Japan has long faced numerous political challenges along its borders. Yet, they have not been given due attention as national issues. The Japan International Border Studies Network�E�EIBSN�E�was established in November 2011 as a network of researchers and practitioners involved in borderlands issues. One of its key missions is to represent the hitherto unheard voices of those in border areas vis-à-vis national policy-makers.

This article looks at the main Izumo myths found in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Chronicles) from the perspective of the sea. It discusses how the sea gods in the Yamata no Orochi myth, the Hare of Inaba myth, the Ne no Katasukuni myth, and the Go Shozan Engi myth were deeply connected with on-land agricultural life, how myths from the South Pacific came to Izumo, and how Izumo's mythical universe depends on a maritime base.

On February 4th 1868, one month after the opening of Kobe to the world, samurai from the Bizen domain clashed with foreign troops in Kobe, though without fatalities. Imperial envoy Michitomi Higashikuze met with foreign representatives at the Unjo-syo, which later changed to Kobe Custom House, where he announced the regime change in the Japanese government and the new government's Peace and Amity policy. He also apologized for the incident and promised that those responsible would be punished. The Bizen samurai leader took responsibility for the incident by committing ritual suicide. This is the so-called Kobe Incident. It is almost unknown that this was the first act of diplomacy by the Meiji restoration government and that a crisis was averted by a samurai's death.