View source for Sakishima Islands

{{Short description|Archipelago within the Ryukyu Islands}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2009}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Sakishima Islands
| native_name      = {{unbulleted list|先島諸島 (Sakishima-shotō)|先島群島 (Sakishima-guntō)|Sachishima (Okinawan)|Saksїzїma (Miyako)|Sakїzїma (Yaeyama)|Satichima (Yonaguni)}}
| image_name       = Sakashima-Guntō.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| image_caption    = Map of the Sakishima Islands (Yonaguni Island not shown)
| image_alt        = 
| map              = Japan Ryukyu Islands
| map_alt          = 
| map_width        = 
| map_caption      = 
| map_relief       = yes
| label            = Sakishima Islands
| label_position   = 
| coordinates      = {{coord|24.709652|N|124.388477|E|display=it|region:JP-47_type:isle}}
| etymology        = 
| location         = Between the southern border of the [[East China Sea]] and northwestern border of the [[Philippine Sea]]
| archipelago      = [[Japanese Archipelago]]
| waterbody        = 
| total_islands    = 44 (20 inhabited)
| major_islands    = {{unbulleted list|[[Iriomote-jima|Iriomote]]|[[Ishigaki Island|Ishigaki]]|[[Miyako-jima|Miyako]]}}
| area_km2         = 818.45
| area_footnotes   = <ref name="area">{{cite web|url=http://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000064535.pdf|script-title=ja:平成22年 全国都道府県市区町村別面積調|trans-title=2010 National Administrative Divisions Area Measurements Key|date=2010|publisher=[[Geospatial Information Authority of Japan]]|access-date=January 26, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515084250/http://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000064535.pdf|archive-date=May 15, 2012|language=ja}}</ref>
| length_km        = <!-- or |length_m=  -->
| length_footnotes = 
| width_km         = <!-- or |width_m=  -->
| width_footnotes  =
| coastline_km     = <!-- or |coastline_m=  -->
| coastline_footnotes = 
| elevation_m      = 526.0
| elevation_footnotes = 
| highest_mount    = [[Mount Omoto]]
| country          = Japan
| country_admin_divisions_title      = Prefecture
| country_admin_divisions            = [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1    = Municipalities
| country_admin_divisions_1          = {{unbulleted list|[[Miyakojima, Okinawa|Miyakojima]]|[[Ishigaki, Okinawa|Ishigaki]]|[[Miyako District, Okinawa|Miyako District]] ([[Tarama, Okinawa|Tarama]])|[[Yaeyama District, Okinawa|Yaeyama District]] ([[Taketomi, Okinawa|Taketomi]], [[Yonaguni, Okinawa|Yonaguni]])}}
| country_largest_city_type          = city
| country_largest_city               = [[Miyakojima, Okinawa|Miyakojima]]
| country_largest_city_population    = 54,931 (2020)
| population       = 107,244
| population_as_of = October 1, 2020
| population_footnotes = <ref name="population">{{cite web|script-title=ja:平成22年国勢調査確報値 沖縄県の人口、世帯、住居|trans-title=2010 National Census Confirmed Population Data Values for Okinawa Prefecture, Households, Dwellings|date=2010|language=ja|publisher=Okinawa Prefecture Planning Department Statistics Division}}</ref>
| density_km2      = 131.0
| density_footnotes = <ref name="population"/>
| languages        = [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| ethnic_groups    = [[Japanese people|Japanese]], [[Ryukyuan people|Ryukyuan]]
| timezone1        = [[Japan Standard Time|JST]]
| utc_offset1      = +9
| timezone1_DST    = not observed
| utc_offset1_DST  = +9
}}
[[File:Sakishima Islands ISS039.jpg|250px|thumb|View of the Sakishima Islands from the [[International Space Station|ISS]]]]
The {{nihongo|'''Sakishima Islands'''|先島諸島 / 先島群島|Sakishima-shotō / Sakishima-guntō|lead=yes|extra={{langx|ryu|Sachishima}}; {{langx|mvi|Saksїzїma}}; {{langx|rys|Sakїzїma}}; {{langx|yoi|Satichima}}}} are an archipelago located at the southernmost end of the [[Japanese Archipelago]]. They are part of the [[Ryukyu Islands]] and include the [[Miyako Islands]] and the [[Yaeyama Islands]]. The islands are administered as part of [[Okinawa Prefecture]], [[Japan]].

