【Exhibition ended】“The Small, Strange World Below Your Feet” Exhibit Travels the Four Oki Islands

From August to December 2024, the Geopark Management Bureau hosted a temporary exhibit on each of the four Oki Islands. Visitors used a loupe to observe the strange world that people are normally unaware of, despite how close it is to us in the environment beneath our feet. During the exhibition period, people from all over came to hear the guided tour by Hajime Fukaya, a representative of Oki Shizen Mura, the body that devised the exhibit. 

The aim was to draw out observers interest in nature, connect it to their growing awareness of it, and reinforce their visceral understanding of nature conservation by educating them on the role played by creatures close to home, such as pill bugs and Komadara–usubakagerou antlions (Gatzara jezoensis), and the surprising depth that nature possesses. 

There were also food wrapper plant (Mallotus japonicus) and Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) specimens on display to show the symbiotic relationship of extrafloral nectaries and ants. 

In addition to this, the exhibition outlined a threat occurring in the natural world—the current state of microplastics in the Oki Islands—and reinforced the importance of taking an interest in the world around us. 

Visitors gained awareness of environmental conservation not just by looking at exhibits, but also through a hands-on section. Microplastics that build up in the soil get washed away into rivers by rain and carried downstream to the sea, where they are ingested by marine life. The ones who eat them are us humans. Issues of the environment are not someone else’s problem; they’re our own problem, and it’s important for us to recognize them as such. 

Even on the lush green Oki Islands, we must grasp the changes that are starting to occur in tiny ecosystems that usually do not draw our attention, and we must all keep conservation in the back of our minds. 

【Exhibition Period】 

・Ama Town: August 1–August 28 (Entô) 

・Okinoshima Town: September 4–September 29 (free space in front of Oki Islands Geopark Museum) 

・Nishinoshima Town: October 2–29 (Nishinoshima Furusato-kan Museum) 

・Chibu Village: November 12–December 11 (Exchange Space, Chibu Village Library)