is a village located in Ōshima Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis,

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 village comprises the whole of To-shima Island. The island, at , is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Izu Island chain. Approximately 330 people live on the island. Eighty per cent of the island is covered by camellia forests. From November to March, much of the island is red from the camellia flowers. The island is also home to the ''Saku'' lily ('' Lilium auratum'' var. ''platyphyllum''), the largest lily in the world. The island is between Izu Ōshima, the largest of the

Izu Islands The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ō ...

, and

Nii-jima is a volcanic Japanese island administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. It is one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago, and is located approximately south of Tōkyō and south of Shi ...

. Ferries that sail to

make a brief stop in To-shima. Toshima is also accessible (weather permitting) by helicopter departing from Ōshima island, from Ōshima airport it is a 10-minute flight to To-shima. The main industry on To-shima is fishing. There is some small-scale farming and tourism.

Geography

, a volcanic island in the

, is administered by the Tōkyō Metropolitan government. It lies south of Tōkyō and east of the

Izu Peninsula The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsul ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. To-shima forms part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The island has been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports populations of Japanese wood pigeons, Pleske's grasshopper warblers, Ijima's leaf-warblers and Izu thrushes.

Education

There is a single combined elementary and junior high school, Toshima Elementary and Junior High School (利島村立利島小中学校). For high school students may attend schools on other islands operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education.

Gallery

File:ToshimaPortTyoJpDec04-0001.jpg, Toshima Port

Notes

References

* ''Teikoku's Complete Atlas of Japan'', Teikoku-Shoin Co., Ltd. Tokyo 1990, * ''Saishin-Nihon-chizu 1990 - Atlas of Japan'', Imidas Shueisha, Tokyo

External links