Introduction
Yasuyuki Hazama
Founder & Editor, Yaeyama Insight
Born and raised on Ishigaki Island, I left the island at the age of 12 to attend school in Kyushu, and later moved to Tokyo for university.
I returned to Ishigaki in my mid-thirties and spent the next 24 years working for the Ishigaki City government, involved in fields including urban planning, international exchange, commerce and industry, agriculture, community development, and tourism.
Working within local government allowed me to see Ishigaki from many different perspectives. At the same time, living here for much of my life has given me another perspective — that of someone who is part of the everyday life of the island.
Over the years, I came to feel that Ishigaki and the Yaeyama Islands cannot be understood through sightseeing alone.
Behind the landscapes that attract visitors are layers of history, culture, migration, trade, local communities, agriculture, tourism, and the everyday lives of people who live here.
These things are not always visible to visitors. Yet they continue to shape the islands and their future.
Why Yaeyama Insight
Yaeyama Insight began from a simple question:
What is happening beneath the surface of these islands?
I created Yaeyama Insight as an independent media project to explore that question.
It is not intended to be a conventional tourism guide, nor is it a platform that tells people what to think.
Instead, it seeks to bring together stories, people, ideas, observations, and different perspectives about Ishigaki and Yaeyama.
Some stories may come from my own experience. Others may come from conversations with people who live here, public information, research, existing reporting, or other sources.
The aim is not to provide a single answer.
It is to create opportunities to know more, see more, and think more deeply about the place.
Looking Ahead
Yaeyama is changing.
Tourism is changing.
The environment is changing.
Communities are changing.
The way people live on these islands is changing.
Some of these changes are positive. Some raise difficult questions.
I would like Yaeyama Insight to be a place where those questions can be explored calmly and openly — without sensationalism, and without assuming that there is always only one correct answer.
This is a long-term project.
I hope to continue documenting, thinking, writing, listening, and connecting with people in Yaeyama over the years to come.
For me, Yaeyama Insight is not simply about introducing these islands to the world.
It is about trying to understand them together.