Shimane is my home prefecture and Ama Town is my “Furusato” or home town. I spent many memorable years living in Ama, and it occupies a special place in my heart. I plan to keep visiting the island whenever I have the opportunity to. My reason for visiting last month was to do fieldwork for my Master’s thesis at Hiroshima University. Unbelievably, it’s been a year since I started attending, and I have grown and learned so much in that time. My two weeks on Ama was spent collecting data and also spending time with old friends, new friends and revisiting old places and spaces.
Surprisingly, visiting Ama was an emotional shock to my system. I missed the simpler, interconnected life I had there, where relationships had more meaning, my purpose was defined, and my job was interesting. So many things have felt so superficial and surface-level lately, but it’s all part of learning and growing.