is an island located in the
Sea of Japan. Located in the north west of
Yamaguchi Prefecture, it is a part of
Shimonoseki city. The island has an area of and has a coastline of . The island consists primarily of
basalt, and is a part of the
Kita-Nagato Kaigan Quasi-National Park
is a Quasi-National Park on the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded on 1 November 1955 and has an area of .
See also
* List of national parks of Japan
and in Japan are places of scenic beauty designated for protection and ...
.
As of 28 August 2008, the population of Tsunoshima is 907.
Geography
Once separated from
Honshu, Tsunoshima is now accessible via the long
Tsunoshima Bridge
is a bridge located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The bridge connects the island of Tsunoshima to mainland Japan.
Overview
Tsunoshima Bridge crosses the Amagaseto Strait in the Sea of Japan, linking the island of Tsunoshima with the mainlan ...
, which was completed in the year 2000. At the time it was the longest toll free bridge in the country, though the completion of the Kouri Bridge in
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 ...
pushed it into second place. On the north west of the island is the
Tsunoshima Lighthouse
is a lighthouse on the island of Tsunoshima in the city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is notable as being one of only six lighthouses in Japan which had a first order Fresnel lens, the most powerful type of Fresnel lens.
Histo ...
, which has come to be the symbol of Tsunoshima.
Before the war, Tsunoshima contained a military site of the former
Imperial Japanese Army. To this day a part of this still remains.
The whale species ''Balaenoptera omurai'' (
Omura's whale) was first identified here.
[ (reprinted on babec.org)]
History
Tsunoshima first appears in the written record in the
Nara period (710 – 794). The name of the island appears on a ''
mokkan'' wooden slip excavated at the site of the
Heijō Palace in
Nara. The ''mokkan'' is dated March 29, 746, and was attached to a tribute of seaweed to the imperial court.
A reference to the island also appears in a poem in the sixteenth part of the ''
Man'yōshū
The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...
'', the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, completed in 759. The ''
Engishiki'', a Japanese book of laws and regulations compiled in 927, refers to a ranch on the island, which was then part of
Nagato Province.
Over time the island was developed for agriculture, as well as supporting a fishing village.
In the
Edo period (1603 – 1868) the island became part of the
Chōfu Domain
The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Nagato Province (modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture).
List of lords
*Mōri clan ( Tozama; 60,000->50,000->38,000->47,000->50,000 koku
The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 kok ...
, but was transferred to the
Chōshū Domain
The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81
The Chōshū Domain was base ...
in 1718. After five years the island returned to the Chōfu Domain. The island was noted for the production of materials to make
tatami matting,
sesame
Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...
seeds, and
beef.
As a local administrative unit, under the 1889 municipal system Tsunoshima Village was a part of the
Toyoura district and under a 1955 unification it became part of
Hōhoku Town. In 2005, as the four towns which made up the Toyoura district (
Hōhoku,
Kikugawa
is a city located in the western portion of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,484 in 17,916 households, and a population density of 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known f ...
,
Toyoura and
Toyota) merged with the city of
Shimonoseki, Tsunoshima became a part of the city.
Sightseeing areas
*
Tsunoshima Lighthouse
is a lighthouse on the island of Tsunoshima in the city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is notable as being one of only six lighthouses in Japan which had a first order Fresnel lens, the most powerful type of Fresnel lens.
Histo ...
, built in 1876
*
Tsunoshima Bridge
is a bridge located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The bridge connects the island of Tsunoshima to mainland Japan.
Overview
Tsunoshima Bridge crosses the Amagaseto Strait in the Sea of Japan, linking the island of Tsunoshima with the mainlan ...
* Tsunoshima Nature Museum
* Tsunoshima Beach
Tsunoshima is home to many
spider lily
Spider lily is the common name for a number of different plant species within the family Amaryllidaceae which belong to the following genera:
* ''Crinum'', a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants in the family Amaryllidaceae found along ...
flowers. Following the opening of Tsunoshima Bridge, the area has frequently been used as a location for films and television shows. The 2005 movie ''Miracle in Four Days'' (四日間の奇跡 ''yokkakan no kiseki'') was set across almost the entire island. In 2006, Tsunoshima became the location for a special episode of
Fuji Television's popular drama,
''Hero''.
[In the episode, Tsunoshima was called 虹ヶ浦 (Nijigaura)]
The island is also a popular are for camping and sport fishing.
Access
From
National Route 191 turn onto Yamaguchi Route 275 towards Shimado, then turn onto Yamaguchi Route 276, crossing the Tsunoshima Bridge.
Tsunoshima is serviced by a bus which is available from
Kottoi Station
is a JR West railway station located in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. People who disembark at Kottoi Station can take a 20-minute bus ride to Tsunoshima via the Tsunoshima Bridge, a bridge that joins Tsunoshima to the mainl ...
and
Takibe Station
is a JR West San'in Main Line railway station located in Hōhoku, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the stations on the Misuzu Shiosai Experience, which takes place on certain trains during the day between Nagatoshi a ...
, both of which are located on the
San'in Main Line.
Footnotes and References
External links
Shimonoseki Official Website
Shimonoseki Official Website
Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (Geographical Survey Institute) map of Tsunoshima
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsunoshima
Islands of the Sea of Japan
Tourist attractions in Yamaguchi Prefecture
Shimonoseki
Islands of Yamaguchi Prefecture