En 11 October 2023
A new place to live
On the North coast of the island of Amami Oshima, facing out to the East China Sea is the small village of En. Since I am likely to be here for a little while, I should give it a proper introduction.
En’s inhabitants, or “Encchu” in the local language, seem pretty clear that their village is called “En”, but many islanders seem to think otherwise. Witness today’s conversation on the bus home:
Driver: doko made [where to?]
Me: En
Driver: Yen?
Me: Hai
This reminds me of something I had not appreciated before coming to Japan. The currency we call “yen”, with the international symbol ￥ is here pronounced “en”. Wikipedia suggests to me that the pronunciation “yen” was an older which we borrowed into English and never updated to track modern Japanese speech where “ye” became “e”. Perhaps the same process is at work here and the rest of the island simply hasn’t caught up.
There are many things I do not know about En. It seems to have escaped the notice of the great and the powerful so that little has been written about it, still less in English. I am left to rely on word of mouth. Now while my rudimentary Japanese is up to such basic phrases as: “I am taking my dog for a walk”; “yes, my dog has escaped and I am looking for her”; and “thank you for capturing my dog for me”; I am still fairly limited in the kinds of questions I can ask about local history.
En is small — perhaps only 50 people live here — and compact. It is said the houses are so close together you know what your neighbours are having for dinner. the compactness is not just because there is little space between the sea and the mountains, but because outside the village live the habu, the most dangerous snake in Japan to be found only in a a few islands from here to Okinawa. Keeping an area clear of undergrowth is essential if you want to avoid the possibility of running into a habu and then a quick visit to a hospital.
En’s main claim to fame is the Kaganbana tunnel through which you can see the Sun set around the Autumn Equinox. Even at other times, it is a beautiful sight at sunset. I often see people gathered at an observation point to photograph themselves or loved ones with it as a backdrop.
The kanji for En is 円, simplified from the old Chinese character 圓 which reprsented something circular in shape and, presumably because coins were also circular, currency.
If you are a keen science fiction fan, or have an interest in ships of the world, you may also recognise that 円 is used on many Japanese ships, though this time pronounced “maru”. As fans will recall, Kobayashi Maru situation was a no-win scenario designed by Starfleet to test its cadest. Captain James T. Kirk being the only person to have successfully completed it, albeit by cheating.
I said before that En has been neglected by the powerful and few outsiders visit. That is their misfortune. It is one of the friendliest places I have ever lived as I hope to tell you over the next few months.