Izu Islands

The Izu Islands

The Izu Islands ( Japanese 伊豆 諸島 Izu-shotō ) are a chain of islands that extends southeast of the Izu Peninsula from the island of Honshū in a south direction into the Pacific . They are located around 100 to 350 km from the Japanese capital Tōkyō and are part of Tokyo Prefecture .

The islands are of volcanic origin and geologically belong to the Izu Bonin Mariana Islands arch . With the Ogasawara Islands , located 290 km further south-southeast and also belonging to this arch of islands , they are also grouped together as the "Southern Islands" ( Nampō-shotō ). They are the northeastern limit of the Philippine Sea .

The Izu Islands form part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and are a recreation area of ​​the greater Tōkyō region known for its natural beauty and water sports. When the weather is nice, many day-trippers go swimming, diving, fishing and surfing on the islands. The island chain is home to the best-known and largest breeding colonies of the Japanese alkus , a species of bird from the family of alken birds .

Islands

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The island chain is made up of the following islands:

image	Surname	Kanji	Area [km²]	Pop. 2007	highest point [m]	summit	Coordinates
	Izu-Ōshima	伊豆 大 島	91.06	8472	764	Mihara	34 ° 44 ′  N , 139 ° 24 ′  E Coordinates: 34 ° 44 ′  N , 139 ° 24 ′  E
	Toshima	利 島	4.12	0304	508	Miyatsuka	34 ° 31'00 "  N , 139 ° 17'00"  E
	Udone-shima	鵜 渡 根 島	0.4	- 1)	0210		34 ° 28 '  N , 139 ° 18'  E
	Niijima (with Hanshima and Jinai-tō)	新 島	23.53	2420	432	Miyatsuka	34 ° 22 '  N , 139 ° 16'  E
	Shikine-jima	式 根 島	3.9	0600	109	Kambiki	34 ° 19 ′ 30 ″  N , 139 ° 13 ′ 00 ″  E
	Kōzu-shima with Ombase-jima	神 津 島	18.87	1914	574	Tenjō-zan	34 ° 13 ′ 00 ″  N , 139 ° 09 ′ 00 ″  E
	Miyake-jima	三 宅 島	55.48	2382	815	Oyama	34 ° 05'00 "  N , 139 ° 32'00"  E
	Ōnohara-jima	大野 原 島	0.02	-	114	Koyasu	34 ° 03 '  N , 139 ° 23'  E
	Mikura-jima	御 蔵 島	20.58	0313	851	Oyama	33 ° 52 '30 "  N , 139 ° 36'00"  E
	Inamba-jima	藺 灘 波 島	0.005	-	74		33 ° 39 '  N , 139 ° 18'  E
	Hachijō-jima	八丈 島	69.54	8363	854	Nishiyama (Hachijō-Fuji)	33 ° 07 '  N , 139 ° 47'  E
	Hachijō-kojima	八丈 小島	3.08	- 2)	616.8	Taihei-zan	33 ° 08 ′  N , 139 ° 41 ′  E
	Aogashima	青 ヶ 島	5.98	0192	423	Maruyama (Ō-Toppu)	32 ° 27 ′ 29 ″  N , 139 ° 46 ′ 04 ″  E
	Bayonnaise Rocks (bayonnaise retsugan)	ベ ヨ ネ ー ス 列 岩	0.01	-	9.9		31 ° 53 '  N , 139 ° 55'  E
	Sumisu-jima	須 美 寿 島	0.02	-	136		31 ° 26 '  N , 140 ° 03'  E
	Torishima	鳥島	4.79	- 3)	394	Iō-zan	30 ° 29'04 "  N , 140 ° 18'04"  E
	Sofugan	孀婦 岩	0.005	-	99		29 ° 48 '  N , 140 ° 21'  E
	Izu-shoto	伊豆 諸島	301.39	24960	854	Nishiyama (Hachijō-Fuji)	34 ° 44 '  N , 139 ° 24'  E

¹⁾Udone-shima was inhabited during the Meiji period .

²⁾ uninhabited since 1969 (last 31 inhabitants, highest level 513 inhabitants)

³⁾Torishima, the largest of the uninhabited islands, had a population of 150 by 1902, all of whom were killed by a volcanic eruption. The island has been uninhabited since then.

The two islands of Colunas , which were partially identified by Torishima and Sōfugan, are listed on historical European sea charts .

population

Izu-Ōshima, also Ōshima for short, is the northernmost and largest island, and has the highest population of all Izu islands. As the closest island to Tōkyō, it is visited by many tourists because of its centrally located, active volcano (Mihara, 758 m). With a slightly lower population, Hachijō-jima is the second largest island in the chain of islands, even after the area.

In the criminal law of the Tokugawa Shogunate , the islands, especially Hachijō-jima and Izu-Ōshima, served as a place of exile for offenders from eastern Japan , i.e. H. the province of Mino and east of it. The islands were used in this function for centuries. B. 675 a child of Prince Omis banished here, as well as Minamoto no Tametomo after the Hōgen rebellion in 1156.

The approximately 3,000 residents of Miyake-jima were evacuated in 2000 due to an impending oyama outbreak and most of them returned in summer 2005.

Administrative division of the island chain

Administrative affiliation of the islands to municipalities:

• Ōshima Sub-Prefecture
  • Ōshima : Izu-Ōshima
  • Toshima : Toshima
  • Niijima : Niijima (with satellite islands Hanshima and Jinai-tō), Shikine-jima, Udone-shima
  • Kōzushima : Kōzu-shima
• Miyake Sub-Prefecture
  • Miyake : Miyake-jima and Ōnohara-jima
  • Mikurajima : Mikura-jima and Inamba-jima
• Hachijō Sub-Prefecture
  • Hachijō : Hachijō-jima and Hachijō-kojima
  • Aogashima : Aogashima
  • Unparished area (de facto): Bayonnaise Rocks , Sumisu-tō , Torishima, and Sōfugan

For the Bayonnaise Rocks, Sumisu-tō, Torishima and Sōfugan, it is undecided whether they should be added to the municipality of Hachijō or Aogashima, which means that they are de facto municipality-free.

Web links

Commons : Izu Islands  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Ōshima in Edutraveller (English)
• Tōkai Ferry Service Website (Japanese)
• Volcanoes of the Izu Islands MS Excel
• List of volcanoes ( Memento from July 19, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anthony J. Gaston, Ian L. Jones: The Auks . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854032-9 , p. 223
2. ↑ 遠 島 . In: 百科 事 典 マ イ ペ デ ィ ア at kotobank.jp. Hitachi Solutions, May 2010, accessed January 8, 2011 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ 麻 績 王 . In: 朝日 日本 歴 史 人物 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved January 24, 2018 (Japanese). 
4. ↑ 東京 都 . (PDF; 65.9 kB) (No longer available online.) In: 平 成 27 年 全国 都 道 府 県 市区 町 村 別 面積 調 . Kokudo Chiri-in , October 1, 2015, archived from the original on July 29, 2016 ; Retrieved August 3, 2016 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.