Get to know the inhabitants of a tiny Japanese island—and their unusual stories and secrets—through this fascinating, intimate collection of portraits.

When American journalist Amy Chavez moved to the tiny island of Shiraishi (population 430), she rented a house from an elderly woman named Eiko, who left many of her most cherished possessions in the house—including a portrait of Emperor Hirohito and a family altar bearing the spirit tablet of her late husband.

Why did she abandon these things? And why did her tombstone later bear the name of a daughter no one knew? These are just some of the mysteries Amy pursues as she explores the lives of Shiraishi's elusive residents.

The 35 revealing accounts in this book include:

• The story of 40-year-old fisherman Hiro, one of two octopus hunters left on the island, whose brother died tragically in a boating accident
• A friendly Buddhist priest, now in his eighties, who reflects on his childhood during the war years, witnessing fighter pilots readying themselves to die, and the ever-present, gnawing hunger he felt
• A "pufferfish widow," so named because her husband died after accidentally eating a poisonous pufferfish.
• A tombstone maker's wife, 85, recalls what it was like to arrive on Shiraishi for the first time to marry a man she had never met before

Interspersed with the author's reflections on her own life on the island, these stories paint an evocative picture of the dramatic changes which have taken place in Japanese society across nearly a century. Fascinating insights into local superstitions and folklore, memories of the war and the bombing of nearby Hiroshima, and of Shiraishi's heyday as a resort in the 1960s and 70s are interspersed with accounts of common modern-day problems like the collapse of the local economy and a rapidly-aging community which has fewer residents each year.