South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

Mapping Island Information Ecosystems: Exploring the Roleof the ‘Bōsai Musen’ Emergency and Disaster Broadcasting
System in the Everyday Life of Amami Islands
Papoutsaki Evangelia1 and Kuwahara Sueo2

1: Unitec – Te Pūkenga, Auckland, New Zealand
2: Emeritus Professor, Kagoshima University

Abstract
Bōsai Musen (BM) is part of Japan’s extensive disaster and emergency broadcasting system. This
article, based on ethnographic research that sought to map the communicative ecology of the Amami
Islands, focuses on the use of Bōsai Musen and its integration in the islands' information ecosystem inthe form of convivial technology that reflects resiliency and agency. Many remote island communities
still rely heavily on this system to get information not only about weather emergencies but also vitalcommunity related news. Most island communities have either a loudspeaker mounted on a tall polein a central location, or a device installed in individual homes or a combination of both. The degreeof access, frequency of use, amount and type of information and engagement with it, as well as theirtechnology status (digital or analogue, single or multichannel, varies significantly depending on t thecommunicative ecology of an individual island or community. What has emerged from this research
is a system that is well integrated into the everyday life of some Amami island communities andforms an integral part not only of their disaster and emergency information ecosystem but overall
communicative ecology. The article also presents a more integrated approach to mapping island
information ecosystems.
Note: this research is not concerned with the technical aspects of BM or its role in disaster prevention
but its ‘softer’ role in the wider communicative ecology of the islands.
Key words:

Amami islands, Bōsai Musen, Convivial Technology, Emergency Broadcasting Systems,
Mapping Island Information Ecosystems, Remote Island Communicative Ecology――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Received: 21 July, 2023
Accepted: 26 October, 2023

10South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

Introduction
A loud male voice sprang into life from the ether while having dinner at our Kikaijima
host’s home. We had arrived very early that day with the overnight ferry from Kagoshimaand looking forward to exploring the island’s communicative ecology, but we did not
expect it to manifest right in the middle of our island feast. At first, I assumed the voice
was coming from outside, from one of those loudspeakers that mark most small island
community public spaces. However, it became clear soon enough that it was coming fromwithin the house, and it was loud! My mind went on tsunami alert, should I be alarmed?
Nobody around the table seemed bothered enough to interrupt their eating and drinking.
When I looked around to locate the source, our host, Toyokazu-san, pointed at the small
white device on the kitchen wall with a red blinking light signalling it was alive (as if theloudness of it was not enough). This led to a long, and rather amusing at times, account ofwhat, uninvited and loud, but seemingly important information the island inhabitants had to
be aware off, including the following day’s warning of water sprinklers being switched on
and thus “please be mindful to close your car windows when you go through roads aroundthe sugar cane fields.” “And wait,” our host said, “you will get a fresh update very early
tomorrow morning. That will help you get up if you are still asleep”! “This surely must feellike an intrusion to your private life, imposed like that and with no choice of switching it off“mused aloud. I was assured they were used to it, part of their daily routine, “it marks thestart and end of our day, least of all as it also acts as a village clock.” This marked the startof our exploratory ethnographic fieldwork on Bōsai Musen. It was typhoon season in thesouthwestern Japanese archipelago, and it could not be timelier for research on mapping
information ecosystems, from typhoon warnings to water sprinklers being switched on!
(author’s ethnographic narrative)
Shichōson bōsai gyōsei musen hōsō (市町村防災行政無線放送), local government
disaster administration wireless broadcast), or Bōsai Musen (防災無線-disaster wireless) as
it is mostly known, can be found in all Japanese islands. While emergency broadcasting has
been its main function, local governments often use it to broadcast public and communityrelated announcements. This extensive disaster-warning network, part of a nationwide
system that sends warnings to local governments in just a few seconds, is shifting to a digitalphase linking to mobile phones and inserting messages into radio and TV broadcasts whileautomatically updating information on local governments’ website. However, its original
loudspeaker and home device elements remain the most reliable information dissemination
point in disaster and emergency times (see Koichi, 2014, Hirokazu, 2013; Kusagaya andKhin 2021).
This article is based on ongoing ethnographic research1 conducted in the Amami
islands since 2017 which seeks to explore information ecosystems through communicative
ecology mapping (Papoutsaki and Kuawaha 2018). The islands' distinctive identity within
the southernwestern Japanese archipelago and micro-communicative ecology makeup
provided a rich case study for this approach that we believe can make a contribution toPapoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

11

the study of small island information ecosystems across Japan and beyond (see Kato andTeraoka 2017, Kanayama 2008, 2011a, b). Studying communicative ecosystems that arepart of existing island communities’ structures helped us identify communicative practices
that contribute to sustaining island resilience and agency.
Like in all ethnographic research, serendipity played an integral part of this research.
Whilst Bōsai Musen (BM) was in our research horizon as part of mapping small island
information flows linked to emergency broadcasting and weather patterns on these islands,
it was not until its unique and alternative functions became evident to us after being hosted
by locals in Kikaijima, one of the smaller islands in this group, that drew our attention toa distinctive aspect of this island’s information ecosystem.2 In this article we draw fromour fieldwork on three islands, Kikaijima, Okinoerabujima and Tokunoshima with somereferences to Amami Ōshima’s community radio and its links to Bosai Musen.

Background
Bōsai Musen: Japan’s disaster and emergency broadcasting system
Bōsai is a Japanese word used to express various efforts to mitigate disaster risk (bō 防protection, sai 災 risk), while Musen (無線) refers to wireless radio. Operating at municipal
and village levels, Bōsai Musen, also commonly referred to as goji no chaimu (５時のチャ
イム the 5pm bell), Japan’s local government disaster administration wireless broadcast
system, can be found in all Japanese islands (Inagaki 2017, Gomi 2014, Aizawa 2009,
Goto and Mitsuo 2009).

