, native_name_link = , image_caption = Aerial photograph of Tobishima in 1976 , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_relief = 1 , pushpin_map_caption = , nickname = , location =

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, i ...

, coordinates = , archipelago = , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 2.75 , length_km = 2 , width_km = 1 , coastline_km = 10.2 , highest_mount = Takamoriyama , elevation_m = 68 , country = Japan , country_admin_divisions_title = Prefecture , country_admin_divisions = Yamagata , country_admin_divisions_title_1 =

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, country_admin_divisions_1 = Sakata , population = 275 , population_as_of = 2005 , density_km2 =91 , ethnic_groups =

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 ...

, additional_info = , is an inhabited island located in the

, administered part of Sakata,

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the nor ...

, Japan. The island, 2.75 km² in area, had 275 inhabitants as of 2005. The island has no airport, and access is normally by ferry to the city of Sakata on the mainland. The islanders are dependent mainly on

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

and seasonal tourism.

Geography

Tobishima is approximately by . It is located west of

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 se ...

. The highest point is Takamori-yama ( 高森山 ) at . The island is mostly flat, with a gentle rise from the east coast to the west coast, the west coast is characterized by steep cliffs. The port facilities are therefore located on the east coast and along with most of the population. Due to the effects of the warm Tsushima current, the island has relatively mild weather year-round average annual temperatures of 12 °C; even snowfall of 10 cm is rare. The island is covered with evergreen

deciduous tree In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

s, including ''

Eurya japonica ''Eurya japonica'', known as East Asian eurya, is a 1–3.5 m tall shrub in the Pentaphylacaceae family found in eastern China, Korea, and Japan. It is used as an ornamental plant. In shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified ...

.''

Important Bird Area

Tobishima serves as an important site for some 270 species of

migratory bird Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting b ...

s. It, with neighbouring, and much smaller, Oshakujima, have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for their

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

of black-tailed gulls.

Climate

History

Tobishima has been populated for several thousand years, with archaeological finds from the early Jōmon period dated to 6000–7000 years ago. In the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, the island was controlled by the

Abe clan The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans (''uji''); and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The ...

, followed by the

Kiyohara clan The was a powerful clan of the far north of Japan during the Heian period, descended from Prince Toneri, son of Emperor Tenmu (631–686). Kiyohara no Fusanori (9th century) had two sons: the elder was the ancestor of the samurai branch fam ...

. In 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 characte ...

, it was part of the holdings of the

Sakai clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Nitta branch of the Minamoto clan, who were in turn descendants of Emperor Seiwa. Serata (Nitta) Arichika, a samurai of the 14th century, was the common ancestor of both the Sakai ...

at Shonai Domain and an occasional port for the ''

kitamaebune The was a shipping route (and also the ships involved) in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji era. The route went from Osaka through the Seto Inland Sea and the Kanmon Straits to ports in Hokuriku on the Sea of Japan and later to Hokkaidō. ...

'' coastal trading vessels. As of April 1950, the village of Tobishima and thus the island was annexed by the city of Sakata, Yamagata.

References

*National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGIA). ''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Japan Enroute''. Prostar Publications (2005).

External links

Official home page
{{Authority control Islands of Yamagata Prefecture Islands of the Sea of Japan Sakata, Yamagata Important Bird Areas of Japan Seabird colonies