is an island located in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. Located in the north west of

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

, it is a part of

Shimonoseki file:141122 Shimonoseki City Hall Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3.jpg, 260px, Shimonoseki city hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a pop ...

city. The island has an area of and has a coastline of . The island consists primarily of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

, and is a part of the

Kita-Nagato Kaigan Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park on the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded on 1 November 1955 and has an area of . See also * List of national parks of Japan and of Japan are places of scenic beauty that are designated for pro ...

. As of 28 August 2008, the population of Tsunoshima is 907.

Geography

Once separated from

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

, Tsunoshima is now accessible via the long Tsunoshima Bridge, which was completed in the year 2000. At the time it was the longest toll free bridge in the country, though the completion of the Kouri Bridge in

Okinawa prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

pushed it into second place. On the north west of the island is the Tsunoshima Lighthouse, which has come to be the symbol of Tsunoshima. Before the war, Tsunoshima contained a military site of the former

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

. To this day a part of this still remains. The whale species ''Balaenoptera omurai'' (

Omura's whale Omura's whale or the dwarf fin whale (''Balaenoptera omurai'') is a species of rorqual about which very little is known. Before its formal description, it was referred to as a small, dwarf or pygmy form of Bryde's whale by various sources. The c ...

) was first identified here. (reprinted on babec.org)

History

Tsunoshima first appears in the written record in 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 ...

(710 – 794). The name of the island appears on a ''

mokkan are wooden tablets found at Japanese archaeological sites. Most of the tablets date from the mid-7th to mid-8th century, but some are as late as the early modern period. They have been found in sites across Japan, but mostly around the old capita ...

'' wooden slip excavated at the site of the

Heijō Palace was the imperial residence in the Japanese capital city Heijō-kyō (today's Nara), during most of the Nara period. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre of for most of the Nara period from 710 to 79 ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

. The ''mokkan'' is dated March 29, 746, and was attached to a tribute of seaweed to the imperial court. A reference to the island also appears in a poem in the sixteenth part of 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 ...

'', the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, completed in 759. The ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'', a Japanese book of laws and regulations compiled in 927, refers to a ranch on the island, which was then part of

Nagato Province , often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces. History Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...

. Over time the island was developed for agriculture, as well as supporting a fishing village. In the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1603 – 1868) the island became part of the

Chōfu Domain 270px, Mōri Mototoshi, final ''daimyō'' of Chōfu was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now part of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. It was centered around Kushizaki Castle and was ruled througho ...

, but was transferred to the

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based ...

in 1718. After five years the island returned to the Chōfu Domain. The island was noted for the production of materials to make

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

matting,

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

seeds, and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

. As a local administrative unit, under the 1889 municipal system Tsunoshima Village was a part of the Toyoura district and under a 1955 unification it became part of Hōhoku Town. In 2005, as the four towns which made up the Toyoura district ( Hōhoku,

Kikugawa is a city located in the western portion of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,714 in 18,775 households, and a population density of 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known f ...

, Toyoura and

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

) merged with the city of

, Tsunoshima became a part of the city.

Sightseeing areas

* Tsunoshima Lighthouse, built in 1876 * Tsunoshima Bridge * Tsunoshima Nature Museum * Tsunoshima Beach Tsunoshima is home to many spider lily flowers. Following the opening of Tsunoshima Bridge, the area has frequently been used as a location for films and television shows. The 2005 movie ''Miracle in Four Days'' (四日間の奇跡 ''yokkakan no kiseki'') was set across almost the entire island. In 2006, Tsunoshima became the location for a special episode of Fuji Television's popular drama, ''Hero''.In the episode, Tsunoshima was called 虹ヶ浦 (Nijigaura) The island is also a popular are for camping and sport fishing.

Access

From National Route 191 turn onto Yamaguchi Route 275 towards Shimado, then turn onto Yamaguchi Route 276, crossing the Tsunoshima Bridge. Tsunoshima is serviced by a bus which is available from Kottoi Station and Takibe Station, both of which are located on the

San'in Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...

Footnotes and References

External links

Shimonoseki Official Website
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Shimonoseki Official Website

Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (Geographical Survey Institute) map of Tsunoshima

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsunoshima Islands of the Sea of Japan Tourist attractions in Yamaguchi Prefecture Shimonoseki Islands of Yamaguchi Prefecture