Figure 1 (left): Bōsai Musen’s predecessor (source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:HinomiYagura_06g4599sx.jpg)
Figure 2 (center): Bōsai Musen loud speaker, Kikaijima 2017 (source: author)
Figure 3 (right): Bōsai Musen home radio device, Kikaijima 2017 (indoor receivers) (source: author)

Born out of necessity, this system has been developed to provide support in a country
that frequently experiences natural disasters (saigai 災害), such as earthquake (jishin 地震), typhoon (taifū 台風), heavy rain/floods (kōzui 洪水), tsunamis and landslides (gakekuzure 崖崩れ). The disaster prevention radio system has been built for the national
government and the municipal authorities to collect disaster prevention information andensure effective means of communication are in place at the time of disaster that reach allaffected population. The system is operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
and broadcasts messages in both Japanese and English. The messages are sent out via radio,

12South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

television, and mobile phones. The system has expanded to include a wide range of features,such as warnings about impending disasters, evacuation orders, and safety tips. Whena disaster is imminent, Bōsai Musen will broadcast an alert that includes the following
information: the type of disaster, its location and severity, what action people should take(including evacuation and safety tips), and any other relevant information (Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communication 2017).
Since the 1950s, legislation has been enacted to ensure disaster prevention information
reaches residents in affected areas in a timely manner starting with the 1950 “Radio Law
in Disaster Times” that ensured emergency communication (article 74) and appropriate
infrastructure (article 74 paragraph 2) were in place. It was followed by the 1961 “Basic Act
on Disaster Control Measures” enacted to carry out comprehensive and systematic disasterprevention measures based on the experience of the severe damage caused by the Isewan
Typhoon in 1959. A major revision to this Act was made in 1995 after the experience of theGreat Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication 2017).
After the 1964 and 1968 Earthquakes in Niigata and Tokachi-oki, the national government
started the infrastructure provision of “fire disaster prevention radio,” which connects theFire Department and prefectures, and “disaster prevention administrative radio,” whichconnects prefectures and municipality the past, wide-area radio was permitted as fixed
service and local government radio was permitted as mobile service, but the unified serviceof the two started in 1978 as “Municipal disaster prevention administrative radio (fixed andmobile)”. The provision of the “Local Disaster Prevention Radio” (MCA) infrastructure
started in 1988, which ensured network contact between the municipality and daily-lifeservices-related institutions. Infrastructure provision of local satellite communication
networks started in 1990. (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication 2017a). The
system is currently shifting to a digital phase linking to mobile phones and inserting
messages into radio and TV broadcasts while automatically updating information on thelocal government’s website. J-Alert, the current satellite-based early warning system
launched in 2007, can inform local authorities in as less as one second, and it takes anotherfour seconds for the alert to be relayed to the masses (Patowary 2020).
As of 2021, out of all municipalities (1,741), fixed municipal disaster prevention
administrative radio was provided to 1,318 municipalities (75.7%). In Kagoshima
prefecture, which Amami islands are part of, 41 of 43 municipalities (95.3%) have installed
fixed municipal disaster prevention administrative radio, one of the higher penetration rates(Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication 2017b).
Table 1: Improvement rate of municipality disaster prevention administrative radio(Bosai Gyosei Musen) Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication 2023
Year
Total number of municipalities with
Total number of municipalities
Bōsai Musen(improvement rate)
1984
1,015
3, 276 (31.0%)
1990
1,574
3, 264 (48.2%)
2000
2,121
3, 250 (65.3%)
2005
1,376
1, 844 (74.6%)
2015
1,363
1, 741 (78.3%)
2021
1,318
1, 741 (75.7%)

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

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A typical municipal disaster preparedness information package would provide stepby-step information that places the disaster prevention administrative radio (Bōsai Gyosei
Musen 防災行政無線) right at the start, under information seeking. A second step would
recommend listening to Bōsai Musen for where to run for safety announcements and thedesignated emergency evacuation sites. Several information options are given for these two
first steps with Bōsai Musen often recommended to be kept in the house, giving residents
the option to rent the device at the City Hall (for free or at subsided price) and/or listen to
the loudspeakers in their neighbourhood.3
The following figure illustrate the nationwide automated early warning system linking
to the municipal disaster administration level that is responsible for transmitting throughBōsai Musen evacuation information.4

Figure 4: (source: Koichi Katagiri 2014, http://slideplayer.com/slide/5734229/)

Bōsai Musen in the everyday life of Japanese communities
Although many municipalities have switched to more advanced digital systems thatallow two-way communication through mobile phones and devices installed in homes,
the cornerstone of the Bōsai Musen network is the enduring and ubiquitous loudspeaker.
Looking like air-raid sirens, these loudspeakers make their presence noticeable visually andaudibly and at such regularity that they have become an integral part of island communities’
audio scape.
Although different areas chose a different time for their daily tests, it is commonlyreferred to as “the 5 p.m. bell” (goji no chaimu 5時のチャイム), with noon also used insome locations. Some municipalities have two test broadcasts a day, usually around noonand early evening time, with seasonal adjustments. The regularity of these broadcasts issuch that it shapes the daily routines of community members, including, for instance, acting
as a reminder to children to return home from the playground (i.e. “Let’s go back homechime” お家へ帰りましょう チャイム or “Children watch/tracking broadcast” 子ども見

