The Womam who Carves Boats: Preserving Okinawa’s Sabani Tradition
- Evangelia Papoutsaki
- Mar 22
- 2 min read
Sabani are slender wooden fishing boats designed for the shallow waters of #Okinawa’s coral reefs. During my stay on #Iriomote Island, where I was generously hosted by colleagues, I met Kyoko Kunioka—the first female sabani carver. She invited us to her home, where her yard doubles as her workshop. Building a single sabani takes her up to six months, she explained—a labor of love, patience, and meticulous craftsmanship. We experienced that craftsmanship during a sail with her.
Kyoko-san learned the craft from #HiroshiShinjo, a master boatbuilder born on #Ikema Island in Okinawa’s #Miyako archipelago. There, the sabani is known as suuni, distinguished by its sharp, knife-like bow, designed to slice through waves. After attending one of Shinjo-san’s workshops, Kyoko-san was captivated. Though she had studied woodcarving in university, it was the sabani’s performance on the water that truly drew her in.
Under Shinjo-san’s guidance, she immersed herself in the craft. For him, passing on the tradition was urgent—even to an outsider, and especially to a woman. Along the way, he shared stories of his island youth, the spirit of the island, and the ancestral wisdom woven into the suuni’s design. Shinjo-san passed away in 2023 at 96, leaving Kyoko with a final piece of advice: “Make a boat that fits the times.”
Kyoko-san’s talents extend beyond boat-building. Eager to share her passion with younger generations, she designed #Suuni, a bilingual children’s book that illustrates the boat’s construction process. Its vertical fold-out design creatively mirrors the sabani’s elongated form—a detail I loved!
While #canoecarving across the #Pacific has historically been male-dominated, a shift is underway. More women are stepping into roles as carvers, apprentices, and project managers. This evolution reflects broader changes in traditional practices:
Community Roles: In many Pacific cultures, canoe building was a communal effort, with men typically crafting hulls and rigging while women made sails and contributed in other ways
Shifting Dynamics - Women’s skills are increasingly recognized as vital to preserving and revitalizing traditional boatbuilding;
Revival Efforts - Organizations like 350 Pacific are empowering young islanders to learn these crafts, linking cultural preservation with climate awareness;
Breaking Barriers - In one striking example, an all-female crew sailed 1,000 miles in a traditional voyaging canoe to advocate for humpback whales.
Kyoko-san’s work embodies this progress—honoring tradition while steering it toward a more inclusive future. I felt lucky to have met her, what are the chances of meeting the first female sabani carver??!!
Aoi Sugimoto thank you for the introduction, Migiwa Ozawa thank you for jumping on that sabani to sail, and Kyoko Kunioka may you continue inspiring others in taking the craftmanship to the future and in ways that “fits the times” as Shinjo-san wished.
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