is a group of islands ranging in the west coast of

Kitamatsuura Peninsula is a peninsula located in northwest Kyūshū, projecting northwest from an imaginary line drawn between Imari in Saga Prefecture and Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The peninsula is bounded by the East China Sea on the west and southwest ...

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 Square kilometre, km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders ...

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 name Kujūku-shima translates to "ninety-nine islands", though the total number of the islands is formally considered to be two hundred and eight. The whole area is designated as part of

Saikai National Park is a marine national park located in Nagasaki prefecture of northwest Kyūshū, Japan. It consists of the coastal regions of Matsuura Peninsula, extending northward from the port city of Sasebo and encompasses the Kujūku Islands, with over 2 ...

. The islands are shared between the city of

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

and the city of

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...

, as they dot the long saw-toothed coastline stretching between the two cities. The two biggest islands, Kuro-shima and Taka-shima, are easily accessible by ferry from the harbour of Ainoura in the north of Sasebo three times a day.

Kuro-shima

Kuro-shima ("Black Island"), the biggest island covering 5.3 km², has about 650 inhabitants who are mostly the descendants of Catholics who hid here to escape persecution after the

Shimabara Rebellion The , also known as the or , was an uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpopular polic ...

of 1637. The island church, ''Kuroshima Tenshudō'', was built in 1902. It is one of the rare brick churches in Japan. It was declared an "Important National Heritage" in 1998.Chris Taylor: ''Japan'', Lonely Planet, Berlin 1998, p. 632. There are some well-preserved old houses on the island showing the traditional architecture. Most of the island is covered by dense forest. There are a few paddy fields on Kuro-shima as well, some of them are terraces which are very rare in Japan. In the middle of the island, there is a school, an administration building and a shop. The small harbour of Kuro-shima is in the north of the island.

Taka-shima

Taka-shima ("High Island"), the second largest island covering 2.6 km², has about 250 inhabitants. Its tallest mountain is 138 m.

Gallery

Image:Sasebo99IslandsSunset2A.jpg, Kujūku Islands Image:TakashimaSasebo.jpg, Taka-shima, general view Image:Kuroshima14.jpg, Catholic church on Kuro-shima Image:Kuroshima5.jpg, Catholic church on Kuro-shima Image:Kuroshima1.jpg, Landscape on Kuro-shima Image:Kuroshima2.jpg, Traditional architecture on Kuro-shima Image:Kuroshima6.jpg, School and administration building on Kuro-shima Image:Kuroshima8.jpg, Kujūku Islands

References

External links

The introduction of Saikai National Park Kujū-ku Islands(at the Saikai pearl sea resort site)

SAIKAI PEARLSEA RESORT Official Site
Archipelagoes of Japan Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean {{Nagasaki-geo-stub

Kuro-shima

Taka-shima

Gallery

See also

References

External links