Obama: The Rise and Decline of a Seaport

Abstract

O BAMA 'H\A today is a sleepy small port, located on the southern fringe of an inlet in Wakasa Bay on the Sea of Japan, with a population of about 35,000.1 As it is one of the coastal cities in Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region, its residents still partly rely on marine resources for their livelihood. But in recent years, they have diversified their employment by seeking other economic activities to improve their standard of living. Thus Obama now serves as a regional base for a variety of small-scale manufacturing and processing activities, including electronics, synthetic textiles, chemicals, machinery, and marine-food processing. These modern industries, together with a growing tourist trade, take advantage of the city's location. Obama is blessed with a fine natural harbor located within an inlet offering sheltered anchorage. Despite its current obscurity, the city was once a prosperous port for domestic and foreign ships, which, loaded with precious cargos, called in during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. These visits played a significant role in the development of Japan's economy at that time. For one thing, this maritime trade facilitated the growth of a national market; Obama became a regional center for the collection and distribution of long-distance commerce, and linked the hinterland on the Sea of Japan and Hokkaido with the central market in the Kyoto region. Not unlike Sakai and Hakata, Obama also served as an alternative port of call for ships from Korea, China, and, occasionally, seaports located in southeast Asia. It was also a launching ground for its maritime traders and their fleets that sailed between Japanese and foreign ports. Obama thus played a key role in Japan's integration into a large zone of trade in coastal Asia. Western historians have hardly noticed Obama's existence or recognized its historical importance in the development of Japanese society. There are various reasons for this scholarly neglect. First, the port is located in the ura nihon