A birds nest fern and dragon fruit growing out of a traditional stone wall on Taketomi Island. Ryuku Archipelago, Japan.
Taketomi, drafted The Charter of Taketomi Island where traditional houses of the main village were selected as an area of important traditional heritage. Whereas traditional houses throughout Ryukyu are becoming rarer and rarer, Taketomi's intact tradition village is famous throughout Japan and attracts visitors from around the world. Taketomi Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan
Their clean lines conceal how traditional Sabani boats were born out of necessity and nascent environmental concerns centuries ago. In the early 18th century, advisor to the King of Ryukyu, Sai On, crafted one of the most impactful forest-conservation plans still referenced today in Japan and the United States. Part of that plan forbade construction of ‘kuribune’ (dug-out) canoes, ubiquitous among fishermen, to protect trees of large girth in 1737. Confronted with the need to innovate, fishermen had to come up with a new kind of vessel - one that consumed less timber. //WHITLOWDELANOJAMES_sipa.30916/Credit:James Whitlow Delano/SIPA/2401101222