Project Report : Miyagi

On day two, participants take a ferry to Katsurajima. They continue their journey with Honda-san, their team photographer and a graduate of Shiogama High School.

Breakfast is two onigiri on the boat.

The port at Katsurajima is filled with fishing boats.

The team splits up into two at the harbor and sets off to explore the island. Boram and Alice come across people cultivating seaweed.

Sao and Kyungju aim their cameras at someone on a motorbike. One of these photos eventually made it into their final presentation.

Interesting to find a mailbox at an elementary school. Why is there a ball in it?

The team meets up at the beach. Boram and Kyungju try their best to try to strike up a conversation with a family who’s come to visit from another prefecture.

Alice tries to coax a smile from a boy, but he refuses.

This elderly man seems to enjoy talking about his grandchildren, but team members have trouble understanding his dialect. According to him, the island once had a lot of inns. There were so many tourists that the line to get on the ferry extended from the harbor all the way to the center of the island, so he said.

The postman is about to arrive. Get your cameras ready!

All eyes, and cameras, are on the ice-man’s job.

A barbecue lunch at the inn. Boram gets an upset stomach from eating salty foods, and finds she can’t even eat onigiri! She says it’s never been this bad and everyone is worried.

In the afternoon, participants get on a seaweed-farm boat to see life on the island from the sea. The ferry carries them to the neighboring island of Nonojima and everyone is excited to get on a different mode of transportation.

The seaweed boat. In the fall, people set out early in the morning on these boats to harvest seaweed.

Honda-san, the team photographer, and Park-san, the interpreter.

Since the boat is low on the water unlike ferries, passengers feel as though they’re actually running on the water. The island in front of the team members is where the dragon god, protector of the sea, is said to reside.

Oyster cultivation is a part of life by the sea.

Boram pilots a boat for the first time ever. “Boram drives like a drunk!” jokes the captain.

After greeting a passing steamboat, the participants return to their inn.