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Summary

Chapter 2 offers a case study centered on the island of Hachijō, where life with the current gave rise to unique economic practices and social organization. It centers on the seasonal rhythm of castaway arrivals and repatriation that, by the mid-eighteenth century, had become an important branch of the local economy. Numbers of castaways were significant because sailors used winds and the eastward current to propel their voyage, even though their crafts were unfit for offshore sailing. In the peak year of 1850 alone, 300 sailors arrived on twenty-seven vessels from western Japan. Historical arrivals of foreign castaways and flotsam have created a virtual geography and local identity that connected the remote island to India, whence the “river” Kuroshio was believed to flow, and China, whence the current was believed to have brought important cultural achievements.

Summary

This chapter traces the spectacular growth of Christianity in the Philippines, Polynesia (including New Zealand), contrasting with the extreme racist attitudes towards the Australian aborigines and the much slower growth in Melanesia.

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2 - Maritime Practice and Virtual Geography

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7 - East Asia

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2 results

2 - Maritime Practice and Virtual Geography

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7 - East Asia

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