Symbol and sharability

To interlink and functionize distributed social resources, sharing something common may be important. In this area the Inland Sea can be the object to be shared. We can share the image even with Siebold or sailors of Kanrin Maru. The importance of the sea can be defined by its blueness and sharability beyond the time.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116572915995856921863.00045e802e1052f973e4d&z=8

Distributed social resources

So far Japanese people have been accustomed to concentrating social resources. But such way is apt to arise distortions, which eventually lowers the total performances. Today the methodology of making distributed social resources to be functionized seems to be required for easing the damage caused by accumulated distortions.

Regular services of Namikata ferry to be abolished

It has been already reported by some newspapers that regular services of Namikata ferry are going to be abolished till the fiscal year end March 31. Daily services between Takehara and Namikata are being provided now and price of the cheapest ticket is 1200 yen. In the Inland Sea area ferry cuts are accelerating in the latter half of this year.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116572915995856921863.00045e9c09e241ac20dfd&z=11

Fish dishes

The Inland Sea is one of the best places in Japan where the fish dishes are praised. Especially tastes of various small fishes are highly evaluated. Some restaurants serve the fresh raw fish soon after they are caught in early morning. I believe some of the fish dishes can be one of the worldwide menus like sushi.

Sea and Forest

Islands are covered with various green plants in summer Inland Sea. Going through the green groves with seeing the blue sea which appears through the trees intermittently reminds me of the fact that sea and forest are closely connected in Japan.

Kashima once inhabited

This island is now deserted. But it is known that small numbers of people once lived here. On Googlemap's satellite image, the remains of houses are recognizable. As no regular ferry services to this island are operated today, chartered boat seems to be used for landing on this island.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116572915995856921863.00045dbe20223cbcf3dc1&ll=34.375097,133.246082&spn=0.001426,0.001389&t=k&z=19

18 November 2008

The regular ferry service from the port of Tachibana to the port of Toyoshima operated by Sanyoshosen was abolished in 18 November 2008 following the opening of the Toyoshima Oohashi Bridge. Though nearly 90 ferry lines are still running in the Inland Sea, the continuation of small ferry services seems to be becoming less profitable in this rapid economic downturn.
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116572915995856921863.00045e38d4c3c652e5ce1&ll=34.175293,132.804859&spn=0.011433,0.011115&z=16

Cycling in island

In this summer I tried to bring a folding bicycle into some island and rode around the coastal roads. After riding for several hours, I thought that the information for the cycling from different viewpoints were required more. Especially about 1) slopes which is hard to go up for untrained person, 2) recommendation lists of the places where the fine sea breeze blow. I found that even under the hottest conditions the sea breeze could relax my conditions.

About the accessibilities to the islands

In the Inland Sea area there are about 3,000 islands if we include small desert ones. Those islands can be classified into four groups from the viewpoint of the ways to access. The first group is those connected to the main land only with the bridges. The second group is those accessed by both ferries and bridges. To the islands of third types we can go only by using ferries. Most of the small islands can be accessed only by private boat. Those islands are members of the fourth segment. As for the islands connected by bridge, hybrid life styles have already been a possible choice. Working at city in the coastal area on weekdays and spending LOHAS weekend in the home island seems to have been done by those who were born in such islands. The fourth segment is unknown realm for me but seems to be interesting

The high oil prices

Due to the high oil prices in this spring, some ferry companies decided to stop operating lines which have been sustaining regional commuter's demand and tourists interested in this area. In some cases newly built bridges can substitute commuter's demand for the abolished ferry lines. But from the viewpoint of tourism the ferry lines are valuable as resources for sightseeing. Japanese history and cultures once depended on sea traffic systems. Small ferry lines are the symbols showing that Japan is a sea Nation.

Before the rainy season

A sign of rainy season usually is felt in the last week of May. Several weeks before rainy season seem to be the finest season in a year. After I came to this area, my favorite month of a year changed to May. This may seem to be concerned with the clearness of the sky. May is the month when sky becomes very clear. The sky blue is reflected to the sea. In August the sky is also blue but sea surface become a little greener. The beauty of the sea surface is the function of color of the sky, the transparency of the water and conditions of the waves made by winds. In the Inland Sea the lull effects add to the varieties of wave conditions.

Tourism strategy in the Internet era

In this Internet era people's interests have became widely dispersed. Mass-oriented strategy in tourism will be applicable only to the place like Kyoto or World Heritage Site. If other small sites follow the same strategy, they would lose even their stable fan-visitor segment gradually. I think they should search how they can get new fan-visitors who would drop by the sites after visiting established worldwide big site. The first step for a planner is to appeal how easily tourists can access from nearest worldwide site. For the western part of Japan the accessibility from Miyajima should be assembled and informed to the world more. The World Heritage Sites may be the Hubs in tourism. Setting so many Hubs will eventually cause the inflation of the sightseeing spots.

About rainy season

The most important change in my recognition about Nature after coming to live in the Inland Sea area is that the rainy season is very important for understanding the essence of Nature and it is strongly enhanced by the existence of the Inland Sea. After spending rainy seasons in this area, I notice that 'the Great circulation of water' exist nearby and we are closely coexisting with the sea. Before then I couldn't sense such existence of water circulation in daily lives.

To read comfortably in English

I'm not good at writing English as is common to usual Japanese person. So I feel very sorry for my poor English sentences. Not only writing documents but also reading in English for a long time also has been weary work for me. So I once tried to find out the reason and found that the font types used in the documents may be one of the important factors. After that I usually print out documents in font style that I feel comfortable to read. Now I like reading in 'Comic Sans MS' in 17 pt and I feel that weariness has been a little relieved. But paper consumption becomes much larger and documents become thicker. That increases the weariness before I start reading.

Art in islands

One of the interesting cultural phenomenons about the Inland Sea is that events related to art appear to be relatively standing out especially in islands. For example, Inujima is gradually becoming famous as the island of art. The great painter Ikuo Hirayama was born in the Ikuchijima island. I heard that famous artist came to live in Ikuchijima island attracted by sea color. Why artists are attracted by islands ? I can't present any certain theory about it. But, it may be certain that something about color of the sea and closed atmosphere of island may evoke our inner sense of art. Japan has great tradition of art in its history. It may be concerned with the fact that our country consists of many islands.