==Inhabited islands==
'''Sakishima Islands'''
*[[Miyako Islands]] (former [[Miyako Subprefecture]])
**[[File:Flag of Miyakojima, Okinawa.svg|border|22px]] [[Miyakojima, Okinawa|Miyakojima City]]
***[[Ikemajima|Ikema Island]] (''Ikema-jima'')
***[[Irabu Island]] (''Irabu-jima'')
***[[Kurimajima|Kurima Island]] (''Kurima-jima'')
***[[Miyako-jima|Miyako Island]] (''Miyako-jima'')
***[[Ogami Island|Ōgami Island]] (''Ōgami-jima'')
***[[Shimojishima|Shimoji Island]] (''Shimoji-shima'')
**[[File:Flag of Tarama, Okinawa.svg|border|22px]] [[Tarama, Okinawa|Tarama Village]]
***Tarama Island (''Tarama-jima'')
***[[Minnajima (Tarama, Okinawa)|Minna Island]] (''Minna-jima'')
*[[Yaeyama Islands]] (former [[Yaeyama Subprefecture]])
**[[File:Flag of Ishigaki, Okinawa.svg|border|22px]] [[Ishigaki, Okinawa|Ishigaki City]]
***[[Ishigaki Island]] (''Ishigaki-jima'')
**[[File:Flag of Taketomi, Okinawa.svg|border|22px]] [[Taketomi, Okinawa|Taketomi Town]]
***[[Aragusuku Islands|Aragusuku Island]] (''Aragusuku-jima'')
***[[Hateruma|Hateruma Island]] (''Hateruma-jima'')
***[[Iriomote|Iriomote Island]] (''Iriomote-jima'')
***[[Kohamajima|Kohama Island]] (''Kohama-jima'')
***[[Kuroshima, Taketomi, Okinawa|Kuroshima Island]] (''Kuroshima'')
***[[Taketomi|Taketomi Island]] (''Taketomi-jima'')
***[[Yubu Island]] (''Yubu-jima'')
**[[File:Flag of Yonaguni, Okinawa.svg|border|22px]] [[Yonaguni, Okinawa|Yonaguni Town]]
***[[Yonaguni|Yonaguni Island]] (''Yonaguni-jima'')

{{Gallery
| mode = nolines
| align = center
 | Miyako ikema bridge.JPG|Ikema Bridge, between [[Miyako-jima|Miyako]] and [[Ikemajima|Ikema]]
 | Shimojijima-airport.jpg|[[Shimojishima|Shimoji]]
 | Tarama.JPG|[[Tarama, Okinawa|Tarama]]
 | Kabira Bay Ishigaki Island39bs3s4500.jpg|[[Ishigaki Island|Ishigaki]]
 | Village in Taketomi Island - located at southwest Japan.jpg|[[Taketomi]]
 | 黒島Img499.jpg|[[Kuroshima, Taketomi, Okinawa|Kuroshima]]
 | Funauki iriomote island.jpg|[[Iriomote]]
 | Yonaguni agarizaki.jpg|[[Yonaguni]]
}}

==History==
The Sakishima Islands were first documented in the ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'' (797), which says that in 714 {{nihongo|Ō no Ason Okeji|太朝臣遠建治}} paid tribute to [[Dazaifu, Fukuoka|Dazaifu]] with 52 islanders from {{nihongo|''[[Amami Ōshima|Amami]]''|奄美}}, {{nihongo|''Shigaki''|信覚}}, {{nihongo|''Kumi''|球美}} and other islands. ''Shigaki'' is believed to be the current {{nihongo|[[Ishigaki Island|Ishigaki]]|石垣}}, ''Kumi'' to be the current {{nihongo|[[Kumejima Island|Kume]]|久米}} or {{nihongo|Komi|古見}} settlement of [[Iriomote]].<ref name="shimoji2008">Shimoji Kazuhiro 下地和宏, ''Tōji bōeki to Miyako'' 陶磁交易と宮古, Nichiryū bōeki no reimei 日琉交易の黎明, pp. 327–346, 2008.</ref> The ''[[History of Yuan]]'' (1370) documented a castaway from ''Mìyágǔ'' (密牙古) arrived to [[Wenzhou]] in 1317. This is believed to be the first documentation of {{nihongo|[[Miyako-jima|Miyako]]|宮古}}.<ref name="shimoji2008"/>

Stone tools and shell tools from 2,500 years ago have been excavated from [[Midden|shell mounds]] on the Sakishima Islands. Shell tools of the same era are also found in [[Taiwan]] and the [[Philippines]], but not on [[Okinawa Island]] or Amami. Thus those islands are thought to have had a stronger or closer cultural relationship with Taiwan, the Philippines, and other regions which are [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]-speaking.

