is one of the

Ōsumi Islands The is an archipelago in the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu Archipelago, and are the northernmost group of the Ryukyu Islands, The chain extends from the southern tip of Kyushu to Yakushima. Administratively, the group belongs within Kagoshima Prefecture ...

belonging to

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The island, in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to

New Tanegashima Airport , also known as Tanegashima Airport, is located in Nakatane, Kagoshima, Nakatane, on Tanegashima, one of the Ōsumi Islands in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The original Tanegashima Airport was opened on 27 July 1962, at a site approxi ...

. Administratively, the island is divided into the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, Nishinoomote, and the two

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

, Nakatane and Minamitane. The towns belong to Kumage District.

Geography

Tanegashima is the easternmost and the second largest (after Yakushima) of the Ōsumi Islands. It is located approximately south of the southern tip of

Ōsumi Peninsula image:Osumi Peninsula Kagoshima Japan SRTM.jpg, 261x261px, Satellite image of Ōsumi Peninsula The projects south from the Japanese island of Kyūshū and includes the southernmost point on the island, Cape Sata. Its east coast lies on the Pacifi ...

in southern Kyushu, or south of

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

. The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) separates it from

Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. It is accessible by hydrofoil ferry, car ferry, or by air to Yakushima Airport. Administratively, the island consists of the town ...

. The island is of volcanic origin; however, unlike neighboring Yakushima, it presents a flat appearance, with its highest elevation at only above sea level. The island has a length of and a width ranging from . The climate is subtropical. The island, along with neighbouring Yakushima, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because they support populations of Japanese wood pigeons, Ryukyu green pigeons and Ryukyu robins. File:犬城IMGP1389.JPG, In the vicinity of Inu Castle Coast, Daikoya District File:Nakatane_town.jpg, Town area of Nakatane (中種子町), Kagoshima, Japan File:馬立IMGP1382.JPG, Weathered rocks near Mt. Iwasaki File:千座の岩屋.jpg, Chikura Caverns File:Kadokuramisaki.jpg, Cape Kadokura File:Osumi Islands Map Japan.png, Ōsumi islands map

History

Tanegashima has a long history of Kofun. Other burials on Tanegashima, namely the Yokomine and Hirota sites, attest to a uniquely well-developed

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

culture at the end of the 4th century AD. The artifacts include magatama, an engraved pendant, and emblems with apparent writing. During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

, the embryo state of Japan began to make contact with Tanegashima. According to the '' Nihonshoki'', the imperial court hosted a banquet for the islanders of Tanegashima in 677. In 679, the court sent a mission to the island who returned in 681. Other missions to the island mentioned in the book were in 683 and 695. According to the ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the '' Six National Histories'', coming directly after the and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...

'', people from Tane, Yaku, Amami and Dokan (possibly Tokunoshima) came to the imperial court to pay tribute in 699. These activities resulted in the establishment of Tane Province on the island in 702. Tane Province lasted until 824 and was merged into

Ōsumi Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to the eastern half of modern Kagoshima Prefecture, and including the Ōsumi Islands . Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga to the northeast, and Satsuma Province to the nor ...

. Sometime around 1140, the whole island of Tanegashima became part of the Shimazu Estate, the largest medieval ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'' of Japan. In the early

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, the positions of the land steward of the Shimazu Estate and the military governor of Ōsumi Province were given to the Shimazu clan. However, the clan lost these positions to the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

, the de facto ruler of the shogunate. The Hōjō clan sent the Higo clan as deputy governors. A branch line of the Higo clan made itself autonomous on Tanegashima after the Hōjō clan was annihilated and began to claim the clan name of Tanegashima. The Tanegashima clan ruled the island until the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. The Tanegashima clan enjoyed a high degree of autonomy until Shimazu unified southern Kyūshū in the late 16th century, and after that, served as a top-ranking retainer to the Satsuma domain. Following the

, the island has been administered as part of Kagoshima Prefecture.

Introduction of firearms into Japan

Tanegashima is traditionally known as the site of the introduction of European firearms to Japan in 1543. Until modern times,

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s were colloquially known in Japan as "

Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New Tanegashima Airp ...

