Tokunoshima Island has a unique landscape carved by the waves. Tokunoshima is a remote island located almost in the middle of the Amami Archipelago in Kagoshima Prefecture and consists of three towns: Amagi Town, Isen Town and Tokunoshima Town. With an area of approximately 248㎢ and a population of around 20,000, it is the second largest island in the archipelago and was inscribed as a World Natural Heritage Site in 2021, along with Amami Oshima, North Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island, and is home to many endemic species, notably the endangered Amami rabbit.

One of the most distinctive features of Tokunoshima, even from a global perspective, is that it has maintained a ‘culture of coexistence with cattle’ for 500 years. Bullfighting’ is a traditional culture representative of Tokunoshima, and the daily routine of children running around with bulls is also a unique tradition.

The island is also famous for its sporting activities, and the Tokunoshima Triathlon is a major island-wide event. Marathon runner Naoko Takahashi uses the island as a pre-Olympic training camp because of its warm climate, low traffic and hilly terrain, and the road is called ‘Naoko Road’.

On such an ‘island of sport’ there is a road where you can hear the sound of many footsteps. When I look at this road, it makes me think about my own way of life, which is an exaggeration.

Do I live my life as straight as this clean and clear road, or do I go where I have to go, whether up or down? This is the kind of road where you are corrected in the way you go through life.

Just as a bull rushes forward and fights, I, who walk this road in Tokunoshima, am also corrected in my dignity to live straight.