14South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

守り放送) (Parker 2015; see also Patowary, 2020; Richarz, 2019; Gordenker 2013). It could
be said that BM acts as the modern-day Drum Tower, a continuation of the “taiko-drumming”
timekeeper and announcing function of older days (tokiuchi-taiko 時打太鼓).
It is not unusual to hear loudspeakers playing out different types of music for about two
minutes while testing the system or before announcements, contributing thus a colourful
and uniquely developed local character that makes it instantly recognizable for what it is.
Some examples, for instance, include children's nursery rhymes (i.e. 夕焼けこやけ Yuyake
Koyake “Red sunset sky”, 帰ろ帰ろ Kaero kaero to “Go home, go home”, 赤とんぼ
Akatonnbo “Red dragonfly”) or foreign music (i.e. “Moon River” Breakfast at Tiffany, and“Edelweiss” The Sound of Music) (see Patowary 2020 and Parker 2015 for audio examplesof these music broadcasts).
The need to test them regularly (one or twice a day) has given the opportunity to manymunicipal authorities to use them as a public announcement system, reporting local news or
upcoming events. The degree of use depends on the locality, with some getting overzealousin their use, such as in an Ishikawa Prefecture community where a 7 am “Good morning!”
broadcast irritates its sleeping residents; to the point of provoking complaints and in someinstances even lawsuits (although unsuccessful). Similar to our findings in Kikaijima during
our fieldwork, it is not unusual for municipalities to broadcast reminders, multiple times
throughout the day, about the residents’ social responsibilities, such as disposing of garbage
properly, signing up for health examinations, speaking kindly to children, for drivers to
exercise extra caution during and after sunset and, in smaller communities, announcing
births and deaths (Patowary 2020, Richarz 2019).
The frequent use of BM, both through the loudspeakers and the home devices, forother than emergency-related broadcasts has caused many to question its necessity, withsome arguing that the more frequently it is used the more they run the risk of “tuning off”
which can have real implications in times of actual emergency. After the 2011 disaster, somecitizens reported shrugging off the warnings broadcasted through BS, attributing it partly toa sense of familiarity. See for instance the Official Noise Pollution site (騒音公害公式サイト, 防災無線スピーカーの騒音問題について) for noise problems related to disasterprevention radio speakers broadcasting at 85dB at a distance of 50 meters (comparable tothe noise of a freight train passing by at 15 meters) (Richarz 2019). However, there arethose who believe in the importance of having this system in place and are willing to put up
with the noise pollution it causes.

Conceptual framework: island information ecosystems and remoteislands communicative ecologies (RICE)
Literature shows systemic and resource exclusion usually overlaps and is reinforced byremoteness (see Heeks and Kanashiro 2009). As many small island communities areoften remote from centres of formal knowledge, political power, and economic activity, this
could have a substantial impact on their information ecosystems. While mapping remoteisland communicative ecologies (RICE), the question of what makes a place remote camePapoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

15

up: is remoteness that which is geographically distant from the centre of administrative,
political and economic activities or is it a construct of connectivity? In Gohain (2019)’s
research, remoteness denotes multiple aspects, not just geographical isolation but also lackof material infrastructure and transport, and improper communication. Mapping a remoteisland’s communicative ecology can demonstrate who has access to different informationand communication channels and how factors such as geography, distance and cost shapecommunication practices and the island’s micro-communicative ecology (see Lennie andTacchi 2013).
Based on the Island Communicative Ecology (ICE) concept that first emerged
from the research this article draws on (see Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018), RemoteIslands Communicative ecology (RICE) in this particular context contains various
communicative/information networks, flows, systems, forms, activities, resources, as wellas interconnections and issues distinctive to these remote island communities (adapted from
Tacchi 2006). It also refers to a context of remoteness in which occurring communication
processes involve island inhabitants engaging with others in their local and extended
island social networks, both face-to-face and using a mix of media and communication
technologies. Similarly to the ICE concept, RICE also contains expressions of island
identity, the topics and language/dialect of communication and the ways in which things arecommunicated. It is also described as a milieu of island agents who are connected in several
ways by various exchanges of mediated and unmediated forms of communication (adaptedfrom Tacchi et al. 2003).
In this research, the communicative ecology of remote and peripheral island
communities is considered to be created through a storytelling network process in which
inhabitants of these communities, island organizations/authorities and various means ofcommunication work with each other to construct an island reality where they engage withshared concerns.5
In this research, the communicative practices of remote island communities, unlike
their mainland urban and centre counterparts, are seen as part of a more fluid interconnected
network system of individual and collective agents, reflecting reciprocal relationshipsthat are necessary for living in these communities and also containing several elements ofwhat makes them resilient. These elements include a localized information landscape anddynamics of production, movement, access, use and impact based on island informationneeds, social trust and catalysts. We perceive resilience, in this context, as a culturally
mediated response to some of the challenges remote Japanese islands often face, including
an aging population and depopulation, heavy weather patterns, infrastructure, and services(Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018).
Furthermore, the information ecosystems approach has provided a useful model for
mapping RICE. Developed by Internews (2015) as a tool to understand how information
contributes to a more connected and resilient community, it identifies several elements that
can assist in contextualizing the RICE model (see figure 2).

16South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

Figure 5: Key Elements of the Information ecosystems model (Internews 2015) modified by authors.

In the process of contextualizing this model to our research, we identified some
additional elements, like island storytelling networks agents and enablers and communicative
rhizomes. In addition to these elements, we also borrowed Hearn’ and Foth (2007, p.1) threecommunicative ecology layers in the mapping process which include a technological layer
consisting of the devices and connecting media that enable communication and interaction,
an important component of emergency broadcasting systems; a social layer consisting of
island inhabitants and social modes of organizing, an essential element of remote island
community organization; and a discursive layer containing the content of communication the ideas of themes that constitute the known social universe that the island communicative
ecology operates in.
The Communication Infrastructure (CI) theory also offered us a valuable frameworkof analysis through three clearly identified levels of storytelling agents (micro, meso andmacro) depending on who is the primary storyteller and their community-based audience.
While mass media tell stories at a macro level that focus on the nation and beyond with anational or regional audience in mind, the meso level provides more complexity that canbe of more relevance to RICE. At this level, community media and organizations can act
as key agents in defined geographical areas and specific populations (Kim et al. 2006). The
storyteller agents at the meso level work closely with those at the micro level, which may
include community members in their networks of family, friends, and neighbours. The focus
on meso and micro-level storytellers fits well within the RICE approach as they addresscommunities like those one encounters in remote communities closely defined by specificgeographic features and small-scale social groups where socio-cultural interactions areFigure 6: Island information ecosystem mapping guide (source: authors, adapted from Internews 2015)