", due to the belief that they were introduced by the Portuguese on board the first Portuguese ship. In his memoirs published in 1614, Portuguese adventurer turned author, Fernão Mendes Pinto placed himself in the first landing party, although this claim has since been roundly discredited and in fact contradicts his claims to have been in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

at the time. The two Portuguese traders, António Mota and Francisco Zeimoto, should actually be credited as the first Europeans to introduce firearms. However, Mendes Pinto does appear to have visited Tanegashima soon thereafter. The Europeans had arrived to trade, not only guns, but also

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and other goods unknown in medieval Japan, for Japanese goods. During the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, Tanegashima functioned as a relay station for one of the main routes of Chinese trade that connected

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

to Ningbo. The Tanegashima clan cooperated with the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group or Japanese clan, clan. The clan descends from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultimately from Emperor Seiwa, through the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga ...

, one of two powers who controlled Chinese trade. The clan also maintained a firm connection with the Honnō-ji Temple of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. These account for the rapid spread of firearms from Tanegashima to central Japan. File:200 escudos 1543-1993 Tanegashima.png, Portuguese escudo commemorating the Portuguese arrival at Tanegashima File:Hokusai 1817 First Guns in Japan.jpg, First Westerners in Japan in 1542

Knife industry

Edge tools (particularly knives and scissors) made in Tanegashima are famous traditional handicrafts in Japan. Craftsmen in Tanegashima have kept alive traditional techniques for forging and sharpening iron tools. Tanegashima is also famous as the center of iron sand production. The technique has been around since about 1185 when the

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

were exiled here from Kyoto by

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

, taking with them craftsmen and chefs from Kyoto. The people of the island speak with a Kyoto accent even now, rather than a

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

accent, despite its proximity to Kyūshū. These craftsmen were the original users of the distinct techniques used for forging and sharpening. The technique is unique in the world, and produces such tools as "Tanegashima Hōchō" (Tanegashima knives), used by chefs, and "Tane-basami" (Tanegashima scissors), preferred by many for the art of

Bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

. Nevertheless the local population has fallen from over fifty thousand in 1970 to just twenty-eight thousand today, in spite of tourism and space industries, putting traditional crafts at risk. File:Nishinoomote06122301.jpg, Nishinoomote City on Tanegashima File:Tanegashima_Godochosya.jpg, Tanegashima government building File:2012年12月共同フェリーから見た池田港.jpg, Nishinoomote Minato Ward from "New Satsuma" (mid December 2012)

Tanegashima Space Center

The Tanegashima Space Center is Japan's largest space development center. It is run by

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

, the

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national Aeronautics, air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satell ...

and is located at the southeastern end of Tanegashima. It was established in 1969 when the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was formed. Activities include assembly, testing, launching and tracking satellites, as well as rocket engine firing tests. Activity includes orbital launches of the

H-IIA H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar orbi ...

rockets from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex. The Space Science and Technology Museum is near the TSC. It offers an intricate view of rocket history and technology in Japan. Though most of the displays are in Japanese, there are English tour pamphlets available. File:Global_Precipitation_Measurement_(GPM)_Mission_(12812960063).jpg, Full view of the Yoshinobu Launch Complex during roll out of the H-IIA rocket in February 2014 File:Osaki_Range.jpg, Overlooking the Osaki Range, surrounded by green mountains and the sea of coral reefs. File:宇宙科学技術館.jpg, Space Science and Technology Museum File:H2A11001.jpg, The

F11 launch vehicle lifting off from Tanegashima Space Center File:Global_Precipitation_Measurement_(GPM)_Mission_(12858254354).jpg, A

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...

(MHI)

rocket at TSC

Climate

Tanegashima has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers and mild winters. Precipitation is high throughout the year, but is highest in the months of May, June and September.

Sporting events

The Tanegashima "Rocket Marathon" takes place in March each year.JAX
March 2005 News
/ref>

Notable people

* Kōbō Kenichi – sumo wrestler * Wakashimazu Mutsuo – sumo wrestler * Miyu Uehara – gravure idol and TV personality

References

Sources

* Lidon, Olof. ''Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan'', NIAS Press (2002)

External links

* * {{Authority control Ōsumi Islands Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture Important Bird Areas of the Nansei Islands