Sesoko Island (瀬底島, Japanese: ''Sesoko-jima'', Okinawan: ''Shisuku-jima'') is a small island in

Okinawa Prefecture, Japan 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 ...

. Politically, the place is administered by the town of

Motobu is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town has an estimated population of 13,441 and a density of 250 persons per km2. The total area is . Several islands can be accessed from Motobu, namel ...

, which is a part of the Kunigami District in the northern

Okinawa Islands The Okinawa Islands ( or ) are an island group in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and are the principal island group of the prefecture. The Okinawa Islands are part of the larger Ryukyu Islands group and are located between the Amami Islands of Kagoshi ...

. It is a popular tourist destination due to its beaches. The island is accessible by car using the 762 meters long Sesoko Bridge. Both Iejima and Minnajima can be seen from Sesoko, and

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. Co ...

s are located 500 meters offshore the coastline.

History

By the 15th century, Sesoko was a part of the Ryukyu Kingdom, a former country that controlled much of the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

. After Japan's annexation of the kingdom in 1879, control of the island was transferred over to the modern prefecture of Okinawa. In 1950, it was put under 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 ...

as a result of the

second World War 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 ...

. Sesoko, along with the rest of Okinawa, were returned to Japan in 1972.

References

Ryukyu Islands Islands of Okinawa Prefecture {{Okinawa-geo-stub