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems
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18South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

closely intertwined. When mapping RICE, one needs to take into consideration communityfocused media as they act at both meso and micro levels, intermeshing collective andindividual storytelling agents with overlapping and multifunctioning networks (seePapoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018; Konishi and Papoutsaki 2020). While Bosai Musendoes not fit in the conventional media category, we would argue that it has become part of amediated system of communication.
Remote island communities are distinct communities, defined by a strong collective
identity and close, reciprocal relationships that define their communicative sociality, aconcept that refers to the language/dialects, identity and kinship relationships that bind them
together (adapted from Hartley and Potts 2014). Along with language and identity, story(communication) enables the collective making of these community groups. In the Amami
islands, kinship continues to contribute to community cohesion (Nakatani 2013). This isparticularly pertinent to smaller and remote island communities and plays a key role inshaping their communicative ecologies.
Lastly, we will argue that Bōsai Musen serves as a tool for conviviality, a concept
introduced by Illich (1973) who imagined a world where people had an open relationshipwith the material world surrounding them, including the technologies they used. Conviviality
in this context, is about being actively engaged in island information and communication
flows and networks. Convivial tools are those which give ‘each person who uses them thegreatest opportunity to enrich the environment with the fruits of his or her vision’ (1973,
p. 21).6 Conviviality is related to empowerment, creativity, and sociability and convivial
technology is designed to be used creatively by networks of people for shared projects(Goodyear 2011). We will be arguing that Bōsai Musen is an example of the convivial useof technology for shared sense-making that extends beyond its original purpose, especiallyin the smaller remote island communities where social cohesion is higher.

Bōsai Musen in the Amami Islands’ Information Ecosystem
The Amami archipelago’s prominent typhoon weather patterns frequently cut off
communities for several days and BM is often the only source of reliable information.
Although emergency broadcasting remains its core function, island municipal
administrations use it also make localized public announcements. The research findings
indicate that the Bōsai Musen system is integrated in the communities of the smaller
Amami islands information ecosystems, especially in Kikaijima, the smaller of theislands in this study, where it has been shaped to serve its own unique information needs,
outside emergency and disaster times. This additional function in the island CE merits
more attention which illustrates well our argument, that small islands’ unique microcommunicative ecologies shape and ascribe unique meaning to technology and information
flows and uses. While BS does not fit in the conventional media category, we would argue
that it has become part of a mediated system of communication.
The degree of access, frequency of use, budget allocation, areas covered, channel
choice, amount and type of information and engagement with it, as well as their technology

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

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status (digital or analog, single or multi-channel), varies significantly depending on theindividual island or island community information ecosystem. All island communities havea loudspeaker mounted on a tall pole in a central location and in some cases a device is also
installed in individual homes at municipal cost or a combination of both.
At the time of our research (2017 and 2019), outdoor loudspeakers were installed at all
the twelve municipalities by each municipal office, while individual receivers were installedby the municipal office at all households in nine municipalities (Tatsugo town, Yamato
village, Kikai-cho, the three municipal towns of Tokunoshima, and the two municipal towns
of Okinoerabujima and Yoron-cho). In Amami City and Setouchi Town, the individual
receiver was partly installed in the district head’s and fire chief’s houses, the households ofdisaster hazard areas, and of areas where the loudspeaker is hard to hear). In Uken village(Amami Ōshima), instead of a separate BM device, FM radios with a BS function have been
given to all households by the village hall, playing a dual role.7
Some of the emerging themes from this research, that have implications for access,voice and participation (key factors in islands agency), included the following: the enduring
nature of the community loudspeaker system; the coexistence of old (loudspeaker) and newtechnology (digital modes); convergence (i.e. Uken FM doubling as a BM system); costand noise pollution (challenges); a top-down but equal access to the information system;
an important part of the island’s information content production and dynamics; meeting
highly localised information needs; contribution to the island’s information landscape andflows and more specifically to the island storytelling networks; and different island contexts
shaping different uses.
There is also evidence that the use of BM and its integration in the islands’ information
ecosystem have contributed to their resilience, especially in areas where depopulation andaging population are prevalent. Many island communities rely heavily on this system to get
important information for a variety of community-related news most of which are practicalin nature and help forge a community spirit (i.e., searching for a lost elderly person, funeralannouncements and reading groups in smaller communities in Kikaijima). Our observations
point at a system that is overall well integrated into the everyday life of smaller island
communities and forms an important part of their information ecosystem and overall
communicative ecology.
In those urban areas considered safe in terms of natural disasters and no loudspeakeris installed, residents are often left out of vital information that is normally disseminated by
the Town Hall through BS. Although this information comes in municipal newsletters, often
the loudspeaker acts as a reminder and is thus more effective: i.e., preventative injections
against rabies.

Kikaijima’s integrated Bōsai Musen system
Kikaijima is 69 km off the northeast shore of Amami Ōshima and occupies 57 square
kilometres, 40 percent of which is farmland. 8 An “Agricultural Island”, Kikaijima’s
subtropical climate has made it suitable for sugarcane cultivation.9 Depopulation, aging
and a low childbirth rate are very noticeable in almost all villages with a population having

20South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

dwindled to 6,633 people (as of March 2022), compared to over 20 thousand in pre-war
times. About 44 percent of the population is concentrated in the southwest part of theisland in three districts. The island is connected to Kagoshima and Amami by air and sea
with two ferries in service every day, which take about eleven hours and two-and-a half
hours respectively. NHK (Japan National Broadcasting Company) TV and commercial
broadcasting are available. Regional internet started in 2006 and an online broadcasting of
the town assembly started in 2017.10
Before BM was introduced in Kikaijima in 1988, a cable radio system was used fordisaster prevention in each community. Its digital upgrade, completed in 2015, covers all
3,600 households. The cost of each device was 50,000 yen per household with a total costof 200 million yen (interview with Shigeru Kanae, Manager of General Affairs Division,
Kikai Town Hall, 7/11/2017). It is important to note that there is a Self-Defence Force
Communication Station (“Elephant Cage”) in Kikaijima that might partly explain thisexpensive BM upgrade.
Two or three employees of the General Affairs Division are usually in charge of BM
who prerecord information around 5 pm every day and air it at 6.30 pm and 6:30 am thefollowing morning. The content changes every day, but it mostly involves that day’s events.
On special occasions such as in typhoon season, the information on disaster prevention is

Figure 7: Kikaijima BM loudspeaker 2017 (source: authors)Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

