Heated Discussions at the ‘Borderlands Forum in Oki’
2012/09/18
On the 10th of September 2012, the ‘Borderlands Forum in Oki’ was held at the Goka Lifelong Learning Center on Oki-no-shima. Jointly supported by this program with the Japan Society for Island Studies, the panelists consisted of Kyung-soo Chun (Professor, University of Seoul) and Ankei Yuji (Professor, Yamaguchi Prefectural University), with the talk given by the Mayor of Oki-ni-shima, Matsuda Kazuhisa, and the session chaired by Iwashita Akihiro. Turning into something of an event, dominating the airwaves from the morning on and attracting well over 100 attendees, there were plenty of contributions too from the locals.
This forum had sought to think about the problem of Takeshima and discuss the issue with those living at the problem’s doorstep, and had been planned for over a year, but with the recent worsening of Japanese-Korean relations, media scrutiny was intense. The crowd was impressed by the emphasis on the depth of regional connections between Oki-no-shima and Ulleungdo, and by Ankei Yuji’s emphasis on the significance of the work of Miyamoto Tsuneichi’s on these issues. Mayor Matsuda Kazuhisa’s appealed repeatedly to Oki-no-shima’s use of the sea, and therefore the importance of dividing provisional waters between Korea and Japan. From the start, passionate shouts for it being ‘our integral territory’ could be heard from the floor, but the locals views were diligently sought after. Through this and the sincere efforts of the outside experts, the slide into politicized uproar was avoided and the forum’s aims of seeking to possibilities of protecting people’s livelihoods was, I think, achieved.
During the symposium, I personally found my mind drawing parallels between the fisherman in Nemuro, unable to freely enter the Habomai Islands, and the situation on Oki. When you think that Goka held jurisdiction over Takeshima for the islanders themselves it can be nothing less than the division of their lived environment. I felt it was important that border studies experts both at home and abroad sought to understand local knowledge and take such issues into account.
It is planned to create a DVD from this conference in the near future, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all the islanders starting with Mayor Matsuda Kazuhisa, and the Japan Society for Island Studies, for enabling this symposium to reach fruition.
(Iwashita Akihiro)
This forum had sought to think about the problem of Takeshima and discuss the issue with those living at the problem’s doorstep, and had been planned for over a year, but with the recent worsening of Japanese-Korean relations, media scrutiny was intense. The crowd was impressed by the emphasis on the depth of regional connections between Oki-no-shima and Ulleungdo, and by Ankei Yuji’s emphasis on the significance of the work of Miyamoto Tsuneichi’s on these issues. Mayor Matsuda Kazuhisa’s appealed repeatedly to Oki-no-shima’s use of the sea, and therefore the importance of dividing provisional waters between Korea and Japan. From the start, passionate shouts for it being ‘our integral territory’ could be heard from the floor, but the locals views were diligently sought after. Through this and the sincere efforts of the outside experts, the slide into politicized uproar was avoided and the forum’s aims of seeking to possibilities of protecting people’s livelihoods was, I think, achieved.
During the symposium, I personally found my mind drawing parallels between the fisherman in Nemuro, unable to freely enter the Habomai Islands, and the situation on Oki. When you think that Goka held jurisdiction over Takeshima for the islanders themselves it can be nothing less than the division of their lived environment. I felt it was important that border studies experts both at home and abroad sought to understand local knowledge and take such issues into account.
It is planned to create a DVD from this conference in the near future, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all the islanders starting with Mayor Matsuda Kazuhisa, and the Japan Society for Island Studies, for enabling this symposium to reach fruition.
(Iwashita Akihiro)
