The Pacific Islands You Don’t Normally See

Take a look at Okinawa on a map using your smartphone and you might only see a vast ocean at first glance, but what happens when you zoom in closer?
You might be surprised to find a large collection of islands pop up one after another in a space you thought was nothing but ocean. Doesn’t it remind you of stars shining in the night sky?

They look so small on a map you might think they’re empty and uninhabited, but rest assured that people are living on these islands too.

So where did these people come from? It’s said they came from Taiwan about 5,000 years ago, riding small log canoes with sights on horizons yet unseen. They sought to develop the small islands and once they built up the area and the population grew on one island, they moved on to the next. That’s the story of how the Pacific Islands came to be.

The Oceanic Culture Museum has 750 displays related to the Pacific islanders and we selected a few we thought were real “treasures”. Why don’t you go on a treasure hunt with this map? By listening to this guide, we hope you can gain a deeper understanding of the islanders and what they treasured in their hearts.

It isn’t only the treasure hunt, but the meaning behind it that is important.

Maybe you will discover what “treasure” means to you.