etc.)"