May 21, 2002

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to report some results of Mr. Naoki Ishikawa (referred as Naoki) and his having brought two TV film teams from Japan to Yap and Woleai in 2001.

The TV Asahi director Mr. HT came to Yap and Woleai in November 2001 accompanying Naoki in search of scenes that would show Naoki truly becoming a navigator. However, after intensive debate, the company and Mr. HT decided not to televise any film they had shot from Yap and Woleai with Naoki, so that their sincereness as TV reporters would be maintained. I greatly appreciate their courageous decision.

On the other hand, the TBS BS-i team, which was led by the coordinator Ms. Shinobu Katayama and the director Mr. Naoyuki Kubo and came in Yap and Woleai in December 2001, completed their program. Then it was put on the air on February 8^th, 2002.

It was hard for me to get a copy of the TBS BS-i product because it was made for digital broadcasting, which required a digital TV set that had not yet come into popular use in the ordinary Japanese household. Fortunately, a friend of mine could get it through catching the program’s rebroadcast in a cable TV station.

http://straightree.com

The overall impression of the program of TBS BS-i was hollow and incoherent. Furthermore, it was deceptive: despite the program was announced to be a documentary, many of the scenes in the film were accompanied with incorrect or makeup stories and some scenes were insulting for the local community. All of which prove that this product could never be a documentary. However, most of the ordinary viewers in Japan would believe what they saw and heard in the program was true because of the real impactive pictures from Yap and Woleai.

The reasons that caused this situation were:

Sincerely,

Su Mitsue Yasui

Nature’s Way

Title: Adventure Special, Heart of the Earth

Subtitle: Ancient Navigation Technique for future

Some Information from the credit line (actually came in last of the film):

Director Mr. Naoyuki Kubo

Coordinator Ms. Shinobu Katayama

Supervisor Mr. Kiyoto Shaku

Cooperation FSM Embassy in Tokyo

Yap Visitors Bureau

YAMAHA Music Company

### Ms. Shinobu Katayama must have been paid well for her coordination of the filming. Mr. Shaku’s listing here indicates that most likely he had got enough paid for his ‘supervision’ even he did not come to Yap with the crew. Because Ms. Yukiyo Nakamura (referred to Yukiyo), one of the “performers”, is a YAMAHA Music’s contracted musician, YAMAHA was listed here and you will see YAMAHA’s logo clearly here and there in the film. While, FSM Embassy and YVB’s listing here gave viewers a sense of authority, but no monetary compensation were involved despite their innocent cooperation.

The program started with some pictures of “adventurers” and “discoverers” in the past. Then Naoki was introduced, by video insertion, as one of the adventurers who climbed the highest peaks of the seven continents, who was one of the eager students of the great Micronesian navigators, and who in the future was to become a navigator himself.

Four Japanese “adventurers”, Mr. Kenji Banba, Ms. Yumiko Okubo, Mr. Ken Hara and Ms. Junko Tabei, were brought into the studio. Their “adventures” (climbing, sailing and flying) were introduced by video insertion. Then they started talking about their own adventures and motivations ramblingly.

Their trip story started from the airport in Japan (Narita), the airport in Yap, Colonia town then the scene moved to the zero fighter near Old Airport, which belongs to Mr. AR.

### Advanced approval from the municipal chief was in doubt.

The scene moved into under the water. A manta was shot from the front and the back.

### Advanced approval from the municipal chief was in doubt.

The scene moved to the stick dance from Maaq Village, Tomil.

### Please look carefully. Naoki was wearing a piece of blue loincloth (in outer island style) and Yukiyo was wearing lava lava! Even you cannot confirm the scene, many people had witnessed their costumes on that day.

### They went to Maaq village on December 16^th, Sunday. Some children (dancers) later reported to their parents that they had danced for “Japanese Ambassador”. They believed the TV team must have been some VIPs because they came with a police car!

### Advanced approval from the municipal chief was in doubt.

They flied to Woleai. When Yukiyo came out on the runway, the narrator said, “Except for emergency evacuation, there were only several flights in a year connecting this island to outside. This was why many curious people gathered and kept gazing at her quietly from a distance, which made Ms. Nakamura perplexed.”

The meeting in the canoe house, then Christina was introduced. Naoki showed how to use the flush toilet in the community center. He demonstrated how to wear a loincloth.

At the meal, the camera emphasized on the flies on Yukiyo’s plate. The narrator mentioned her hesitation of eating the food covered by flies. She also hesitated to eat by fingers. Finally she ate, biting directly on the fish!

