Miyagi Island or Miyagijima (宮城島,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ''Miyagi-jima'', Okinawan: ''Naagushiku-jima'') is an island located in the

Yokatsu Islands The Yokatsu Islands (与勝諸島, ''Yokatsu-shotō'') are a group of Island, islands located near the Katsuren Peninsula of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It consists of both inhabited and uninhabited islets. Islands The Yokatsu Islands consist of ...

Okinawa Prefecture 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 o ...

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 is also known as Takanaharijima (タカナハリジマ) in the

Okinawan language The Okinawan language (, , , ) or Central Okinawan, is a Northern Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the Okinawa Island, island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama Islands, Ker ...

, meaning "a high and distant island". This is a reference to its greater elevation compared to other nearby landmarks. Miyagi Island is connected to the main

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

through a bridge that runs across Henza Island, making it accessible by car or bus. There are four villages on the island: ''Uehara'' (上原), ''Miyagi'' (宮城), ''Tōbaru'' (桃原) and ''Ikemi'' (池味).

History

Along with the rest of the Yokatsu Islands, Miyagi was under the control of

Chūzan was one of three kingdoms which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century. Okinawa, previously controlled by a number of local chieftains or lords, loosely bound by a paramount chieftain or king of the entire island, split into these three more so ...

during the

Sanzan period The is a period in the history of the Okinawa Islands when three lines of kings, namely , and , are said to have co-existed on Okinawa Island. It is said to have started during King Tamagusuku's reign (traditional dates: 1314–1336) and, accord ...

. In 1429, Chūzan united the Okinawa Islands and formed the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

. Under Ryukyuan rule, Miyagi Island was used as a place of exile for political criminals. In 1879, the Ryukyu Kingdom was annexed by the

Japanese Empire The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

, and control of Miyagi Island was transferred to

. At the end of

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 opposin ...

, Miyagi Island went under the control of the

United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands The was the civil administration government in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (centered on Okinawa Island), replacing the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands (itself created at the conclusion of World War II) in 1950, and functio ...

, lasting from 1950 to 1972. It was returned to Japan following the

Okinawa Reversion Agreement The was an agreement between the United States and Japan in which the United States relinquished in favor of Japan all rights and interests under Article III of the Treaty of San Francisco, which had been obtained as a result of the Pacific War, ...

. As evidenced by the ruins of Shigumu and Takamine, humans have inhabited the island since ancient times.

Climate

References

{{Okinawa-geo-stub Yokatsu Islands

History

Climate

See also

References