Miyako-Jima, Okinawa, Japan

Hello PHG readers, today we're headed to Miyako-Jima, Japan. This small island group is one of two in the Sakishima Islands, which lay situated to the west of the Ryukyu Islands, between Okinawa and Taiwan. The five principal islands of this group are Miyako (the largest), Irabu, Tarama, Minna, and Ikema. The main island group is surrounded by reefs, shoals, and sandbars, as you can see on google maps.

There's been several prominent shipwrecks as a result of these reefs being either unknown or poorly charted, and some of them have remained in the local history of Miyako-Jima. One of them was written about fairly recently here on the blog; the sloop HMS Providence. This ship, under command of Captain William Broughton, wrecked near Miyako-Jima in May 1797, and promptly sank. Prior to this, however, Broughton had purchased a sloop to accompany Providence, and so his crew simply moved over to the other, smaller ship, with the help of the Miyakojima locals. The expedition continued on, where they made contact with the representatives of King Jeongjo near Busan; the first such contact of British and Koreans in history. Not much of the Providence remains; Jim Mockford visited the site in 2019.

This also caught my eye; a monument dedicated by the German Emperor Wilhelm I in 1876. Three years prior, a German merchantman had been caught in a storm and wrecked near the island. The locals helped the sailors, and sent them on their way safely back to Germany. This monument was built in gratitude for the selflessness of the people of Miyako-Jima.

German monument, Miyako-Jima. Photo courtesy of Okinawastory.jp

When reading about this monument, and the story behind it, I can't help but think of the gesture of friendship, and how things would change between the two countries. In 1876, the Japanese were rapidly modernizing, rapidly industrializing and working harder than anybody to gain a seat at the international table; Imperial Germany was the inspiration behind many of these reforms. The peace between the countries was not to last, however. As the Germans watched from their territory in Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory, the Japanese annexed Taiwan in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5. In 1899, they annexed Korea. In 1905, they shocked the world by winning the Russo-Japanese War. And in 1914, the Japanese finally came for the German territories, capturing Tsingtao and all of German Micronesia north of the Equator. From 1876 to 1914 is 38 years; it took less than two generations to go from friends to enemies.

Finding these hidden gems in our backyards and local communities and sharing them with the world is the lifeblood of Pacific History Guide. If you have one of the four M's (Museum, marker, memorial, monument) in your area, let us know about it! We're dedicated to getting folks connected to local and regional history, where they are.

Happy exploring,

Tony