is a small
volcanic deserted island in the
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
approximately south of
Tokyo, and west of
Hachijō-jima, in the northern
Izu archipelago,
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 ...
. Administratively the island is within
Hachijō,
Tokyo,
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 ...
.
Geography
Oriented in the same northwest to southeast direction as Hachijō-jima, the 1.3 × 3 km Hachijōkojima is surrounded by high cliffs. The summit of the island is the mountain with a height of . Located in the
Kuroshio Current, the area has abundant sea life, and is popular with sports fishermen and scuba divers.
History
During the
Heian period,
Minamoto no Tametomo
, also known as , was a samurai who fought in the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156. He was the son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi, and brother to Yukiie and Yoshitomo.
Tametomo is known in the epic chronicles as a powerful archer and it is said that he onc ...
was banished to
Izu Ōshima after a failed rebellion, but per a semi-legendary story, escaped to Hachijōjima, where he attempted to establish an independent kingdom, and he built his castle on the more easily defended Hachijōkojima. Although the legend has not been verified with historical or archaeological evidence, Hachijōkojima has been inhabited since at least the
Muromachi period. As with neighboring Hachijōjima, during the
Edo period, the island was a place for
exile of convicts. As the strait separating Hachijōkojima from Hachijōjima has a strong current preventing escape by raft or swimming, the more serious criminals were isolated on the island. Its use as a prison came to an end in the
Meiji period. During this time, there were two hamlets on the island: in the northeast, and in the southwest. These hamlets became part of the town of
Hachijō in 1955. The population peaked at 513 residents in the Meiji period, but by 1955 the population had shrunk to only 50. In 1965, the remaining residents voted to abandon the island, citing lack of basic public services (including electricity, health care and schools) and the island's inability to support more than a very basic subsistence lifestyle. There have been no residents of Hachijōkojima since 1969, when the last group of 31 left the island.
See also
*
Battle Royale (film), a controversial 2000 film filmed on Hachijōkojima although not set on the island.
*
Desert island
*
List of islands
*
List of volcanoes in Japan
References
* ''Teikoku's Complete Atlas of Japan'', Teikoku-Shoin Co., Ltd. Tokyo 1990,
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hachijo-kojima
Izu Islands
Uninhabited islands of Japan
Former populated places in Japan
Extinct volcanoes
Islands of Tokyo