is an inhabited island in

Mikawa Bay Mikawa Bay (Landsat photo) Mikawa Bay (三河湾 ''Mikawa-wan'') is a bay to the south of Aichi Prefecture, Japan, surrounded by Chita Peninsula to the west and Atsumi Peninsula to the east and south. Its area is approximately 604 km2. Pollu ...

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan off the coast of the

Chita Peninsula Chita Peninsula (知多半島 ''Chita Hantō'') is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsumi ...

, which is administered by the town of

Minamichita, Aichi is a town in Chita District, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,393 in 7338 households, and a population density of 453 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . Geography Minamichita is located in the ...

. All of the island is within the borders of the Mikawa-wan Quasi-National Park. It draws many tourists who come to eat the

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

and

blowfish Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

caught off the island and prepared there, to enjoy the

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

, to fish, or to spend time on the beach. Per the 2015 Japanese census, the island had a population of 1896 people in 607 households.

Geography

Himakajima is located approximately 10 kilometers from either Chita Peninsula or

Atsumi Peninsula is a peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It has an approximate length of east-west, separating Mikawa Bay (to the north) from the Philippine Sea to the south, with Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of ...

. The highest point on the island is 30.2 meters, and is located in approximately the center of the island. Settlement is concentrated in two hamlets, one on the east and one on the west coast. The total area of the island is 0.77 square kilometers, of which approximately half is owned by the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

. The island is rocky, within only 4% of its area forested, although

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

trees have been introduced in recent years.

History

Himakajima has been populated since prehistoric times, and appears to have been a

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

necropolis, with 35

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

burial mounds thus far identified, and which have been found to contain a large number of

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

, from the late 6th to early 7th centuries. During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

it was mentioned in records as a source of

shark skin Shagreen is a type of rawhide (textile) , rawhide consisting of rough untanned skin, historically from a horse's or onager's back, or from shark or sting ray, ray. Etymology The word derives from the French language, French ''chagrin'' and is ...

and dried fish. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, it was part of the holdings of

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at ...

under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

and contained a fishing settlement. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after the start of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the island was organized as a village within

Chita District, Aichi is a rural district located in southwestern Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Chita Peninsula. As of 1 October 2019, the district had an estimated population of 160,542 and a population density of 968 persons per km2. Its total area was 165.84 ...

. It merged with surrounding towns and villages to form the town of Minamichita on June 1, 1961.

Access

Nagoya Railroad , referred to as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of which off ...

(Meitetsu) offers tours to Himakajima as part of its main portfolio of tour packages. From Kōwa Station, visitors can board a bus which will take them to a high-speed boat which will take them to the island in about ten minutes.

References

External links

Himakajima Tourism Association
{{Authority control Islands of Aichi Prefecture Minamichita, Aichi