Izu Islands

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File:Map of Izu Islands.png
Map of the Izu Islands

The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan.[1] Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōshima.

Although usually called the "Seven Islands of Izu" (伊豆七島 in Japanese), there are in fact more than a dozen islands and islets. Nine among them are currently inhabited.

Geography

File:Location IzuIlands.jpg
Location of the Izu Islands relative to Japan.

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File:ShikineFromKozuTyoJpDec04-1.jpg
Shikinejima from Kōzushima. Furthest: Ōshima; left: Toshima; right: Niijima; smallest: Jinai-tō.

The Izu islands stretch south-east from the Izu Peninsula on Honshu and cover an area of approximately Script error: No such module "convert".. There are nine populated islands with a total population of 24,645 people (since 2009Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".) spread over Script error: No such module "convert".. The largest of them is Izu Oshima (8,346 inhabitants, Script error: No such module "convert".), the smallest Toshima (292 inhabitants, Script error: No such module "convert"..)Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Of the inhabited islands, seven are traditionally referred to as the "Izu Seven": Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, Hachijojima, and Mikurajima, though Shikinejima and Aogashima are sometimes included as well.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

During the Edo period, Nii-jima, Miyake-jima, and Hachijō-jima served as places of exile for criminals.

The subtropical Ogasawara Islands, which are also administratively part of Tokyo, lie further to the south. They form a far-flung archipelago of over thirty (30) islands some Script error: No such module "convert". due south of Tokyo.

Islands

Image Name
Kanji
Area
km2
Pop.
2007
Peak
m
Peak Name Coordinates
File:Landsat IzuOshima Island.jpg Izu Ōshima
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91.06 8472 764 Mihara Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Toshima Island.jpg To-shima
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4.12 304 508 Miyatsuka Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Utone shima.jpg Udone-shima
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0.4 Template:Efn 210   Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Niijima and Shikinejima Island.jpg Nii-jima
(with Hanshima
and Jinai-tō)
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23.87 2420 432 Miyatsuka Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Shikine-jima aerial.jpg Shikine-jima
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3.9 600 109 Kambiki Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Kozushima Island.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".
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18.48 1914 574 Tenjō-zan Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Miyakejima Island.jpg Miyake-jima
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55.44 2382 815 Oyama Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Ohnoharajima mlit1978.jpg Ōnohara-jima
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0.2 - 114 Koyasu Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Mikurajima Island.jpg Mikura-jima
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20.58 313 851 Oyama Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Inambashima mlit.jpg Inamba-jima
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0.005 - 74   Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
Hachijo Subprefecture
File:Landsat Hachijojima Island.jpg Hachijō-jima
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62.52 8363 854 Nishiyama
(Hachijō-Fuji)
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File:Hachojyo-kojima mlit1978.jpg Hachijō-kojima
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3.08 Template:Efn 616.8 Taihei-zan Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Landsat Aogashima Island.jpg Aogashima
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8.75 192 423 Maruyama
(Ō-Toppu)
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File:Bayonaise Rocks mlit.jpg Bayonnaise Rocks
--- Myōjin-shō
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0.01 - 9.9   Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Smithisland milt.jpg Sumisu-tō
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0.03 - 136   Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Tori-Shima Island of Izu-Islands Aerial photograph.2001.jpg Tori-shima
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4.79 Template:Efn 394 Iō-zan Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
File:Soufuiwa.jpg Sōfu-iwa
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0.0037 - 99   Script error: No such module "Coordinates".

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Administrative divisions

The Izu Islands are divided into two towns (Oshima and Hachijojima) and six villages (the remaining inhabited islands.) Three subprefectures are formed above the municipalities as branch offices of the metropolitan government.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

All the islands (more than a dozen in total) lie within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The four southernmost islands are not administered under any town or village in Hachijō Subprefecture, but are unincorporated areas. Torishima is now uninhabited but is an important bird refuge.

Deserted islands between Aogashima and Ogasawara Islands, namely Bayonaise Rocks (Beyonēzu Retsugan), Smith Island (Sumisu-tō), Torishima, and Lot's Wife (Sōfu-iwa) do not belong to any municipality, because both Hachijō Town and Aogashima Village claim administrative rights. They are directly controlled by Hachijō Subprefecture instead.

Demographics

Though the population on the Izu Islands has been dropping, the pace is less dramatic than on other isolated Japanese islands.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Population changesScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
Year Izu
Islands
Isolated
Japanese
islands
Japan
Total
1960 38,707 923,062 94,301,623
1970 32,539 736,712 104,665,171
1980 31,902 630,536 117,060,396
1990 30,032 546,505 123,611,167
2000 28,756 472,312 126,925,843
2005 26,242 422,712 127,767,994

The divergent Hachijō language is spoken on the islands.

