is an inhabited island lying off the southern tip of the

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. Overview The area south of the “ Central Tectonic Line” is called , and is home to reef-like coral communities which are amongst ...

and the southernmost point of

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 ...

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 ...

. It has an estimated population of around 2000, and is administratively part of the town of

Kushimoto 270px, Shionomisaki Southernmost Point Park is a coastal town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,192 in 8354 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The ...

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

. The island is approximately in length from east-to-west by north-to-south.

Geography

Kii Ōshima is located approximately one kilometer to the east of

Cape Shionomisaki is a headland located in southern Kii Peninsula in the Kansai Region of Japan. It is located within the borders of the town of Kushimoto in Wakayama Prefecture, and is the Extreme points of Japan, most southerly point of the island of Honshu, and ...

and the island of Myogajima, and 1.8 kilometers from mainland

Honshu , 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 separ ...

. It has an intricate

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a Drainage system (geomorphology)#Dendritic dr ...

coastline are is noted for sea cliffs on all sides except for its western end. Cape Kashinozaki extends from the eastern end of the island, and is surrounded by semi-submerged reefs and rocks. The island has a circumference of and an area of 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 ...

surrounds the island, forming a fertile fishing ground, and approximately 60% of the interior of the island is cultivated. There are several hamlets, located in the south of the island. The island is connected to mainland Honshū by a series of three arch bridges. The road over the bridges opened to through traffic on September 8, 1999.

History

Fishermen from

Taiji Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Ta ...

and Kushimoto have been using Kii Ōshima as a base for a long time. Ōshima Port, which is the center of the island, has prospered from 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 ...

as both a fishing port as well as shelter for boats seeking protection from inclement weather on the coastal trading route between

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and the eastern provinces of Japan. Whaling has also been practiced for a long time, and Nippon Suisan Kaisha's whaling base was located at Ōshima Port. The Japan-U.S. Friendship Memorial Hall on the island commemorates the visit of the trade vessels ''

Lady Washington ''Lady Washington'' is a ship name shared by at least four different 80-100 ton-class Sloop-of-war and merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. The original sailed during the American Revolutionary War and harassed British shi ...

'', under

Captain John Kendrick John Kendrick (1740–1794) was an American sea captain during the American Revolutionary War, and was involved in the exploration and maritime fur trading of the Pacific Northwest alongside his subordinate Robert Gray. He was the leader of th ...

, and ''Grace'', under William Douglas, in 1791. These ships and their crews were the first American ships to visit Japan, but were turned away by officials of 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 ...

under Japan's national seclusion policy at the time. . The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum commemorates the victims of the Ottoman frigate ''Ertuğrul'', which sank in a typhoon off of the island in 1890 with great loss of life. The village of Ōshima was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was annexed by the town of Kushimoto on January 15, 1958.

Gallery

Kushimoto-toruko-ireihi.jpg, Ertuğru Memorial Turkish Memorial and Museum Kushimoto Wakayama pref Japan02-b.jpg, Turkish Museum Umikongo Feb2010.jpg, coast of Kii-Ōshima

References

External links

Islands of Wakayama Prefecture Kushimoto, Wakayama {{wakayama-geo-stub

Geography

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links