is a

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 ...

located in

Hachijō Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The organization of government belongs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau Of General Affairs. Hachijō includes the following towns and villages in the Izu Islands: * Hachijō (town on ...

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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 ...

. , the town 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 7,056, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 97.7 persons per km². Its total area is . Electric power for the town is provided by a

geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...

station and by a

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 ...

Geography

Hachijō covers the islands of

Hachijō-jima is a volcanic Japanese island in the Philippine Sea. It is about south of the special wards of Tokyo. It is part of the Izu archipelago and within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Its only municipality is Hachijō. On 1 March 2018, its po ...

and

Hachijō-kojima is a small volcano, volcanic deserted island in the Philippine Sea approximately south of Tokyo, and west of Hachijō-jima, in the northern Izu Islands, Izu archipelago, Japan. Administratively the island is within Hachijō, Tokyo, Hachijō, T ...

, two of the islands in the Izu archipelago in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...

, south of central Tokyo. Warmed by the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

, the town has a warmer and wetter climate than central Tokyo. All of the town's residents live on the island of Hachijō-jima.

Neighboring municipalities

*Tokyo Metropolis **

Aogashima, Tokyo is a village located in Hachijō Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 169, and a population density of 28.2 persons per km2. Its total area is . Geography Aogashima Village covers the island of Ao ...

Mikurajima, Tokyo is a village located in Miyake Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 328, and a population density of 16 persons per km². Its total area is . Geography Mikurajima Village covers the inhabited isl ...

Population

The population of Hachijō was 7613.

Climate

History

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 ...

, Hachijōjima was known as a place of exile for convicts. This practice ended in 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 ...

, and the island residents developed an economy based on fishing,

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...

, and agriculture. Hachijō Subprefecture was organized on April 1, 1908, and included the villages of Mitsune, Nakanogo, Kashitate, Sueyoshi and Ōkago. The villages of Toruchi and Utsuki on Hachijōkojima were organized on May 3, 1947. The five villages of Hachijōjima merged on October 1, 1954 to form the village of Hachijō. On April 1, 1955, the two villages of Hachijōkojima also merged with the village of Hachijō, which was promoted to town status. However, in March 1966, the residents of Hachijōkojima voted to abandon their island, citing the inaccessibility of basic public services and economic difficulties, and Hachijōkojima became a

deserted island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereoty ...

from June 1969.

Economy

Fishing and tourism are the mainstays of the economy of Hachijō.

Education

The town government operates three public elementary and three public junior high schools. Junior high schools: * Fuji Junior High School (富士中学校) * Mihara Junior High School ( 三原中学校) * Okago Junior High School ( 大賀郷中学校) Elementary schools: * Mihara Elementary School (三原小学校) * Mitsune Elementary School (三根小学校) * Okago Elementary School (大賀郷小学校) The Tōkyō Metropolitan Government Board of Education operates .

Transportation

Hachijōjima is accessible both by aircraft and by ferry. A pedestrian ferry leaves Tōkyō once every day at 10 p.m., and arrives at Hachijōjima at 9:00 a.m. the following day. Air travel to

Hachijojima Airport is a regional airport serving Hachijōjima in the southern Izu Islands, Tokyo, Japan. History An air field was established on the island of Hachijōjima in 1926 by the Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1954, it was turned over to civilian control an ...

takes 45 minutes from Tōkyō International Airport (Haneda).

Sister city relations

* -

Maui County, Hawaii Maui County, officially the County of Maui, is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Maui, Lānai, Molokai (except for a portion of Molokai that comprises Kalawao County), Kahoolawe, and Molokini. The latter two a ...

, United States

Gallery

Image:Landsat Hachijojima Island.jpg, Hachijōjima (right) and Hachijōkojima (left) Image:Hachijojima tamaishigaki 2007-03-20.jpg, typical stone walls Image:Sokodo harbor.jpg, Sokodo Harbor

References

External links

Hachijō Town Official Website

The Anchor Pub in Hachijō Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hachijo, Tokyo Towns in Tokyo Populated coastal places in Japan