Infrastructure

File:Oshima airport aerial-photo.jpg
Oshima Airport.

The primary industries are fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. The most scenic spots on the islands are crowded with tourists during summers. Popular tourist activities include swimming, scuba diving, surfing, fishing, bird watching and trekking.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Transportation between the islands, by cargo-passengers boats, jetfoils, and aircraft, is supported by harbours on all inhabited islands and five airports (small islands can be reached by helicopter).Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

There are 5 airports, 15 harbors, and 19 fishing ports. Flights from Tokyo take 30 minutes, while boats take 7–10 hours and jetfoils make the route in about two hours. Transportation on the islands is considered important to the quality of life, which is why about Script error: No such module "convert". of paved main roads have been constructed to serve various kinds of vehicles.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

There was no electricity on the islands before 1953, but by 1962 98% of the area was receiving electricity.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Geology

The islands occupy the northern portion of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc which extends to the Izu Peninsula and Mount Fuji on the Honshū mainland which are northern extensions of the Izu volcanic arc. The Izu arc ends there at a tectonic triple junction.

Volcanic activity is frequent in the area.[2] 31 people were killed when the research vessel Kaiyō Maru no 5 was destroyed during the 1953 eruption of Myōjin-shō. Volcanic activity, including the release of harmful gases, forced the evacuation of Miyake-jima in 2000. Residents were allowed to return permanently to the island in February 2005 but were required to carry gas masks in case of future volcanic emissions.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

To handle the various types of natural disasters threatening the region, including tsunamis, storm, floods, and volcanism, Tokyo metropolitan government has developed prevention and safety measures, including hazard maps and evacuation guidance, radios, signs, and a transport system for emergency supplies.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Ecology

A chain of volcanic islands, the Izu Archipelago are oceanic islands that formed relatively recently (within a few million years) without any previous connection to mainland Japan. In contrast to isolated Pacific islands, such as Hawaii and the Galápagos, the Izu Islands are located near the mainland and have thus been frequently colonized by various species by overseas dispersal from the mainland or from adjacent islands. This make them interesting for the studies of ecological and evolutionary processes.[3]

Campanula (Bellflower) colonized the entire archipelago in a single event. Similarly, the Euhadra snails, endemic to Japan, populated the islands in a single event and all individuals on inhabited islands possess an identical haplotype. The Apodemus mice, on the other hand, colonized the islands from the mainland in two independent events.[3]

History

  • 680 - Izu Province was established in the form of being separated from Suruga Province. At that time, the Izu islands belonged to Kamo-gun.[4]
  • 12th century and possibly earlier – used as Japanese convict settlements.[5]
  • 1643 - Explorer Maarten Gerritsz Vries called it the De Vries Archipelago.[6]
  • November 14, 1871 (December 25, 1871) --- Due to the first prefectural integration, they came under the jurisdiction of the Ashigara Prefecture.[7]
  • 1876 (Meiji 9), April 18 - Due to the second prefectural integration, they came under the jurisdiction of Shizuoka Prefecture.[8]
  • 1878 (Meiji 11), January 11 - they came under the jurisdiction of Tokyo Prefecture.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Izu Shotō," Japan Encyclopedia, p. 412.
  2. Volcanoes of the Izu, Volcano and Mariana Islands www.volcano.si.edu
  3. a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. 『日本歴史地名大系 22 静岡県の地名』平凡社、2000年。ISBN 4582490220。「伊豆国」の項目(P75.)。
  5. Template:Cite EB1911
  6. After Dutch explorer Maarten Gerritsz Vries, the first European to describe them in 1643. See "Izu Shotō" in Louis Frédéric, Japan Encyclopedia (Belknap, 2002), p. 412.
  7. [[[:Template:NDLDC]] 明治4年太政官布告第594号] - 国立国会図書館近代デジタルライブラリー Meiji 4th Year Dajokan Proclamation No. 594 - National Diet(tr. ?) Library Modern Digital Library
  8. [[[:Template:NDLDC]] 明治9年太政官布告第53号] - 国立国会図書館近代デジタルライブラリー (Meiji 9, Dajokan Proclamation No. 53] - National Diet(tr. ?) Library Modern Digital Library)
  9. [[[:Template:NDLDC]] 明治11年太政官布告第1号] - 国立国会図書館近代デジタルライブラリー (Meiji Year 11 Dajokan Proclamation No. 1] - National Diet(tr. ?) Library Modern Digital Library)

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  • Teikoku's Complete Atlas of Japan, Teikoku-Shoin Co., Ltd. Tokyo 1990, Template:ISBN
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". The official islands information page.

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