is a small island located in

Hachinohe, Aomori is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city h ...

, in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of northern

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 ...

. Part of the

Tanesashi Coast The is section of the coastline on the Pacific Ocean, located in the southern portion of the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is extends for from the island of Kabushima south towards the city of ...

, it was incorporated into the

Sanriku Fukkō National Park (''lit''. "Sanriku Reconstruction National Park") is a national park extending along the Sanriku Coast of Japan from Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture through Iwate Prefecture to Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture. The national park was created on 24 M ...

from May 2013.

Geography

The island has a length of and a width of . The highest point of the island measures in elevation. The total area of the island is approximately . Although called it is an island, it is connected to the mainland by a causeway constructed in 1942 so that people may walk to it from the shore.

Important Bird Area

The island is noted as a nesting ground for Black-tailed gulls and has been protected as a National

Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...

of Japan since 1922. It has also been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. The sound of the ''umi-neko'' at Hachinohe was selected by the Ministry of the Environment as one of the

100 Soundscapes of Japan In 1996, as part of its efforts to combat noise pollution and to protect and promote protection of the environment, the Ministry of the Environment designated the . There were 738 submissions received from all over the country and the 100 "best" we ...

Kabushima Shrine

270px, Kabushima Shrine is a small

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

located on Kabushima island. The shrine is a branch of the

Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto jinja (shrine), shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima, Hiroshima, Miyajima), best known for its "floating" ''torii'' gate.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"''Itsukushima-jinja''"in ''Japa ...

and is dedicated to

Benzaiten Benzaiten (''shinjitai'': 弁才天 or 弁財天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (''shinjitai'': 弁天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist god ...

. According to shrine legend, it was established in 1269 by local fishermen. The shrine burned completely down on 5 November 2015, but it was rebuilt and expanded at the cost of 5 billion yen. The shrine reopened on 26 March 2020 after a small reopening ceremony. The ceremony was scaled down due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The main festival of the shrine is held on the third Sunday of April.

References

External links

Hachinohe City tourist information

Official website
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Kabushima on Nippon-Kichi
Shinto shrines in Aomori Prefecture Islands of Aomori Prefecture Natural monuments of Japan Hachinohe Tourist attractions in Aomori Prefecture Important Bird Areas of Japan Seabird colonies