Yamaguchi: After working as a producer at a TV show production company, I currently produce and direct for video rather than TV, working on everything from filming to editing. I've produced videos for planetarium shows, and have recently been producing and directing video using new techniques, like live streaming where we composite together CG backgrounds and actors in real time.
Takeuchi: I mainly plan and produce events, a lot of them for the public sector. I've been producing events for around 19 years, and over the past few years in particular, I've been getting more and more opportunities to work all year round on ones related to Japan's and Tokyo's islands.
We hear you were involved in the research activities on Okinotorishima Islands. What roles did you play?
Takeuchi: I handled the overall work related to spreading information about Okinotorishima and Minamitorishima Islands in FY 2021, and also accompanied a field survey of Okinotorishima Islands by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This saw me managing the progress of the filming, and also actually doing some of it myself, camera in hand.
Yamaguchi: My first thought was that it was going to be a tremendously valuable experience, because it was somewhere most people will never get to visit. The field survey involved spending about nine days living on a ship, which is something I'd never done for a location shoot before.
Takeuchi: I thought about how very few people in Japan get to go to Okinotorishima Islands, and how it's somewhere most people will never get to visit. So, I was full of anticipation and nerves at the prospect of going somewhere I'll probably only get to visit once in my whole life.
Yamaguchi: I thought I'd definitely get seasick, so I packed enough medicine to cover my time on the ship. I'd been told there were washing machines on board but they would probably be crowded and busy, so I packed a change of underwear for every day aboard. In the end, I was able to wash my clothes every day.
Takeuchi: I packed 10 days' changes of clothes. I also bought some coffee you can dissolve in water and lots of throat lozenges, and packed some medicine to stop me getting seasick as well. I don't usually take medicine for things like seasickness, so I asked the drugstore for the strongest one they had. (Laughs.) I also bought a solar-powered portable battery, but hardly got to use it in the end because the weather wasn't very good, and although the cabin had a window, it was constantly getting blocked by the waves so hardly any sunlight got in. I crammed all kinds of essentials along with the film gear into a large carry-bag I didn't usually take anywhere with me. Then on the boarding day, which was December 2, I boarded early in the morning and had a look around the ship. When I heard there were freely available washing machines, I regretted taking so much luggage.
Yamaguchi: It took three days to sail from the Port of Shimizu to Okinotorishima Islands. We couldn't go out on deck due to bad weather, so there was nothing to film—just ocean, ocean, and more ocean. It felt like we weren't getting anywhere.
Takeuchi: On the first day, I boarded at the Port of Shimizu at 7 in the morning and the ship set out a little later, but then, it stopped in Shimizu Bay for a while to test the observation equipment. I think it finally started moving again around 10 o'clock. However, it was only going at around 13 knots, so I couldn't even tell if it was moving or still stopped. When I finally realized it was moving, Mt. Fuji was already looking small behind us.
Yamaguchi: At first, the time between meals seemed to go by fast, and I constantly felt full because I didn't usually follow such a regular lifestyle. It made me respect the crew for seeming to take life on board in their stride.
Takeuchi: On the first day on board, I was exhilarated to be on a ship again for the first time in ages, and heading out into the endless ocean. In the evening, the panoramic sunset was a truly moving sight, with the orange sun dyeing the ocean and sky as it sank below the horizon. There was no artificial light around at night—just the rocking of the ship, the cold wind, the sound of the waves, and above, a star-filled sky stretching from horizon to horizon! Gazing at the stars spreading everywhere in the blackness was a strange experience, tinged with a fear of the dark.
Yamaguchi: My work included editing the footage on a computer, but it was a repeating cycle of trying to make some edits while holding on to something as the ship lurched violently, or stopping for a lie down when I felt seasick. I was able to go out on deck and film once, but the ship was lurching about so terribly that both me and my gear got thoroughly soaked by the waves. It's in the final cut, too, and is a good memory now.
