Nishino Shima – The writer enjoyed travelling to Oki islands, off the shore 50km from his house in Matsue last summer. The previous August’s temperature was so muggy (more than 35.0 C°, humidity 75%) as to beckon him to Oki Islands.
Visiting the islands needed taking ferry boats or aeroplanes; the writer chose the ferry boat. The ship ferried many passengers, who seemed to come from outside of Shimane to avoid being infected with the covid-19 in urban areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, to the islands. These areas never attracted travellers then. Before the infectious disease, the writer had often visited Tokyo in the summer, but he could not help but stay in Shimane in the summer of 2021. His Burmese friend also brought up his decision. She was born in Yangon, albeit living in Shimane. She was eager to land on the islands to feel the atmosphere of Japanese rural areas, then engraving in her memory. Her desire to visit the islands turned the writer’s lazy mind into taking the one-day trip to Oki Islands. However, the excursion was a bit busy schedule, worth visiting the Islands.
The exciting trip enabled both the writer and the Burmese woman to experience extradentary life, even though they lived in Shimane, which was often said as the bland rural side. Yet the countryside brought them an impressive memory which they will never forget in their life.
The Ferry to Oki Islands