is an inhabited island in Mikawa Bay in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

, Japan off the coast of the Chita Peninsula, which is administered by the town of

Minamichita, Aichi is a town in Chita District, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,393 in 7338 households, and a population density of 453 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . Geography Minamichita is located in the ...

. All of the island is within the borders of the Mikawa-wan Quasi-National Park. It draws many tourists who come to eat the octopus and blowfish caught off the island and prepared there, to enjoy the onsen, to fish, or to spend time on the beach. Per the 2015 Japanese census, the island had a population of 1896 people in 607 households.

Geography

Himakajima is located approximately 10 kilometers from either Chita Peninsula or

Atsumi Peninsula is a peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It has an approximate length of east-west, separating Mikawa Bay (to the north) from the Philippine Sea to the south, with Ise Bay lying to its west. It faces the Chita P ...

. The highest point on the island is 30.2 meters, and is located in approximately the center of the island. Settlement is concentrated in two hamlets, one on the east and one on the west coast. The total area of the island is 0.77 square kilometers, of which approximately half is owned by the Imperial Household Agency. The island is rocky, within only 4% of its area forested, although olive trees have been introduced in recent years.

History

Himakajima has been populated since prehistoric times, and appears to have been a Kofun period necropolis, with 35 kofun burial mounds thus far identified, and which have been found to contain a large number of grave goods, from the late 6th to early 7th centuries. During the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...

it was mentioned in records as a source of

shark skin Shagreen is a type of rawhide consisting of rough untanned skin, historically from a horse's or onager's back, or from shark or ray. Etymology The word derives from the French ''chagrin'' and is related to Italian ''zigrino'' and Venetian ' ...

and dried fish. During 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 character ...

, it was part of the holdings of Owari Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate and contained a fishing settlement. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after the start of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the island was organized as a village within Chita District, Aichi. It merged with surrounding towns and villages to form the town of Minamichita on June 1, 1961.

Access

Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) offers tours to Himakajima as part of its main portfolio of tour packages. From Kōwa Station, visitors can board a bus which will take them to a high-speed boat which will take them to the island in about ten minutes.

References

External links

Himakajima Tourism Association
{{Authority control Islands of Aichi Prefecture Minamichita, Aichi