is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

off the northwestern tip of

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 ...

. The island sits off the coast of Hokkaidō. Rebun stretches from north to south and from east to west. The island covers approximately . Rebun Island is located northwest of

Rishiri Island is a high island in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. Administratively the island is part of Hokkaido Prefecture, and is divided between two towns, Rishiri and Rishirifuji. The island is formed by the cone-shaped extinct ...

, and the two islands are separated by the Rebun Channel. Rebun Island is known for its alpine flowers and the 8-Hour Hiking Course which runs from one end of the island to the other, north to south. The hiking course can be broken into two sections, known as the 4-Hour Hiking Courses. Rebun Island is home to a

chashi is the Japanese term for the hilltop fortifications of the Ainu. The word is of Ainu origin, from チャシ (''casi'', ), which means palisade or palisaded compound; a rival theory relates this to the Korean term 잣 (''cas'', ''jat'', ) of r ...

, or hilltop fortification of the Ainu people. The highest point on the island is Mount Rebun (). The island is part of the

Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park is a national park on the Rishiri Island, Rebun Island, and a coastal area from Wakkanai to Horonobe at the north-western tip of Hokkaidō, Japan. Areas of the park cover . The park is noted for its alpine flora and views of volcanic mountains ...

. Fossilized remains of

long-finned pilot whale The long-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala melas'') is a large species of oceanic dolphin. It shares the genus '' Globicephala'' with the short-finned pilot whale (''Globicephala macrorhynchus''). Long-finned pilot whales are known as such bec ...

s that are now extinct in the north Pacific have been excavated on Rebun Island, and remains of funerals for

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

s, possibly referring them as

Repun Kamuy Repun Kamuy is the Ainu people, Ainu ''kamuy'' (''god'') of the sea. Depiction Repun Kamuy is sometimes depicted as an orca. In other instances, he is a carefree, somewhat mischievous young man armed with a harpoon.Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook ...

(God of Sea/Offshore) have been found as well.Miyanaga T.. 2014. "（北海道）「シャチ送り」の遺構か　礼文島の遺跡で出土".

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

. Retrieved on October 04, 2017 Rebun Island is also the site where the last reliable record of the extinct

Japanese sea lion The Japanese sea lion (''Zalophus japonicus'') ( ja, ニホンアシカ, translit=Nihon ashika, Korean:강치, 바다사자) was an aquatic mammal that became extinct in the 1970s. It was considered to be a subspecies of the related California se ...

came from in 1974.

Etymology

The name of the island comes from the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

, in which "Repun" means "(island) in the open sea" (from ''rep'' "the offing, open sea" + ''-un'' "to be in ~").

Climate

Areas of interest

* Mount Rebun * Peach Rock, or ''Momoiwa'' * Jizo Rock * Cat Rock, or ''Nekoiwa'' * Cape Sukoton * Cape Kaneda * Cape Gorota * Cape Sukai *

Todo Island Todo may refer to: * Todo Bichig, Kalmyk ‘Clear Script’ * To-do list, a time management implementation * TODO (tag), a computer programming comment tag * ''Todo'' (album) Tōdō may refer to: * Tōkyūjutsu () or Tōdō (), a Japanese divina ...

* Lake Kushu * Yamunai Valley * Rebun Forest Road * Rebun Falls

Communities

All communities on Rebun Island are part of the town of Rebun in Rebun District. From roughly from north to south, they are: * Sukoton * Awabikoton * Hamanaka * Funadomari * Horodomari * Uedomari * Nairo * Kitousu * Kafukai * Kafuka * Shiretoko

Transportation

* Ferry link to

Wakkanai ' meaning "cold water river" is a city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. It contains Japan's northernmost point, Cape Sōya, from which the Russian island of Sakhalin can be seen. As of ...

, and

Otaru is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular to ...

via Rishiri * Air link to

Wakkanai Airport is an airport located east southeast of Wakkanai, Hokkaidō, Japan. Wakkanai is the northernmost airport in Japan that is capable of handling jet aircraft; due to its small size, it is susceptible to closures during the coldest winter months, ...

Ancient people

A Jomon woman excavated from Funadomari remains (about 3,800 - 3,500 YBP) on the Rebun Island in Hokkaido belongs to Haplogroup D1b2a(D-CTS220).神澤ほか(2016)「礼文島船泊縄文人の核ゲノム解析」第70回日本人類学大�

in Japanese) This discovery proved the hypothesis that Haplogroup D1b is one of the Jomon linages.

In popular culture

In the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series '' Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma'', the island is the last step in the Promotion test which takes place across Hokkaido Island.

Gallery

File:Rebun island seen from Rishiri island.jpg, Rebun island (background) seen from

Mount Rishiri is a Quaternary stratovolcano located off the coast of Hokkaidō, Japan in the Sea of Japan. It rises out of the Sea of Japan forming Rishiri Island. Because its cone shape resembles Mount Fuji it is sometimes referred to as Rishiri Fuji. It is ...

File:Lake Kusyu.JPG, Lake Kusyu on Rebun island File:Rebun Island Cat Rock.JPG, Neko-iwa, 'cat rock' File:Momoiwa.JPG, Momo-iwa, 'peach rock' File:sukai.jpg, Sukai Cape File:Sukoton.JPG, Sukoton Cape and Todo island File:Rebun_Island_20140814.jpg, Rebun Island in 2014

References

External links

* {{Authority control Islands of the Sea of Japan Islands of Hokkaido