Local earthenware was made beginning in the 11th century. Many local leaders, known as ''[[Aji (Ryukyu)|aji]]'', appeared in the 15th century. At the same time, the political authorities on Okinawa saw the outlying islands as useful stopping points along a maritime trade route, and gradually enhanced their influence. {{nihongo|Yohanashiidu Tuyumya|与那覇勢頭豊見親}} unified Miyako in 1365, and paid tribute to [[Satto]], the king of the [[Chūzan]] kingdom of Okinawa.

===Ryukyuan control===
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2018}}
In 1500, {{nihongo|[[Oyake Akahachi]]|遠弥計赤蜂 or 於屋計赤蜂}}, ''Aji'' of Ishigaki, unified most of the [[Yaeyama Islands]] and rose up in resistance against the [[Ryukyu Kingdom]] by refusing to pay further tribute. As he was planning to invade Miyako, {{nihongo|Nakasone Tuyumya|仲宗根豊見親}}, ''Aji'' of Miyako, discovered the plan and launched a preemptive invasion of the Yaeyama Islands. Oyake Akahachi was defeated at [[Furusutobaru Castle]], and Nakasone Tuyumya went on to conquer [[Yonaguni]]. King [[Shō Shin]] of Ryukyu responded to the initial rebellion by sending troops, but they arrived at Miyako after most of the fighting had ended. The [[Military of the Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryukyuan army]] consisted of 3,000 soldiers and 100 ships; Nakasone Tuyumya chose to surrender instead of fighting, handing over all of the Sakishima Islands to Ryukyu.

The [[Shimazu clan]] of the Japanese [[han (administrative division)|feudal domain]] of [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] invaded the kingdom during the 1609 [[Invasion of Ryukyu]]. Satsuma was able to capture [[Shuri Castle]] and King [[Shō Nei]] by early May, then sent a message to the Sakishima Islands demanding their surrender, which they complied with. In the following centuries of vassalage to Satsuma, the Ryukyuan government was placed under extreme tax pressure, and instituted a heavy [[Tax per head|poll tax]] in the Sakishima Islands. As a result of the extreme economic conditions, [[infanticide]] and other methods of population control became common, as they did throughout the Ryukyu Islands; remains of the sites where this took place can still be found throughout the Sakishima Islands. Yaeyama islanders were taxed even more heavily than those of Miyako, as the rebel Oyake Akahachi was from Yaeyama. The kingdom prohibited migration of islanders, isolating them to prevent group resistance. The [[1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami|Yaeyama earthquake]]<!--八重山地震--> in 1771 caused a [[tsunami]] which killed 12,000, or a half of the entire Sakishima population. Because the soil was adversely affected by [[Soil salinity|salination]], famines were frequent, and the population of the islands further decreased until the early [[Meiji period]].

===Japanese control===
After the [[Meiji Restoration]], in 1872, the Japanese government unilaterally declared that the Ryukyu Kingdom was then [[Ryukyu Domain]] and began incorporating the islands as a part of Japan. In 1879, after the Ryukyuan government resisted and disobeyed orders from Tokyo, Japan abolished the domain, deposed the king, and established [[Okinawa Prefecture]]. The [[Qing dynasty]] of [[China]], however, opposed the action, claiming sovereignty over the former kingdom. Japan proposed to cede the Sakishima Islands, provided China add "[[most favored nation]]" status of Japan to the [[Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity]]<!--日清修好条規-->. China agreed at first, but after objections from Viceroy [[Li Hongzhang]], the agreement was not made. China effectively conceded its claims to sovereignty over Ryukyu, including the Sakishima Islands, following its defeat by Japan in the [[First Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War]] of 1894–95.

The modernization of Sakishima by the Japanese government was slow compared with Japan or even Okinawa. The heavy poll tax continued until as late as 1903. Meanwhile, the islands, as well as [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]], used [[Japan Standard Time|Western Standard Time]] ([[UTC+8]]) until 1937, 1 hour behind the Central Standard Time of Japan ([[UTC+9]]).

