The final of a three-part series taking a personal look back at the Ogasawara Islands (parts one and two).

The Ogasawara Islands of Tokyo Prefecture could be mistaken for a Japanese Garden of Eden, located far out amidst the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. The Islands were uninhabited until 1830, when they were first settled by Americans and Europeans who arrived from Hawaii, the US mainland and elsewhere. In 1861, they came under Japanese control and Japanese citizens began to immigrate. To this day, many people of mixed heritage reside here. Following World War II, the islands passed from Japanese to US control and back again. Many of the islanders who lived on the mainland during the war have returned to Ogasawara, no doubt drawn home by the stunning natural beauty of the place. The history of the islands has been one of constant flux, and among the residents of these little green satellites in the Pacific, personal history is told with a kind of spectacular abruptness and profound sincerity that mirrors the geography of the islands themselves. The “Past & Present in Ogasawara” series originally appeared in Paper Sky No. 8 Tokyo Paradise, January, 2004. This is Takashi Savory’s story.

In 1830, Nathaniel Savoy set sail from Boston and became one of the first people to settle on the islands of Ogasawara. His descendants still inhabit Chichijima, among them Takashi Savory of the family’s fifth generation. Takashi was born in 1957 on Chichijima, after residents with European or American ancestry were allowed to return following their forced evacuation to the mainland. “I went to elementary school with the soldiers’ children, so at home, I spoke a mixture of Japanese and English.” At that time, there was also a movie theater and a tennis court, and at Christmas, someone ordered Jackets and things from the Sears catalog for me.”

Continue reading this article at the Papersky website.