PrefaceEnvironmental problems such as global warming and species invasion cause global environmental change, which impacts the world’s ecosystems. Phenomena such as economic and social
problems are rapidly disseminated as seen in the globalization of the world’s economies. Portions of
the globe, which can be quickly and easily influenced by such phenomena, are islands. The islands of
the Pacific demonstrate that rapid impact where rising sea levels lead to country-wide crises.
An island is a small, simple model because islands are closed systems isolated by water in a limited natural and human environment. Because islands are so simple, a study of islands allows us toproject the consequences of fluctuating and complicated phenomena onto the larger world. An island,
therefore, is a site that can suggest a number of solutions to global problems.
Kagoshima is an island prefecture with the second largest number of islands in Japan. The distance between north and south in Kagoshima is approximately 600 km. The islands in Kagoshima
are primarily located in the sub-tropical zone. Kagoshima Prefecture has 605 islands, which include
28 residential islands. The Nansei Islands, which stretch southwest from Kagoshima to Taiwan, wereseparated from the Eurasian continent due to sea-level rise in the Neogene and then became islands.
We could therefore say that these islands have already been influenced by environmental changes,
such as sea level changes from global warming.
Islands from Okinawa to Kagoshima were called the Island of the Way, and since ancient times,
people and businesses have relocated to these islands. Because the Amami Islands are located in themiddle of the Island of the Way, they have been influenced by Yamato culture from the north and
Ryukyu culture from the south. These islands have, therefore, experienced another kind of globalization, migrating peoples, which are another important factor impacting the world. Conservationof nature is essential to preserve these beautiful and highly diversified natural environments and toprotect the native animal species, such as the Amami black rabbit, which inhabits the Amami Islands.
These islands are ideal sites for studying the impact of globalization and environmental problems,and generating discussions of possible solutions.
The Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands (KURCPI) published a bookin 2001 entitled “Beyond Satsuma,” about the islands of Kagoshima (http://cpi.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/project/projectindex.html). Ten years have passed since that publication, and the economic and social
system on the Kagoshima Islands has changed. New evidence in a number of research fields has beenreported. The Project Planning Committee at KURCPI plans to publish this new book in English togenerate global awareness about these remarkable islands.
To conclude, we would like to thank Project Planning Committee member Sueo Kuwahara,Koji Aoyama, Satoru Nishimura, Ryuta Terada, Yositaka Sakamaki, Sumie Nakatani, Kei Kawai,
Kagoshima University, Kagoshima local government, the public office on each island and local islanders for their support. This book is the results of a research grant funded by 2011-2012 JSPS
Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research (No. 23651256 to KK).
Shinichi NODADirectorKagoshima University
Research Center for the Pacific Islandsv