is an

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...

, part of the municipality of

Kasaoka is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1952. The municipal district also includes 31 outlying islands including seven inhabited islands in the Kasaoka Islands group. As of February 28, 2017, the city ...

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

, Japan. The island has an area of and is one of the seven inhabited islands of the Kasaoka Islands group. The island's main commercial activity is fishing. The island has come to international prominence due to its location as a film set and as the subject of a graphic narrative "Manabe Shima, Island Japan" by illustrator Florent Chavouet first published in France in 2010.

Geography

The island is by boat from the main Japanese island of Honshū. The island has few roads, but in the face of rural depopulation and downward demographic trends, has managed to retain both its elementary and junior high school. The island features sandy beaches and a mild year round climate.

is the closest ferry port. In 2016, key locations on the island were documented on

Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since exp ...

with a backpack mounted camera.

Culture

Manabeshima was the setting for the 1984 film

MacArthur's Children is a 1984 Japanese film. Describing the impact of the United States' occupation of Japan from the perspective of the inhabitants of a small, rural island community, the film featured the big screen debut of actor Ken Watanabe. The film was selec ...

, describing the impact of the United States'

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States ...

from the perspective of the inhabitants of a small island community. The film featured the feature film debut of actor

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nomin ...

starring alongside

Masako Natsume was a Japanese actress from Tokyo. Widely popular in Japan, she gained worldwide recognition for her portrayal of Tripitaka in the TV series ''Monkey,'' which is now considered a cult classic. Biography Masako was born Masako Odate in Shibuy ...

and

Shima Iwashita is a Japanese actress who has appeared in about 100 films and many TV productions. She is married to film director Masahiro Shinoda, in whose films she has frequently appeared. She won the award for best actress at the 2nd Hochi Film Award for h ...

. In 2010, French cartoonist Florent Chavouet, published a travel book entitled « Manabe Shima » dedicated to the island and its inhabitants.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Okayama Prefecture Kasaoka, Okayama Islands of the Seto Inland Sea

Geography

Culture

See also

References