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aired live and at any time. If the power supply is cut off, a battery backup is used (Akio
Akizuki, Maeganeku Community head of Onotsu village, 7/11/2017). A chime sound isused before and after each announcement on BM.
Our Kikaijima observations indicate that the use of the BM system has developed
distinctive characteristics that make it stand out as one of the island’s key mediatedcommunication systems (Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018). This is evident in its many
functions, ranging from the standard use as a village clock (chiming at 12 pm, 3 pm and 5pm) and channel for public announcements with fixed broadcasting time (early morning andevening) by the Town Hall (i.e. recruitment calls for Town Hall, district meetings, election
announcements), Village Chief and Police (i.e. elderly people missing) to regular andperiodic services reminders system for the Agricultural Association/Cooperative (i.e. land
registration of sugar cane harvest and production per farmer), Council of Social Welfare,and Health-related services (i.e. reminder for rabies injections); as a school/ community
voice (i.e. invitation to or reminder for the annual cultural school festivities; as a chime/callat 5.30 pm during school time and 6 pm during summer to remind children to return homefrom the playground; reminders to drivers to be careful with students on the streets at thestart of the school year).
Highly localized information is evident for instance during the dry season when BM
reminds the island inhabitants when driving through sugar cane fields to close their car
windows to avoid getting wet from the water sprinkle system. And on the rare occasion thatthe island makes it to the national news or other regional media, an announcement early inthe day shares with excitement the news: “we’ve made it to the national news, don’t misstonight’s TV program!”
Death announcements, aired at the request of the deceased family, are anotherimportant local information function. Although Bōsai Musen is mostly used for providing
public information, private information, such as funerals, is also aired at the request of
the deceased’s family. In such small island communities, a funeral is considered a publicmatter. Even if there is no request from the deceased’s family, the community head will
still air the funeral information as a matter of public concern. Information, thus, on who has
died and how, when and where and the time of the funeral service will be broadcasted as acommunity matter, even if there is no request from the deceased’s family.

Figure 8 and 9 (left and center): Kikaijima Municipal BM technology 2017 (source: authors)
Figure 10: Akio Akizuki, Maeganeku Community Head, Onotsu village, operating BM system fromhis home 2017 (source: authors)22South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

The Kikaijima Town Hall asks each community head to manage Bōsai Musen for
their community, including housing the broadcasting equipment in their private residence.
Announcements are made from the community head’s house and transmitted throughcentrally located loudspeakers fixed on a pole (each carrying four speakers facing all
directions; image 4). Depending on the size of the community, more speakers are added. In
some communities, broadcasting equipment is housed at the community center, so that there
is no need to relocate the equipment every time the community head changes.
In Onotsu village, the Maeganeku community head mentioned that when he is notavailable or on leave, his wife fulfils the role. If both are unavailable, a neighbour or
relative is asked to step in the role. In that case, he demonstrates to them how to use thebroadcast equipment beforehand. This rarely happens and he always has enough time toprepare because the Town Hall provides information a week in advance. The Head of theCommunity we talked to had already served three terms (6 years), as no one else expressed
an interest in the role.
Once a week, on Friday, the Town Hall posts information to each community head’shouse, including not only broadcast announcements but also public brochures (i.e., Kikai
Town newsletter), which are to be delivered to each household by the community head. For
instance, in the Maeganeku’s 70 households (with a population of about 120, one third ofwhich is elderly women living alone), the community head delivers the material to each of
the 12 groups head who in turn delivers the material to each household of the community.
Usually, the community people are out in the fields during the day and at home in themorning and evening, which is the time BM broadcasts announcements. Each community
head receives announcement requests from the Town Hall two days earlier who announces
the information three times, that is, in the evening of the day he receives it, the next morningand evening, and in the morning of the following day. Aside J-Alerts broadcasts from thetown hall are not always aired, left to the Head’s judgment to decide.
The Community head is also asked by the Council of Social Welfare of the Town Hall
to broadcast a light exercise program (Rajio Taiso ラジオ体操 Radio Calisthenics) forthe elderly people, often aired 3 times a day. The head of the community also announces
when x-ray services are available by the Health and Welfare Division of the Town Hall. If
there are important local announcements, such as community events, community heads are
expected to make their own decisions about which ones to broadcast. An example sharedwith us is the following: “Today, the Honen festival starts at 2 pm and the preparation starts
in the morning. Members of Young Men’s Association, please gather at the community
center at 10 am”.
Most broadcasting requests come from the Agricultural Association and schools.
School broadcasts are primarily about culture and sports festivals, announcing dates,
meeting times, and calling for participation. It is important to note here that Kikaijima’s
agricultural economy relies heavily on sugar cane production. For instance, the “Pleaseorder seed potatoes” announcement, made by the Maeganeku community head of Onotsu
village, comes from the Agricultural Cooperative, which provides potato seeds to eachfarmer. The BM system is also used to call farmers to come to the Community Hall toPapoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

23

provide information on their sugar cane production (i.e., how many tons of sugar cane eachfarmer is going to sell to the sugar mill). This is then matched with each community head’s
information on the sugar cane fields each farmer is recorded to have.

