American Village

This guide to American Village in Chatan traces how the pastel boardwalk and sunset-facing shops sit on ground that was open sea within living memory, reaching back to Jomon-era shorelines and a farming town swallowed by military bases after the 1945 landings. It follows the landfill project that began rebuilding this shore in the late 1980s, and how much of Chatan still sits behind base fences today. Listen for it while walking the boardwalk toward Sunset Beach.