Takeuchi: Working on a computer was almost impossible. I knew I'd have virtually nothing to do until we arrived, so I thought I'd better get some work done on the way there, but I had a very hard time reading anything on the computer while being tossed about by the waves. I couldn't look at the screen for 5 minutes without feeling sick. The daily routine revolved around mealtimes: wake up at 6:30 and have breakfast, then lunch at 11:30, then dinner at 16:30 despite still being full. There was nowhere to exercise on board, and the only places to go were the cabin, the canteen, the aft door to the deck, the toilet, and the shower room. Apart from that, I did virtually everything else on my bed.
Yamaguchi: The weather was bad, with strong winds and high waves, so the ship stopped a ways off from the island, and it looked very strange, like there was a building floating on the ocean. I had to film in a limited space like on the way, but it was a priceless experience to be able to watch a university professor and students doing a thorough survey before my very eyes. We filmed with a drone as well, and got some footage of the students doing a proper roll call under the guidance of the professor. I was impressed by how properly they did it, like a school lesson. We'd spent several days pretty much cooped up inside the ship, so it also felt good to get outside and film.
Takeuchi: My first thought was, "We've finally made it!" Four survey spots had been planned, but what with the poor weather and high waves, we couldn't stop at the ones on the north side of Okinotorishima Islands. So like Mr. Yamaguchi, we mainly did telescopic observations of the two spots on the south side from about 900 m away from the reef. The morning we arrived, we assembled at 5 o'clock, set up a camera on the bridge, and turned it into the darkness before sunrise. Then, we waited to see what shots we would get with just the occasional light from the lighthouse of the island's observatory. Okinotorishima Islands gradually began to emerge as dawn approached. Seeing it for the first time floating there in the ocean, I found it rather moving.
Yamaguchi: My image of it didn't change, but I made it my mission to do as much as possible before going back to the mainland. I'd experienced first-hand how hard it was to get there.
Takeuchi: I know I said, "We've made it," but I mainly only got to see Okinotorishima Islands through a camera viewfinder, so my image of it wasn't any different from before we arrived. It's very far away—about three days there and about four days back.
Yamaguchi: I'd done a lot of location shoots before, but this was the first time I'd spent a long time living on a ship. I also got to experience not being able to contact anyone, or get any information from the outside via the Internet or the like. That's a kind of environment I never get to be in. I felt I'd be able to live with it surprisingly easily once I got used to it. Of course, emails and so on are essential tools for my work, but most of it's just news and recommended information I don't actually need that much in everyday life. It was refreshing to be cut off from things like that. Of course, it was a moment of relief when we got a decent signal and the phone rang or we got a LINE message.
Takeuchi: Up to then, although I'd done various things as part of my event production work, the situation had always been normal in terms of having Internet access and needing to be reachable anytime, anywhere. Conversely, I'd never spent a long time on a ship with no Internet and no information from outside, so the experience was a lifetime first. With the job of sailing off somewhere as a member of a survey team, even when it felt like not being connected to the Internet meant we were getting out of touch with information, actually, we were all connected for the sake of someone, and something. I hoped I'd get to do more jobs like that in the future.
Yamaguchi: Okinotorishima Islands is the southernmost tip of Japan. It's definitely not somewhere you can go casually. However, it is an irreplaceable island that we mustn't lose. A lot more people are involved than you'd think, and they're all working together so that we can know what Okinotorishima Islands is like now. There's still much we don't know, and I think we're definitely going to find out more about it in the future.
I think people need to at least know the following:
・Where Okinotorishima Islands is;
・What role it plays;
・Why people are interested in it; and
・That actually, it's part of Tokyo.
Takeuchi: Tokyo's Okinotorishima Island lies a staggering 1,700 km away—a distance Japan's Honshu could comfortably fit into. I think it's a place that lies in a corner of Japan and of people's hearts, just like it does on the map. It's a very important island for Japan. As we go about our everyday lives, it might be hard to really feel right away how important it is, and how linked it is to our direct interests and property. However, I felt that it's important to recognize that it too is an island of Japan, and of Tokyo.
The official website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government