Bōsai Musen in Tokunoshima town
Tokunoshima is located in the centre of the Amami archipelago, and it is the second-largest
island with a population of 21,803 people (2020 National Census). The island is registeredas a World Natural Heritage Site with Amami Ōshima, Yanbaru Forest of Okinawa andIriomote-jima (Tokunoshima Town Hall). As it has the largest arable land area in the Amami
Islands, its main industry is agriculture (sugarcane, potato, ginger, fruits). There are four
daily flights to Kagoshima and two to Amami Ōshima and two ferries operate daily to
Kagoshima and Okinawa from two ferry ports.11
Tokunoshima has three Municipal Towns, each of which has a different Bōsai Musenreceiver. While the same information is broadcasted by the Town Office at the same time,each sub-district can also broadcast its own information. BM seemed to be functioning
well during our fieldwork with district heads reporting to using the system frequently. Our
informant, Tsutomu Hirota, the District Head of Kametsu Kita-ku of Tokunoshima town,
mentioned that BM receivers were distributed for free to every household (Dec 9, 2017,
Kametsu Kita-ku Community Hall).
According to Hirota, Amagi town and Isen town spent 1 billion yen each to introduce
an optical fibber cable TV system into each town, which has all the functions of Bōsai
Musen. In Tokunoshima Town, only Kametsu district introduced optical fibre at the cost of
500 million yen. In Tokunoshima Town, administrative information from the town officeis broadcasted by Bōsai Musen from 7:15 to 7:30 every morning and also from 19:15 to
19:30 every evening. However, there is no music or time signals. The announcement from a
district head through Bōsai Musen includes information on the town office, district meetings,
health check-ups, school children’s activities, preventive injection against rabies and events
such as seniors’ club sport events. For example, Hirota had recently announced to his subdistrict people a call to attend a community meeting and at another time to not park cars on
the road because school children would be running during a school sport event.
In the Minami sub-district, a traditional dance called Hama Odori is practiced twicea month, so the district head calls the community people by BM to gather for the practiceon that day. BM receivers were always switched on in this sub-district at the time of ourfieldwork. When we visited a local house at Isen town, we noticed a BM receiver. According
to our host, the BM receiver was installed in every household by Isen Town Office. The
receiver had four channels: ch.1 was the administrative channel of Isen-cho, ch.2 wasdevoted to Shimauta of each village in Isen-cho, ch.3 was devoted to the Shimauta of
Tokunoshima, ch. 4 was devoted to J-pop. The Town Office cuts into the ordinary programs
anytime they need to announce something urgent to the residents.
In Isen town, the music and town office announcements are automatically recorded
while residents are out, allowing them to play them back after returning home. In
Tokunoshima Town, residents do not have this function, so they rely on their neighbours or24South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

call the district head about the day’s broadcast. They could also listen to the district head’s
announcement from a loudspeaker. If they find BM loud or noisy, they can lower the volume
if they have a baby sleeping. We heard some complaints about noise pollution, includingreferences to elderly people often shutting down the receiver by unplugging it. The
information on typhoons and other warnings are broadcasted from the town office. As a BM
receiver has a battery backup, information is still broadcasted even when electricity is cut off
because of the typhoon. Initially, the town office provided receivers to each household freeof charge by using subsidies from the government. But once the subsidy finished, people
had to buy themselves and no budget was allocated for this at the time of our fieldwork.
Residents of a new residential area in Tokunoshima town cannot get informationfrom Bōsai Musen because they are not provided receivers from the town office. The town
office turned down a request for BM receivers because of a lack of budget. There were no
loudspeakers either in the new residential area. But because this area is located on a hillwith residents living in five-story apartment buildings, they are considered comparatively
safer against natural disasters. However, they are not only missing disaster information
but also other information, related to health and public events. This problem is special to
Tokunoshima town, which has seen a population increase because of its central locationthat attracts residents from other parts of the island. Residents in the new residential areathat has no BM receive town hall information newsletters, sent to a district head, who thendistributes them to group leaders.
The islands natural habitat contours their communicative ecology and information
ecosystems, as the Bōsai Musen unmistakably demonstrates. The interconnectedness ofhuman and nature ecologies is evident in the islands where weather patterns are integral
to their life. The typhoon season comes with strong winds, and heavy rainfall, causing
landslides and stopping transportation that cut off the islands for several days at a time,
including the disruption of newspaper delivery (Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018). A good
example of how important BM is for island information flows in Tokunoshima, wheredepending on the weather, the ferry will choose between two ports to berth. It takes about
40 minutes from one port to another by taxi, so, you may miss the ferry. In the past, thisinformation was announced by Bōsai Musen, but this service is no longer available much tothe islanders’ consternation.

Bōsai Musen in Okinoerabujima
Okinoerabujima is in the southwestern part of the Amami archipelago12 and is closer
to Okinawa geographically and culturally. It consists of two municipal towns (with apopulation of under 12 thousand people).13 It takes 35 minutes from Amami Ōshima byplane. The primary industry is agriculture, flower cultivation, livestock, and brown sugar
shochu, while caving tourism has been increasingly attracting attention.
Our fieldwork took us to the farming village of Amata (China-cho or China municipal
town) whose population of 225 people, in 91 households, consisted mostly of elderly people(about 70 percent). Yasuhiko Maeda, Head of the village in his fifth year, mentioned thatthe community meeting takes place once every two months, and household heads (about 25

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

25

people) participate (interview, 25/6/2019). The Bosai Musen system was upgraded in 2014
with a combination of digital/analog version. The maintenance cost was 371.7 million yen,out of which the subsidy was about 220 million yen. The digital receiver was 100,000 yen
per unit and 155 receivers were ordered, some of which were installed in public facilities.
The BM receiver with analog radio was 15,000 yen per unit. Digital signals are used
between the town hall, the Ooyama relay station and each retransmission station whichconverts the received digital signal to analog. Individual receivers receive digital signals
from the Ooyama relay station. Bosai Radio receives the analog waves sent from eachretransmission station. Since individual receivers are expensive, a combination type wasadopted to reduce costs.
BM is used to make community broadcasts three times a day. Chime and community
broadcast at 7:05 am. China-cho town hall broadcasts at 7:15 am. Use is reflected in
the seasonal variations, for instance, Chiming is at 18:50 in summer, while in winter itcomes earlier at 18:05. The Head brings the information requested by the town hall to thecommunity twice a month and broadcast it through BM. The village head, and heads of the
Women, Parents and Elderly Associations have the key to the community center that houses
the BM system, and each one freely uses it to send information related to their activities
when they deem necessary. Village-related broadcasts, for instance, carry information about
the Bon Dance festival, Keiro-kai (meeting to show respect to the elders), Sports Day,
welcome and farewell parties for elementary school teachers, and the New Year’s paradeof the fire department (consisting of three nearby villages). Information about funerals is
broadcast only once at 12:20p m. Unlike Kikaijima, the Head of Amata village mentionedthat he does not broadcast personal requests such as search calls for “lost cat, dog andmissing elderly people even if requested because there is no end”.
The Bosai Musen system in China Town used an analog system from 1984 to 2014
when a digital/analog combination type was installed. The maintenance cost was 371.7
million yen, out of which the subsidy was about 220 million yen from the National
government. The digital receiver was 100,000 yen per unit and 155 receivers were ordered,some of which were installed in public facilities. The BM receiver with an analog radio
was 15,000 yen per unit. Digital signals are used between the town hall and the Ooyama
relay station and each retransmission station which then converts them to analog for
local transmission. Individual receivers receive digital signals from the Ooyama relay
station. Bosai Radio receives the analog waves sent from each retransmission station.
Since individual receivers are expensive, a combination type was adopted to reduce costs;
analog for home use and digital for community centers. There is a total of 31 receiving
antennas and 31 loudspeakers in China-cho. Maintenance is once a year and is outsourced
to Japan Radio, the Kagoshima branch office and a subcontractor in Amami Ōshima withfield workers available in China Town (Shigeki Shiraishi and Kosuke Nishida, Chiefs ofGeneral Affairs Division, China Municipal Town Hall, 25/6/2019).
The scheduled (regular) broadcast is at 7:15 and 19:45. The broadcast time is around
5 minutes. It chimes the time at 7:00, 12:00, 15:00, 17:00, 17:30 (for children) and 21:00.
There is loudspeaker interference near the border between the two towns which can be26South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

