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Ishigaki, the main island of Yaeyama Islands, is located 411 km away from Naha City on the island of Okinawa, and 1019 km away from Kagoshima island of Kyushu. It is located 1952 km away from Tokyo, the “center” of Japan. Nonetheless, it is only 236 km away from the town of Suao in County Yilan, Taiwan. If the islands of Okinawa are considered “peripheral,” the location of Ishigaki would be on the “border.” Compared to its distance to Naha City, where Okinawa’s County Council is based, the distance between Ishigaki and Taiwan is definitely much closer. However, although they are only 236 km apart, there are distinct differences between the two places in their languages, architectural styles, prices, popular commodity, street atmospheres, residents, etc. In spite of the fact that there is currently a borderline between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan, during the pre-War era of Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan, there were no border problems in this area. The aim of this paper is to examine the following questions: firstly, with the preexisting interactions between residents of Ishigaki and Taiwan, and the knowledge about each other, how does the borderline that emerged after the War bring changes to the “cut-off” relationship between the two? Furthermore, on the part of Ishigaki and Taiwan, how do they improve such “cut-off” relationship, and how do they resume the interrupted interactions with each other? With these questions as the core issues of examination, and through the transformation of transportation, this paper aims to investigate the demands and purposes of each side, and the reason for the necessity of such interactions. The first chapter is the introduction. The second chapter illustrates the history of transportation between Ishigaki and Taiwan. As a result of emergence of the so-called “Okinawa-Taiwan steamship route” (沖臺航路) between Yaeyama and Taiwan in 1896, residents of Ishigaki were able to leave the traditional, inward-looking village community for the “new world” of Taiwan. The results of such move include emigration, the movement of labour force, external stimuli for the traditional village community, and opportunities to explore outward-looking visions. With specific focus on the circle of living centred around Taiwan and with Ishigaki as the satellite island, this paper will dwell on examples of frequent interactions and transportation under such conditions. The third chapter will observe the relationship between Ishigaki and Taiwan in economic terms during the 1990s. For years, against the background of the political confrontation between Taiwan and Mainland China, and the lack of direct means of transportation between the two, Ishigaki had been a prosperous port. In the meantime, Ishigaki also had been silently and indirectly supporting the development of Shanghai and its economic relationship with Taiwan. Starting with the consciousness of the “post-Hong Kong” problem: before the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Hong Kong was the most important point of transfer for the logistics going into China from Taiwan; Ishigaki was selected a substitute for Hong Kong after 1997. For Taiwan, the initiation of direct sailing routes between Ishigaki and Taiwan was to sustain the economic interactions between Taiwan and China, to equip the investment environment of Ishigaki, and also to further develop the island into a transition relay base. Chapter four describes the relationship between Ishigaki and Taiwan from the perspective of tourism. The number of Taiwanese tourists to Ishigaki has been on the increase, however, the majority of the Taiwanese visitors set off with the purpose to visit “a very close Japan,” viewing Ishigaki simply as somewhere in Japan. Although Ishigaki possesses the world-class azure ocean as its touristic resource, the general touristic impression for Ishigaki has not been able to transcend the borderline and the shared experiences with Taiwan, and hence has been diluted within the national framework of Japan. How does Ishigaki confront the constraints of Japan, and find its way through touristic strategies? These all depend on the mutual understandings and friendly exchanges between Ishigaki and Taiwan. Based on the researches elaborated throughout the preceding four chapters, chapter five will bring the paper into conclusion and address future topics of interest.
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