#boninislandco

[boninislandco]

On May 16 (Tuesday) for 14:00 there will be a history talk event at USK Coffee, located in the Kominato area on Chichijima. The speaker is Jonas Rüegg, a PhD student at Harvard University currently studying the colonization of the Ogasawara Islands in the 19th century. We became acquainted during his travel to the islands last year, and decided to organize this event as he will be revisiting in May. The topic will focus on the oldest map of the Ogasawara Islands created by the Japanese explorer, Shimaya Ichizaemon, while Jonas will also talk about cartography during that period. There may also be time for people to ask other questions about the history of the islands. The event will be held in Japanese, but questions in English are also welcome.

[boninislandco]

We’ve been experiencing a serious water shortage since November of last year. The water level of the dam on Chichijima has dropped to around 20% and is continuing to fall. A few water desalination tanks have been brought to the island to improve the situation. While the dropping rate of drinking water has slowed down, we still aren’t getting much rain and so the amount of water is continuing to decline. If you are visiting the Ogasawara Islands this season, please consider the amount of water you use during this difficult time.

[boninislandco]

We were fortunate to meet the crew of TARA Expeditions and assisted with filming and interpretation for an interview with Nori Miyagawa, a legendary surfer, artist, and natural conservationist of the Ogasawara Islands.