is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

located in

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). Y ...

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 ...

Population

As of 2003, the district has 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 22,070 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 159.86 persons per km². The total area is 138.06 km².

Geography

The entire territory of the district is an island called

Suō-Ōshima is a town and an island located in Ōshima District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Suō-Ōshima was formed on October 1, 2004 from the merger of the former towns of Ōshima, Kuka, Tachibana and Tōwa, all from towns of Ōshima District. As ...

. The district is connected with

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

by a bridge. The area is about 138 square kilometres. There are 22,000 people on the island. The whole island is set aside as a national park. The special product is a mandarin orange called "Ōshima mikan". There are 500 orange groves. Katazoegahama beach is one of the more popular beaches in the west of Japan. This is also famous for camping. There is a tennis court and a roller skate rink, near the beach. Furthermore, there is a resort hotel.

Ōshima Bridge

The Ōshima Bridge was erected in 1976. It is the second longest span in Japan of this style of bridge. The span of the bridge is 1020m. Its color is pale green. The tide in the strait under the bridge is known as one of the fastest in Japan.

Connection with Hawaii

Suō-Ōshima is the home of the emigrants from the beginning of the history of the island. The island people go everywhere around the western area of Japanese Archipelago. In late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of the islanders went to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and worked at sugar plantation. Suō-Ōshima is also the home of the seagoing people. In the ancient and Middle Ages, sea rovers called Ochi Suigun (Ochi fleet), Kōno Suigun (Kōno fleet), Murakami Suigun (Murakami fleet) inhabits in the western area of the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...

. They had disbanded at 16th century but their descendants became the skilled fisherfolks. They had gone to Hawaii and became the foundation stone of the modern fishery of Hawaii. The

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

is a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

of Kauai, Hawaii. There is a Hawaii historical museum, which was built in 1999 in Ōshima. Office workers and bus drivers in town wear colorful

aloha shirt The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...

s as a uniform in summer. In May 2007, Hawaii's replica ancient voyaging canoe '' Hōkūle'a'' visited this small island to honour the connection between Suō-Ōshima and Hawaii.

Tsuneichi Miyamoto

Tsuneichi Miyamoto, one of the greatest cultural anthropologist in Japan is the native of this island.

Towns and villages

Merger

*On October 1, 2004, the towns of Kuka, Ōshima,

Tachibana The term has at least two different meanings, and has been used in several contexts. People * – a clan of ''kuge'' (court nobles) prominent in the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185) * – a clan of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) prominent in the Mu ...

and Tōwa from Oshima District merged to form the new town of

. Since then Suō-Ōshima is the sole town in the district. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima District, Yamaguchi Districts in Yamaguchi Prefecture