Abstract
Interactive perspectives to see the island world from the sea, and to see the ocean from the island are proposed as a new approach in the study of island history and culture. Special emphasis is paid to entry rights and territoriality in fishing. Examples are provided from the author's field research in Micronesia, Indonesia and Japan.
In modern Japan, agreements over entry rights are documented between fishermen coming from the outside and those who accept them as their counterparts. These agreements are often based on customary practices during back to feudal periods. However, territorial claims by local fishermen to exclude outsiders from claimed sea space has also been guaranteed. The existence of privileged fishermen who can use extensive sea areas for fishing among contemporary Itoman fishermen and ama-divers during historic periods (12 and 15 centuries) clearly demonstrates the top-down organization of political authority. In Japan, these formal aspects are a key to an understanding of modern Japanese fisheries. Double standards applied to incoming fishermen in the Kai Islands of eastern Indonesia suggest changing perceptions of the postwar modernization of fishing. Historical transformations in the practices of entry rights and territoriality thus reveal the dynamic aspects of the study of island-sea interactions.