[[File:Yaeyama Islands Notice board in 1945.JPG|thumb|A notice board by the Yaeyama Community Association, December 1945]]

During [[World War II]], there was an air battle waged against the Sakishima Islands' two largest islands that lasted for 82 days in order to neutralize [[Kamikaze]] airfields.<ref>Miyako US and British Military History Ref. Declassified US Naval records and National Archives holdings compiled in "Wings over Sakishima" by Fredio Samples, {{ISBN|978-0-615-39668-2}} Author's permission granted.</ref>  Twenty-five US [[escort carrier]]s, five larger [[fleet carrier]]s with their air groups consisting of fighters and torpedo bombers along with heavy naval patrol bombers and an assortment of [[destroyers]] and [[destroyer escorts]] along with the [[British Pacific Fleet]] bombed, rocketed and fired their guns at runways and other targets daily while the land battle raged [[Battle of Okinawa|on Okinawa]] 175 miles away. This was the least publicized battle for its size that took place involving the Americans and British during the war. The thirty-two thousand seasoned [[Imperial Japanese Army]] (IJA) and [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Naval]] (IJN) troops on Miyako did not surrender until 27 days after Japan formally surrendered. The amount of ordnance expended against the Sakishima Islands may have exceeded the ordnance spent on the island of Iwo Jima. The Sakishima Islands did not suffer a ground invasion during World War II, although a great deal of anti-submarine warfare and convoy battles took place in the waters immediately surrounding the archipelago in the years leading up to the Okinawa campaign. A number of American and Japanese submarines were lost on the approaches to these islands as they formed a vital outlying defense to the Empire's shipping bottlenecks in the Formosa (Taiwan) and Luzon Straits.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

In June 1945, the Japanese government ordered locals to evacuate to northern Ishigaki and Iriomote, where 3,647 of them lost their lives to [[malaria]]. In contrast, air raids killed much fewer: 174. After the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] was defeated on Okinawa later that month, there was a vacuum of military and government control in the Sakishima Islands. Some garrison troops robbed crops from farms or engaged in violence against locals. To counter them, the residents of Ishigaki formed the {{nihongo|Yaeyama Community Association|[[:ja:八重山自治会|八重山自治会]]}}. Since it acted as a temporary local government, some historians later described the association as the {{nihongo|Yaeyama Republic|八重山共和国}}.

===American control===
[[United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands|United States Occupation authorities]] declared the establishment of military rule in December 1945, restoring [[Miyako Subprefecture]] and [[Yaeyama Subprefecture]]. The local association ceased operation. In 1952, the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] confirmed these islands to be under American control. Malaria was eradicated from the island in 1961.  The islands were returned to Japan in 1972, along with the rest of Okinawa Prefecture.

===Today===
Today the Sakishima Islands enjoy a thriving tourist industry. As part of the Sakishima Islands are the [[Senkaku Islands]], which fall under Okinawa Prefecture and Ishigaki City politically. The [[Japanese Self Defense Force]] and [[Japan Coast Guard]] maintain a large presence in the Sakishima Islands.

==Culture==
There are three native languages on the islands; [[Miyako language]] on the Miyako Islands, [[Yonaguni language]] on Yonaguni, and [[Yaeyama language]] on the other Yaeyama Islands. All these languages belong to the [[Southern Ryukyuan languages|Southern Ryukyuan]] branch of the [[Ryukyuan languages]] group, which in turn belong to the [[Japonic languages]] group. These languages are not mutually intelligible. As on Okinawa, therefore, standard [[Japanese language]] is used in formal situations, while [[Okinawan Japanese]], that is, standard Japanese with native Ryukyuan words, pronunciation changes, etc. mixed in, is quite commonly used as well.

==See also==
* [[1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Sakishima Islands}}
*{{in lang|ja}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081227090534/http://www.ocvb.or.jp/card/ja/0000201185.html 八重山地方の歴史] (The history of Yaeyama region) and [https://web.archive.org/web/20081210013342/http://www.ocvb.or.jp/card/ja/0000201175.html 宮古地方の歴史] (The history of Miyako region) from [http://www.ocvb.or.jp/ mahae plus], Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau official website

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakishima Islands}}
[[Category:Sakishima Islands| ]]
[[Category:Ryukyu Islands]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Japan]]
[[Category:Islands of Okinawa Prefecture]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean]]