Abstract
In previous studies on the Yaeyama Islands, it was assumed that the desertion of villages during the modern age was mostly due to a decrease in poplulation caused by malaria. On the other hand, there are villages such as Sonai that have been sustained for more than 500 years on Iriomote Island despite major malaria epidemics. This article examines the factors contributing to the survival of a village by analyzing the characteristics shared by malaria-prevalent villages that survived the period from 1900 through 1938 when many villages in Yaeyama were deserted. It was found that all the villages that had survived on the Yaeyama Islands were old ones built before Sai On's time except for Ibaruma village, the origins of which are obscure. Those old villages were blessed with favorable geographic conditions such as good seaports and spring water that contributed to the improvement of the local infrastructure and thus were thought to have sustained their populations despite unreasonable taxes imposed by local administrators. By comparing the rates of village desertion and prevalence of malaria between Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands during that time, it became clear that the latter had more effective malaria control. After examining the case of Sonai village, where sufficient materials are available, it was found that its residents were voluntarily moving as well as making a full commitment to the malaria prevention project. An old village such as Sonai had strong bonds within the community to avoid the risk of population decrease, and it was the social structure based on this type of human relationships that underpinned the creation of strategies for alleviating malaria epidemics and sustaining the village.
