Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Taketomi is very flat (the highest point is just 24 m above sea level); it is made of
coral reef and so has no large river. The island's three villages, Hazama-higashi,
Hazama-nishi, and Nahji, are situated in the central and northern part of the island,
and people depended on rainwater and well-water until water began to be supplied
from Ishigaki Island by pipe. As the island soil is very sterile and water is always
limited, there is no real hope or promise for agricultural development (such as of cash
crops of rice, sugar cane, or pineapple) as on other islands in Okinawa. The residents
of Taketomi Island earlier owned paddy fields on Iriomote Island situated about
20 km away to the west: until the 1960s, Taketomi people commuted to Iriomote by
boat to cultivate rice (Ankei
2007
). People on Taketomi have cultivated sweet potato,
beans,
awa
(millet;
Setaria italica
) and wheat for family consumption (Kano
2007
).
The southern part of Taketomi is covered by pasture (ca. 140 ha) for cattle. In
2008, 14 farmers kept 419 beef cattle, whose meat is sold as local “Ishigaki-beef ”,
a registered trademark (Yaeyama Livestock Hygiene Service
2009
). There is no
family of professional fishermen on the island. The sole fishery is that of cultured
prawns, a company that was established in 1984. The prawn culture pond is situated
beside the pasture. Tamotsu Uesedo, the company founder, said that he started the
company to maintain the Tanadhui Festival (described below) by providing employ-
ment for young people in the island (by interview).
Cultural Landscape and the Charter of Taketomi Island
The villages of Taketomi consist of traditional red tile-roofed houses and streets
laid with white coral sands (Fig.
11.2a,b
). This cultural landscape was designated
as an Important Cultural Buildings Preservation District in 1987. Tourists are
surprised to see the beautiful contrast of blue sea and red tiled roofs, as well as
clean white sands in the unlittered streets. The villagers sweep the streets clean,
early every morning.
There was a popular movement to preserve this landscape in the face of develop-
ment. Several pieces of land on Taketomi Island were sold when Okinawa
Prefecture was returned to Japan from US Army occupation in 1972. At that time,
many available lands in Yaeyama District were bought up by non-local capital.
Some Okinawa islanders began to worry that the nature and culture of the islands
would be lost along with the land. In 1986, after much community discussion, “The
Charter of Taketomi Island” was approved at the general meeting of all islanders in
the Taketomi
Kominkan
, the civic hall of the village community. The charter
designated the Important Cultural Buildings Preservation District, and also adopted
guidelines for the maintenance of the traditional cultural landscape. A provision in
the charter contains four “Do Nots” and one “Do”: Do not sell (our land), Do not
destroy (our houses and streets), Do not pollute (our air, fresh water and sea), Do
not disturb (our daily lives), but Do use (our assets to advantage). This charter was
partly adopted from “the Charter of Tsumago-
shuku
” in Nagano Prefecture
established in 1971, which also includes three Do Nots: Do not sell, Do not rent,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search