noisy, but inhabitants seem to be used to it. Radio calisthenics is broadcast at 15:00. Eachvillage has its own loudspeaker. Manufactures of Bosai Musen vary by village. Smallvillages have cable broadcasting. There are both the Town Hall’s broadcast receiver and thecommunity’s broadcast equipment. Each village chief receives information from the Town
Hall twice a month and sends it to each family’s receiver. Village loudspeakers are found inall villages and are used for emergencies and time chiming.
The BM system at Wadomari Town was upgraded from analog to digital in 2012. Outof the total 28 transmission stations, five key digital stations transmit to 23 auxiliary stations
which retransmit in analog to individual homes. The cost of building this new system was
400 million yen. Recordings are broadcast at regular intervals, twice a day, at 7:20 and
18:20 from Monday to Friday. A loudspeaker is installed in each village, while larger ones
have two (Shogo Ooe, Chief of General Affairs, Ryu Kamibeppu, Assistant Manager ofPlanning Section and Eioki Mori, employee of Erabu Sun-sun TV, June 24, 2019).
Broadcast content includes administrative and health-related information (healthchecks, garbage collection etc.), with village chiefs responsible for the circulation in theircommunities. The town hall employs six people who are in charge for each day of theweek, and who pre-record, and broadcast information approved by each department. The
information flow in one way, from the Town Hall to communities, unlike the two-way
village broadcasting system, taking in individual or community requests for circulation
through the loudspeaker or BM home devices. The system is developed so that each village
head can record and broadcast information by dialing the number from their mobile phone.
The maintenance engineer from Comsys comes from mainland Japan once a year to service
the system.
The Chief of General Affairs is in charge of typhoons and emergencies (Shogo Ooe
June 24, 2019). He often makes phone calls to exchange information with his counterpart
in charge of disaster prevention in China-cho Town hall. For instance, when we were there,
it had heavily rained the day before, and Ooe mentioned he had exchanged information
on whether to issue an alarm. He broadcasts information within 5 minutes and because
residents complain if the same information repeats in the morning and evening, he tries tovary the content of his broadcasts in the morning and evening to avoid repetition. However,
the information for the evening and the following morning is the same to ensure people havenot missed important accouchements. He broadcasts to home receivers only administrative
information while emergency broadcast is recorded automatically. If you miss it, there isa replay function on the home receiver. In China-cho this receiver is a Bosai radio, whichis compatible with both music and disaster prevention radio and portable to the field. The
loudspeakers in this community are used only for J-alerts. There are often complaints frompeople living close to loudspeakers. BM chimes the time at 7:00, noon, 15:00 and 17:30.
The time signal at 17:30 tells children to go home. Radio calisthenics is broadcast at 15:00.
Wadomari town distributed 3300 new receivers free of charge to each household
and business in 2017. Although portable, they do not have a radio program function. This
receiver is mostly wall mounted in residents’ homes who can also receive BM content
automatically by e-mail if they choose so. While working in the fields, people are listening

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

27

to the radio program of Okinawa. China-cho has mountains, so wild boar damage iscommon. Because of the geographical (and cultural) proximity to Okinawa, islanders
tend to get the weather forecast from Okinawan TV and radios as typhoons move from thesouth. This is a good example of shared inter-island communication ecosystems that needparticular attention when designing emergency broadcasting systems.

Bōsai Musen and FM Radio in Amami Ōshima
Along with Bōsai Musen, public funding has been made available to Cable TVs and
FM stations for disaster and emergency broadcasting. Community radio, a relatively
new development in Amami Ōshima, plays a significant role in the island’s information
ecosystem and is closely linked to BM (see Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018). At the timeof our fieldwork, Amami FM, Uken FM, and Setouchi and Tatsougo FM had a BM function,
especially Uken FM which was built to have a dual function right from the start (for moreon community FM and island information ecosystems see Kato and Teraoka 2017:204221; Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018; Masaaki 2018; Tomoko 2019; see also Inagaki
2012 for Community FM and disaster communication).
Uken FM stands out from these community radios in its dual function and key rolein the community’s information ecosystem. Established in 2010, it is run by the Uken
administrative village office, which served 1700 people at the time of our fieldwork. The
switch to an FM model was made when their old BM system needed to upgrade from analog
to digital. Providing a radio to each household was more economical than individual BM
receivers. The dual function means that residents can receive normal FM broadcasting whichswitches automatically to BM during natural disasters. The AM / FM radio cost was 3,000
yen each, but 850 out of 950 households received a radio device at the cost of 1,000 yen. For
those people who lived in the fringe zone, the village office prepared a highly sensitive radio
called “Bosai radio” that costs 9,000 yen each for 200 units fully subsidised. This radio is
automatically switched on and can receive BM information at the time of emergency. The
initial cost for establishing the broadcasting station was 30 million yen. The running costis 3.5 million yen which includes the salary for one full-time staff, the royalty payment for
the radio wave, copyright fees, maintenance, and inspection costs. However, the national
government subsidizes 70 percent of the salary of two million yen, so the real expense forthe village office is 2.1 million yen (Miyashita 2018:45-46). Uken FM is a good example ofan integrated model that is fully embedded in the community’s communicative ecology, andwhich acts as a collective storytelling agent at a micro level, also strengthening the functionof BM in times of emergency and crisis as it is seen a trusted and agentic technology which
merits further research.

