is an inhabited island located in Ise Bay off the east coast of central Honshu, Japan. It is administered as part of the city of Toba in Mie Prefecture. It is the second largest of the outlying islands of Toba. Historically, it was noted for its

Ama Ama or AMA may refer to: Ama Languages * Ama language (New Guinea) * Ama language (Sudan) People * Ama (Ama Kōhei), former ring name for sumo wrestler Harumafuji Kōhei * Mary Ama, a New Zealand artist * Shola Ama, a British singer * Ām ...

divers. Remains of human settlement from the Jōmon, Yayoi, and

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

s have been found on Sugashima, and the name "Sugashima" appears in early documents, such as the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' and '' Wamyō Ruijushō,'' and was mentioned in

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle betwee ...

poetry by

Saigyō Hōshi was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start ...

and Emperor Juntoku. The area prospered as a fishing village, and transshipment point for the Toba Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period. Following the Meiji restoration,

Sugashima Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on the island of Sugashima, in Ise Bay off the shores of the city of Toba, Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is located within the borders of the Ise-Shima National Park. History The Sugashima Lighthouse was designed and cons ...

was built on the island in 1873, with its inauguration attended by Saigō Takamori and other leaders of the Meiji government. In 1919, the Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory of

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was the seventh Imperial University in Japan, one of the first five Designated National University and selected as a Top Type university of T ...

was established on the island. During the Meiji period, the island was made part of , which became part of Shima District from 1896. On November 1, 1954, the island became part of the city of Toba. The economy of the island is based on commercial fishing and tourism. A

peridotite Peridotite ( ) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg2+), reflecting the high prop ...

quarry on the island is also a major source of income.

References

* ''Saishin-Nihon-chizu - Atlas of Japan'', Imidas Shueisha, Tokyo 1990

External links

Toba City website
{{in lang, ja Islands of Mie Prefecture