is a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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 n ...

. The subprefecture covers the

Ogasawara Archipelago The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

and is coterminous with the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

of Ogasawara. The prefectural government maintains a main office on

Chichijima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

and a branch office on

Hahajima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of the Hahajima Rettō (Imōtojima is mislabeled as Tori-shima) , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Hahajima , pushpin_label_position = , pushp ...

. The Ogasawara Archipelago refer to a scattered group of islands in the Northwest Pacific south of the Japanese main island 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 sepa ...

. They consist of the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic rea ...

, also known as the Ogasawara Islands, the

Volcano Islands The or are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop ...

(Kazan Islands) and several isolated islets.UNESCO World Heritage, Tentative List
"Ogasawara Islands" (Ref. 5095)
proposed by the

Ministry of the Environment (Japan) The is a Cabinet-level ministry of the government of Japan responsible for global environmental conservation, pollution control, and nature conservation. The ministry was formed in 2001 from the sub-cabinet level Environmental Agency establishe ...

. January 30, 2007. The subprefecture covers 104.41 square km and 2,415 people.

History

Until 1830, the islands were uninhabited and thus called ''Muninjima'' (meaning "uninhabited island"). This Japanese name was transliterated or transformed into the more widely known English name—the

. The Bonin Islands (the Ogasawara Islands) are composed of the three island groups: * Chichijima Islands * Hahajima Islands * Mukojima Islands. These main island clusters are encompassed within the Tokyo prefectural administrative area known as the Ogasawara Subprefecture; only these three island groups are traditionally considered to be the Bonin Islands. These geologically older and larger islands are traditionally considered distinct from the administratively-related but geologically newer and smaller island clusters and other isolated outcroppings in this part of the Pacific.

Okinotorishima , or Parece Vela, is a coral reef with two rocks enlarged with tetrapod-cement structures. It is administered by Japan with a total shoal area of and land area . Its dry land area is mostly made up by three concrete encasings and there is a ...

was added to the subprefecture in 1930.Yong Hong, Seoung. (2009)
''Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea,'' p. 148
The current Japanese administrative structure has its historical organizational roots in the post-war occupation of these strategically positioned Pacific islands. In the 23 years that the islands were administered by the Americans, the region was known as the Bonin-Volcano Islands.McCormack, Gavan

''JPRI Occasional Paper,'' No. 15 (August 1999). Prior to

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

in 1968, this military strategic area remained under the control of U.S. military occupation forces.Zicus, Sandra. (2001)

Geography

The three main groups which comprise the

are at the northern end of the archipelago. All the islands together comprise only 61 square kilometers; and they are: Mukojima, Ogasawara, Tokyo

* —the northernmost cluster. :* :* :* ::... plus a few outcrops, the most remote northerly one is Minamijima, Ogasawara, Tokyo

* —the middle cluster. :* :* :* :* ::... plus islets known only as :::* :::* :::* Hahajima-oki

* the —the southernmost cluster. :* :* :* :* ::... plus a few other small and miscellaneous islands known as :::* :::* * , west of the Bonin Islands * , to the south: ** ** ** * and two isolated islands to the south: ** , far to the west ** , far to the east

Ecology

The islands are part of the distinct and biodiverse

Ogasawara subtropical moist forests The Ogasawara subtropical moist forests is a terrestrial ecoregion which encompasses the Ogasawara Archipelago of Japan. The Ogasawara Archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean south of Honshu, Japan's largest island, and north of the Marianas Isla ...

ecoregion, and are home to many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

species. Lessons learned the hard way from the experience of the Galapagos Islands are potentially paradoxical. The ecosystem fragility is well documented; and it suggests comparisons with the cautious development history of the Galapagos.

Culture

The islanders also stress the uniquely multicultural roots of the Ogasawara life, where roughly one-tenth of the Japanese population is descended from early European and American settlers, with some families going back up to seven generations.

Notes

References

* Freeman, Otis Willard. (1951)
''Geography of the Pacific.''
New York:

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

. * McCormack, Gavan
"Dilemmas of Development on The Ogasawara Islands,"
''JPRI Occasional Paper,'' No. 15 (August 1999).

Japan Policy Research Institute The Japan Policy Research Institute (JPRI) is a non-profit organization organized under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that was founded in 1994 by Chalmers Johnson and Steven C. Clemons in order "to promote public education ab ...

(

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

External links

Ogasawara Island Branch Office official website
{{Coord, 27.09566, 142.191042, format=dms, display=inline,title, type:city_region:JP_scale:100000 Subprefectures in Tokyo Bonin Islands