Conclusions: exploring Bōsai Musen as convivial technology
in the everyday life of Amami islands
Our research provides evidence of a well-integrated Bōsai Musen system in remote andsmaller island communities’ communicative ecology and information ecosystems, indicating

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in its turn the importance of using an integrated mapping model that allowed us to identify
how technology plays a significant part in the resilience and agency of small island
communities. Because of its obvious use of technology for disaster prevention, its otherfunctions in the information ecosystem of the islands have not been paid much attention
to. We would argue that these additional functions can illustrate one key point, that small
islands unique micro-communicative ecologies define, shape, and ascribe unique meaning
and use not only of the information flows and uses but also the technology itself. As it was
illustrated in Kikaijima (for Uken FM see Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018), the island
agents (local authorities, community leaders and collectives), acting at meso and microlevels, have been able to translate Illich’s vision of convivial technology that has contributed
to adapting BM in an agentic way that enriches the island communicative ecology.
Information, and equal access to it, is a critical element in remote island community
development as it enables informed voice, engagement and participation in small island
communities. While BM appears to be a “top-down” information system, albeit at a very
local level, acting like a “benevolent big island brother” beaming into neighbourhoods anddining rooms, when looked at closely there is evidence that it enables community agency
and resilience as it sits in the centre of the island’s information landscape, filling in an
obvious gap by balancing out local information flows and dynamics and strengthening theimpact of information as it is delivered by a local “agent” (at a micro level) that is seen associally trustworthy (see Dale and Sparkes 2010).
Further, we cannot ignore the implications this locally adapted technology can havein times of crisis, like severe weather patterns. Trusted information sources and agents atthe community level increase community resilience and agency when it comes to timesof crisis. Resilience, as defined by the Resilience Alliance, is the “capacity of a system toabsorb disturbance, undergo change, and still retain essentially the same function, structure,
identity, and feedback” (www.resalliance.org/; see also Gunderson 2000). We know that
communication is an essential element of resilience (Longstaff and Yang 2008), and that
community agency requires being well-informed (Dale and Sparkes 2010). The role ofcommunication in crisis time cannot be limited to the technical reliability of communication
systems, assuming the messages sent are effective and that handing out brochures or
broadcasting government-approved updates on the situation will be enough, as it is often thecase. Information will not be successful if the people receiving it do not trust the message
or the sender of the message (Griffin et al. 2004). In small island communities, this trust is
the result of constant engagement build over time.

Notes
1.

The original research started in 2017 as part of an International Research
Fellowship at Kagoshima University’s International Center for Island Studies that
led to the collaboration of the authors. Since then, they have conducted extensive
fieldwork in Amami Ōshima, Kikaijima, Okinoerabujima and Tokunoshima
in 2019 and 2023 involving multiple formal and informal interviews withindividuals, local authorities and island based organizations.

Papoutsaki E. and Kuwahara S.: Mapping Island Information Ecosystems

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.
7.

8.
9.

10.
11.
12.
13.

29

It is important to note here that one of the authors, Sueo Kuwahara, is an
Amamian who grew up in Kikaijima and Amami Ōshima. This enabled us to enteran existing social network that afforded us rich ethnographic observations andengagement with locals at various levels of these island communities.
For an example of this information see the Sammu City’s Safety and Security
handout, 2023 https://www.city.sammu.lg.jp/data/doc/1636528134_doc_31_0.pdf.
Also see, Michiko Fukahori, Dec 2012. Disaster and ICT Systems in Japan.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Japan: http://slideplayer.com/
slide/1514176/
For the concept to Storytelling Networks see Kim, Jung, Ball-Rokeach 2006; forisland storytelling networks see Papoutsaki and Kuwahara 2018, and 2021 andKonishi and Papoutsaki 2020.
For an example of island convivial technology see Konishi and Papoutsaki’s
work (2020) on Okinawa community radio used as a convivial technology
Kagoshima Prefecture: The situation of the instalment of Bōsai Musen in the
Amami Islands (as of April 1st, 2015) https://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/aj01/
bosai/bousaikeikaku/documents/51890_20180615115344-1.pdf
Kikai-cho Yakuba (Kikai Town Hall): http://www.town.kikai.lg.jp/tokei/machi/
gaiyo/ichi.html ((March 30, 2023)
Kikai-cho Chosei Yoran (Kikai Town Statistical Survey Handbook) 2022: https://www.town.kikai.lg.jp/tokei/machi/gaiyo/documents/reiwa4tyouseiyourann3.pdf(March 30, 2023)
ibid.
Tokunoshima-cho Town Census Report 2017 https://www.tokunoshima-town.org/
chose/koho/images/tyouseiyourann.html (March30, 2023)
http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/ac07/pr/shima/gaiyo/erabu/okinoerabu_top.html(29/4/2023)
National Census 2020, https://www.machimura.maff.go.jp/machi/contents/46/533/
details.html (29/4/2023) and https://www.machimura.maff.go.jp/machi/
contents/46/534/details.html (29/4/2023)

Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge Kagoshima University’s International Center for Island
Studies hosting Dr Evangelia Papoutsaki as a research fellow (2017) and visiting researcher(2019 and 2023) and our key informants for this part of our fieldwork who so generously
shared their time and knowledge: Toyokazu Oku family in Kikaijima; Shigeru Kanae(Manager of General Affairs Division, Kikai Town Hall); Akio Akizuki (Maeganeku
Community head of Onotsu Village); Tsutomu Hirota (District head of Kametsu Kita-ku,
Tokunoshima Town); Shigeki Shiraishi and Kosuke Nishida (Chiefs of General Affairs
Division); Yasuhiko Maeda (Amata village, China municipal town); Shogo Ooe (Chief ofGeneral Affairs, Wadomari Town Hall); Ryu Kamibeppu (assistant manager of Planning30South Pacific Studies Vol.44, No.1, 2 2024

Section, Wadomari Town Hall ) and Eioki Mori (employee of Erabu Sun-sun TV, Wadomari
Town Hall).

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