Travel Jan 23, 2022
Exploring the poetry of an exiled emperor on the Oki Islands
by Kit Nagamura
Go-Toba, Japan’s 82nd emperor, used his time in exile to advance the ancient poetic form known as waka.
Travel May 18, 2018
Scuba diving in Japan: Beneath the sea, a paradise of color and life
by Bonnie Waycott
A carpet of sand stretches into the distance below me. As clear and still as the water, the light seems muted, creating a peaceful, subdued scene. Surrounding each rocky feature are small oases of life. At one, there are two nudibranchs (sea slugs) and, as ...
Travel Nov 14, 2015
Nishinoshima: Oki's island of sanctuary
by Stephen Mansfield
Were it not for the well-nourished faces of the passengers suffused with keen expressions of expectation and purpose, the supine bodies, unpacked food, luggage and blankets strewn across the hard flooring of the ferry's modern equivalent of steerage class resembled those of a migrant ...
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Sep 21, 2014
On Oki Islands off Shimane Prefecture, a bold wave of reform seems to be having a positive effect.
National / Social Issues Sep 9, 2014
Sea of Japan's medieval islands of exile luring workers
by Chikako Mogi
The Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan are turning history on its head. The remote outposts that were used for centuries by medieval rulers to banish rivals have become a model for regional revival as the town of Ama, on one of the four ...
Travel Apr 14, 2013
The Oki Islands: where time seems to have stood still
by Steve John Powell
Before he left Japan after several years spent in Hiroshima, the multi-award-winning English novelist David Mitchell advised me: "If you only make one trip while you are here, make sure it's to the Oki Islands." They were, he assured me (in not quite so ...