### Japanese eat food by chopsticks and Micronesians eat food by fingers. There is nothing right and wrong. However, the eating habit is a culture and each them have its proper manner, which must be respected. If the filmmakers had any sense of respect, they wouldn’t let her bite on the fish directly, which would make both the Japanese and the Micronesian viewers uncomfortable to see.

***** Rubbish conversation in the studio *****

In the morning, Naoki and Yukiyo were going into the water. The narrator said there were no toilet on the island, which was contradiction to the previous scene showing the flush toilet in the community center. The camera gave a long shot to a young girl’s wet skirt and legs standing in the water.

Yukiyo played her instrument in (or almost in) the canoe house where no woman supposed to come close. The honorable faces of the chiefs were closely shot so that they could look admiring her performance.

***** Rubbish conversation in the studio *****

Naoki explained the parts and names of the canoe on Woleai beach.

Naoki and Yukiyo appeared on an imitation canoe set in a studio. On it Naoki started lecturing about Micronesian navigation techniques with the help of some images. Suddenly a cartoonish figure, which exactly looked like a monkey-man’s sculpture, popped up from the water then declared, “I am TO-KO-BE-I, God of Micronesia! The people call me TO-KO-BE-I and respect me. Now I will teach you the nature and the navigation!”

One of the southwest islands in Republic of Palau now commonly called Tobi used to be called as Tokobei by the Japanese. According to Dr. Donald H. Rubinstein from the University of Guam, “Tokobei is the Japanized pronunciation of the island’s original name Hatahobei. Tobi is the Americanized pronunciation, which has caught on and is in current use.” (Rubinstein, D. H. Personal Communication May 2002)

During the Japanese time in Micronesia, the local children were taught in schools to carve and weave some handicrafts for the Japanese market. Some old people in Yap could recall that they were taught to carve monkey-man sculptures. In an old Japanese documentary film, which was shot mostly in Yap and Palau around the year 1932, a Japanese man was asking for a “Tokobei” from a Yapese man. He clearly pronounced as Tokobei and meant it for a monkey-man sculpture. From these facts, we could guess that the Japanese used to call the monkey-man sculpture Tokobei and carving monkey-man sculptures were widely spread in Micronesia by the Japanese. But the origin of the naming and the model of the sculpture are not clearly known. Dr. Rubinstein continued, “the carvings themselves are called san or by an older local term, something like liroch which refers to carved images in general. The southwest islanders speak a language quite different from Palauan, but closely related to the Fais-Ulithi language.” (Rubinstein, D. H. Personal Communication May 2002)

Dr. Rubinstein answered, “Perhaps, One old woman from Hatahobei, I interviewed some years ago, recalled that there was a spirit house on Hatahobei when she was a child (that would have been in the first decade of 20th century). Inside the spirit house was a carved wooden figure about 60 cm (2 feet) in height, which she said resembled the modern monkey men. So it is possible that today's carvings are made-for-export tourist art pieces originally modeled on a figural carving that once had sacred significance. But I can't confirm that.” (Rubinstein, D. H. Personal Communication May 2002)

Then, do you think Tokobei, the Japanese-named monkey-man sculpture, symbolizes a god or spirit for the Micronesians? Do you respect it anyway?

Dr. Akimichi standing in front of Che-che-me-ni commented that the existence and the imagination lived together in Micronesian navigation.

The narrator said, “When you master the star compass, it’s time for you sail out to the great sea!”

***** Rubbish conversation in the studio *****

Naoki was included to the tuna fishing to out reef by canoe (as though the people really planned it by themselves!)

When the canoe came back from the “fishing”, Yukiyo was waiting Naoki among the other men on the beach and she gestured exaggeratedly her disappointment for no fish!

Finally Naoki and Yukiyo left Woleai.

### Naoki, Yukiyo and her manager left Woleai on December 21^st, 2001.

### What for the rest of the crew remained in Woleai until December 26^th? Just to get the scene of PMA taking off with Naoki and Yukiyo?

Naoki was communicating with the Japanese children through satellite.

### The children from Woleai did not look joining and enjoying while Naoki was playing on his computer. This was not mutual communication.

Mr. Ukyo Katayama was introduced as a car racer and some Japanese children tried climbing on imitation rocks.

### I don’t understand what did this scene mean. Anyway Mr. Katayama could get paid from this, good for him.

Yukiyo played her composition.

The End

January 19^th and 20^th, 2002 in Osaka

Introduction

Introduction

Naoki demonstrated how to wear lava lava and how to wear loincloth.

Questions and answers. Naoki proved his ignorance in this field through many incorrect or not proper answers.