or Kakeroma-tō is one of the Satsunan Islands, classed with the Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 1,600 persons. Administratively it is part of the town of Setouchi in Kagoshima Prefecture. Much of the island is within the borders of the

Amami Guntō Quasi-National Park The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is an archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is southwest o ...

Geography

Kakeromajima is a rugged island southeast of

Amami Ōshima , also known as Amami, is the largest island in the Amami archipelago between Kyūshū and Okinawa. It is one of the Satsunan Islands. The island, 712.35 km2 in area, has a population of approximately 73,000 people. Administratively it is ...

, from which it is separated by a narrow strait. The island has an area of , but a coastline approximately . The highest point is above sea level. The coast of the island is surrounded by a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

. The climate of Kakeromajima is classified as a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfa'') with very warm summers and mild winters. The rainy season lasts from May through September. The island is subject to frequent

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

History

It is uncertain when Kakeromajima was first settled. The island came under the control of the Satsuma Domain in 1609 and its incorporation into the official holdings of that domain was recognized by 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 ...

in 1624. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

it was incorporated into

Ōsumi Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Kagoshima Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga and Satsuma Provinces. Osumi's ancient capital was near modern Kokubu. During the Sengoku ...

and later became part of Kagoshima Prefecture. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the island was fortified and garrisoned by the Japanese military, and served as an occasional anchorage for ships of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

and in the final stages of the war, as a base for Shinyo-class suicide motorboats. Anti-aircraft batteries on Kakeromajima shot down 18 Allied aircraft attempting to bomb neighboring Amami-Oshima. Following

, although with the other Amami Islands, Kakeromajima was occupied by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

until 1953, at which time it reverted to the control of Japan.

Transportation

Kakeromajima is connected to Amami-Oshima by frequent ferry services. There are 30 small hamlets on the island, but no main settlement.

In popular culture

* Tora-san to the Rescue – the final episode in the long-running

Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the ' ...

movie series starring

Kiyoshi Atsumi Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...

was partly set on Kakeromajima. *''

The Sting of Death is a 1990 Japanese film directed by Kōhei Oguri and based on the novel by Toshio Shimao. It tells the story of a writer with a wandering eye and his jealous wife. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at ...

'' (''Shi no toge''), a 1989 film, was partly shot on location in Kakeromajima.Gabriel, "Notes to Pages 9-11," p
237
"Several full-scale shinyo models were constructed for the 1989 movie Shi no toge, shot partly on location in Kakeromajima."

References

* Gabriel, Philip. ''Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature''.

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, 1999. , 9780824820893. * Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, Tōichi Mabuchi, Keiō Gijuku Daigaku. Gengo Bunka Kenkyūjo. ''Folk religion and the worldview in the southwestern Pacific: papers submitted to a symposium, the Eleventh Pacific Science Congress held in August–September 1966''. Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies. Keio University, 1968.

External links