was a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

located on an island in Kitamatsuura District,

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As of 2003, the village had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,659 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 106.89 persons per km². The total area was 15.52 km². On October 1, 2005, Ōshima, along with the towns of Ikitsuki and Tabira (all from Kitamatsuura District), was merged into the expanded city of

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

. The main occupations on the island are fishing, including fish farming, and farming. Crops include tobacco, rice, and potatoes. One use of Ōshima's rice is in the brewing of

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

. Other occupations include local government and school teachers. There are also over a dozen wind turbines beautifully located on the island. This

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

is operated by the compan
Mitsuuroko Green Energy
The installation consists of 16

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Uni ...

V80-2.0MW with a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

of 32000 kW. It began full operation in 2007. Ōshima can only be reached via a ferry boat from Hirado Port. It takes approximately 45 minutes to get to the island and there are five departures every day in each direction. There is a public primary school, middle school, and nursery. In March 2011, the only high school on the island closed its doors after its last nine students graduated. During its last three years as an institution, there were as many students as teachers. This closure was due to the general declining birthrate in Japan. Three years earlier the school had stopped accepting incoming students. The building was transferred to the City of Hirado and turned into a community center. Some of the former students at the high school were boarders, some were trouble kids in other schools. The borders also served to keep up the student numbers in Ōshima's small population.

Entertainment

Ōshima has a

pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of low-stakes, low-st ...

parlor, a snack tavern (

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

), as well as two ''izakaya''.

References

External links

Hirado official website
Dissolved municipalities of Nagasaki Prefecture {{Nagasaki-geo-stub