MODERN JAPONYA'DA ADALARIN ROMANTİKLEŞTİRİLMESİ: 1933'TE İZU OSHIMA'NIN BİR ÇALIŞMASI

This paper argues as what kind of place islands were imagined in Modern Japan by reading two female writer's essays about Izu Oshima island in 1933. By reading their essays, this paper aims to grasp how the island emerged as the peculiar space where female passions could be projected. The paper examines the contrasting perspectives of islands as both isolated and connected spaces, analyzing ethnological and geographical viewpoints. Focusing on the influx of visitors to Izu Oshima during the 1930s, particularly after a series of suicides at Mt. Mihara, it discusses how media sensationalism contributed to the island’s portrayal as a “place of death.” Through the travelogues of Akiko Yosano and Fumiko Hayashi, the essay reveals their interpretations of Oshima’s landscape and its association with death. Yosano romanticizes the island’s scenery and links it to notions of Japanese identity and exoticism, while Hayashi’s narrative reflects a more somber exploration of mortality and sympathetic connection to the island. Ultimately, the essay suggests that islands serve as symbolic spaces for projecting desires and emotions, embodying both nostalgia and a longing for somewhere.