is an inhabited island in the

Geiyo Islands The are a group of islands in the Seto Inland Sea, under the administration of Hiroshima Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture. Some of the largest islands in the archipelago are connected by the Nishiseto Expressway bridge system connecting Honshu an ...

in the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

of Japan, lying between the larger islands of

Honshū , 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 seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

Overview

Ōshima is located in the north of Ehime prefecture, and has an area of . Administratively, it was formerly divided between the towns of Yoshiumi and Miyakubo of Ochi District, Ehime; however, in January 16, 2005 both towns were absorbed into the city of Imabari. The highest elevation on the island is Mount Kirō, at . Compared to other islands in the Geiyo Archipelago, the island has many flat areas, which has permitted the development of rice paddy fields. Other economic activities have traditionally included the cultivation of citrus fruits, mainly

mikan ''Citrus unshiu'' is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as the satsuma mandarin or Japanese mandarin. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikans were more popular because there was a popular superstition that eating '' ...

, a small shipyard and stone quarries. The island is on the

Shimanami Kaidō The , often called the , is an expressway in Japan that connects Onomichi, Hiroshima and Imabari, Ehime, going through nine of the Geiyo Islands, including Ōshima, Ehime, Ōshima, Ōmishima Island, Ehime, Ōmishima, and Innoshima, Hiroshima, Inn ...

, an expressway between Honshū and Shikoku, and is linked to Hatakajima by the Hakata-Ōshima Bridge and Kurushima by the Kurushima-Kaikyō Bridge. The expressway has placed the island within commuting distance of Imabari. Islands of Ehime Prefecture Islands of the Seto Inland Sea Geiyo Islands Imabari, Ehime {{Ehime-geo-stub