Paper short abstract:

This paper shows how the economic transformation of Yakushima from a site of extractive forestry under Satsuma rule in the early modern period to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 shaped the islanders’ sense of identity and political allegiance over time.

Paper long abstract:

Yakushima belongs to the Ōsumi Islands chain located in the East China Sea and is part of Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyūshū. Just over five-hundred square kilometre wide, its mountainous terrain is richly forested, especially with cedar trees, some of them supposedly several thousand years old. This natural wealth has shaped the island’s connections with the outside world. Yakushima paid tribute in forestry products to the Satsuma domain during the early modern period. The island’s resources were further exploited for national goals during the Meiji, Taisho and early-Showa eras. In 1993, the island was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, thereby growing in significance beyond Japan’s borders.

This paper probes Yakushima’s identity and that of its inhabitants over time. How did regional dominance, centralisation and industrialisation, war and reconstruction, and environmental concerns amongst others both define and disrupt the island’s political and cultural trajectory? How did the changing value placed on resources determine people’s livelihoods and sense of belonging? The history of Yakushima shows how exceptional natural wealth has imposed shifting allegiances and repositioned the small territory at the confluence of global forces.