Daitō Islands

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Daitō Islands
Location of the Daitō Islands
Location of the Daitō Islands
Waters Philippine Sea
archipelago Nansei Islands
Geographical location 25 ° 13 '  N , 131 ° 13'  E Coordinates: 25 ° 13 '  N , 131 ° 13'  E
Daitō Islands (Okinawa Prefecture)
Daitō Islands
Number of islands 3
Main island Minami-daitō
Total land area 44.8 km²
Residents 1926 (October 1, 2019)

The Daitō Islands ( Japanese 大 東 諸島 , Daitō-shotō ), formerly Borodino Islands , are 3 small coral islands in the Philippine Sea in the northwestern Pacific Ocean , about 360 km east of Okinawa .

designation

The islands were called ufuagari for "extreme east" by the inhabitants of the Ryūkyū Islands , which was written with the characters 大 東 . The Japanese pronunciation of this is again daitō .

The islands got the name Borodino Islands from the Russian ship Borodino , which found them in 1820 and correctly determined their position. The islands were then uninhabited.

geography

The three islands of the group are called:

  • Minami-daitō ( 南大 東 島 , literally: "South Daitō Island"): 30.57 km², 1305 inhabitants
  • Kita-daitō ( 北大 東 島 , literally: "North Daitō Island"): 11.94 km², 621 inhabitants
  • Oki-daitō ( 沖 大 東 島 , literally: "remote Daitō island", formerly Rasa ): 1.15 km², uninhabited

Only the first two islands are inhabited. The island of Oki-daitō , 150 km south of Minami-daitō, was a military base during World War II , but it is abandoned today.

The Daitō Islands form two communities in Shimajiri County ( 島 尻 郡 , -gun ) in Okinawa Prefecture :

The somewhat remote southernmost island of Oki-daitō belongs to the Kitadaitō community, although it is further away from the island of Kita-daitō than from Minami-daitō.

Although administratively part of Okinawa Prefecture, they are geographically and geologically separate from the Okinawa Islands .

geology

Minami-daitō and Kita-daitō
Oki-daitō

The islands themselves were created by uplift ( elevated atoll ), as a result of which every visitor has to overcome the 10 to 20 meter high cliffs. This is done today with the help of a crane. The interior of the islands is a little deeper and - if not yet planted with sugar cane - is characterized by swamps and small lakes.

Kita-daitō and Minami-daitō lie on the back of the Daito, while Oki-daitō, separated by the Okidaito terrace, lies on the back of the Okidaito.

history

Settlement by Japanese did not begin until 1899. Hanemon Tamaoki from the island of Hachijō ( Izu Islands ) reached the islands with some pioneers after a 60-day voyage and began reclamation. In addition to food, they mainly planted sugar cane , which is still the islands' main export good today.

The drinking water for the island is supplied by a seawater desalination plant.

economy

The islands' economy began with the cultivation of sugar cane. The business was founded in 1917 by Toyo Sugar Refining Co., Ltd. taken over, which also installed a small railway line for transport. Since 2004 rum has also been distilled from sugar cane and exported.

In 1911 the commercial mining of phosphate ores and superphosphate lime began on Oki-daitō, since then the only source in Japan.

Before the Second World War, there was also guano mining on the islands of Kita-daitō and Oki-daitō . However, only ruins can be found of the facilities.

Fishing and snorkeling are favorite activities for the locals.

Transport links

The island of Minami-daitō has a small airport (reopened on July 22, 1997) with a runway of 1500 m length. A small transport plane can take up to 40 passengers to the island. The flight time is about 1 hour. Alternatively, the island can also be reached by ship. The journey time is around 13 hours.

From time to time the islands are visited by cruise ships.

Endemic species

Due to the cultivation of sugar cane and the associated massive reconstruction of the island, some species are believed to have died out. Examples of endemic species are:

swell

  1. ↑ rasa.co.jp

Web links

Commons : Daitō Islands  - collection of images, videos and audio files