Agariyoi

The lives of ordinary people are filled with the breath of culture. Personal memories as testimonies of the region and era.

The "Island Memories" series records Yaeyama culture and the precious activities of the islanders through oral history, and is published in the hope that by accumulating personal memories, the era itself will be brought to light in multiple layers and the unknown history of the region will be recorded.

The first book published is by Sakiyama (崎 is an old kanji character), who was born in 1932 on Taketomi Island and spent his childhood there, and after the war he served as an apprentice at a steelworks on Ishigaki Island. His motivation for writing his autobiography was to pass on to his children and grandchildren the days he spent serving others without pay. This book not only shares his memories of his time as an apprentice, but also details the activities of Taketomi Island before the war, making it a valuable record for learning about the culture of the islanders in the early Showa period.

Recorded by Yasumoto Chinatsu / Nanzansha, June 2020 edition / A5 size, hardback, 236 pages