The is a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

in the

Yanbaru is the Okinawan and Kunigami name given to the forested northern part of Okinawa Island in Japan. Spanning the northern villages of Higashi, Kunigami, and Ōgimi, Yambaru contains some of the last large surviving tracts of subtropical rain ...

region of

Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an ...

. It is surrounded by Nago Bay to the east, the Haneda Inland Sea to the north, and the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated ...

to the west.Okinawa Island Guide " Nago City / Motobu Town / Nakijin Village
Okinawa Island Guide » Nago City / Motobu Town / Nakijin Village
accessdate: April 4, 2017Google Maps
Google Maps
accessdate: April 3, 2017 It is mostly

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

, with a few

plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...

. The peninsula's northeasternmost point is Cape Bise.Figure 5 of 6
terminal point
accessdate: April 3, 2017 Its highest point is

Mount Yae , also known as Mount Yaedake or Yae-take, is a mountain in Motobu, Okinawa on Okinawa Island. It is the tallest mountain on the Motobu Peninsula, standing at . Nakijin Castle and Nago Castle were built nearby in the 14th century. The mountain it ...

, whose summit is .Stripes Okinawa
Japan's cherry blossom season starts here , Stripes Okinawa
, accessdate: April 3, 2017 Due to a

US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...

communications tower, the summit is off-limits.Map It! Okinawa: January 2017
Map It! Okinawa: January 2017
accessdate: April 5, 2017Map It! Okinawa: Cherry Blossoms on Yaedake (Mt. Yae)

accessdate: April 5, 2017 The peninsula was the center of power for the kingdom of

Hokuzan , also known as before the 18th century, located in the north of Okinawa Island, was one of three independent political entities which controlled Okinawa in the 14th century during Sanzan period. The political entity was identified as a tiny co ...

in medieval times, and was the site of fierce fighting during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

in 1945.

Transportation

The Okinawa Expressway connects Naha to Nago. Japan National Route 58 crosses the bottom of the Motobu Peninsula. Japan National Route 505 connects Motobu Town to Haneji, as Japan National Route 449 connects Motobu to Nago. Both Route 404 and Route 449 run around the edge of the Motobu Peninsula.

Sites

In the area are Nago Castle and

Nakijin Castle is a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' located in Nakijin, Okinawa. It is currently in ruins. In the late 14th century, the island of Okinawa consisted of three principalities: Nanzan to the south, Chūzan in the central area, and Hokuzan in the north. Nak ...

. The Native Okinawan Village is also there. Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium features the world's third largest

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

tank.Lonely Planet
which features the world's largest aquarium tank.
accessdate: April 2, 2017 View of Motobu Peninsula from Japan Route 58 near Kyoda Interchange 2

View of Motobu Peninsula from Japan Route 58 near Kyoda Interchange 2

Rivers

* Oigawa River * Shiokawa River (a national natural treasure, the shortest river in Japan, and has salt water.)

Beaches

* Uppama Beach * Emerald beach (inside Ocean Expo Park) * Shiokawa Beach * Nagahama Beach * Forest of the 21st Century Beach

Geology

The east side of the Motobu Peninsula is truncated by the Nago fault, bounding the northwestern coast of Okinawa Island. This area is of zone of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ...

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

and

igneous rocks Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

.http://ir.library.tohoku.ac.jp/re/bitstream/10097/44970/1/AA0045945073324.pdf

accessdate: April 4, 2017 The

Pleistocene Ryukyu Group The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

comprises the northern part of the peninsula.Stratigraphy of the Ryukyu Group on northern Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
Stratigraphy of the Ryukyu Group on northern Motobu Peninsula, Okinawa-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
accessdate: April 4, 2017

Municipalities on the Motobu Peninsula

* Motobu * Nago *

Nakijin is a village located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the village has an estimated population of 9,529 and a population density of 239.00 persons per km2. The total area is 39.87 km2. Education The village ope ...

Events which took place on the Motobu Peninsula

*Invasion of

(1416) *Initial Japanese landing during the

Invasion of Ryukyu The by forces of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma took place from March to May of 1609, and marked the beginning of the Ryukyu Kingdom's status as a vassal state under the Satsuma domain. The invasion force was met with stiff resistan ...

(1609) *Fighting on Mount Yae during the

(1945) *

Expo '75 Expo '75 ( ) was a World's Fair held on the island of Okinawa in Japan from July 20, 1975 to January 18, 1976. History Expo 75 was conceived, in part, to commemorate the American handover of Okinawa to Japan in 1972. The theme of the expo ...

Miss International 1975 Miss International 1975, the 15th Miss International pageant, was held on November 3, 1975, at the Okinawa's Expo Portside Theater in Motobu, Japan. 48 contestants competed for the pageant. Finally, Lidija Manić from Yugoslavia crown as Miss In ...

People from the Motobu Peninsula

Kanbun Uechi was the founder of Uechi-Ryū, one of the primary karate styles of Okinawa. Early life Kanbun was born in Deikusaku section but grew up in the Takintō section of the mountain farming village of Izumi on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, Ue ...

, the founder of Uechi-ryū, one of the primary

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

styles of Okinawa, was from the Motobu Peninsula.

Nearby islands

* Iejima (also "Ie Shima") is near the Motobu Peninsula. Notably,

Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the ...

died, on Iejima * Kōri-jima, which is connects to Yagaji Island by a bridge * Minnajima *

Sesokojima Sesoko Island (瀬底島, Japanese: ''Sesoko-jima'', Okinawan: ''Shisuku-jima'') is a small island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Politically, the place is administered by the town of Motobu, which is a part of the Kunigami District in the nor ...

, which is connected to Motobu Peninsula by a bridge * Yagaji Island, which is connected to Motobu Peninsula by a bridge

United States military operations on Motobu Peninsula

During the

, by April 10, 1945 the Motobu Peninsula had been mostly secured.

Motobu Airfield Motobu Airfield is a World War II airfield on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, near the East China Sea coast. The airfield was deactivated after 1945. History The airfield was built in April 1945 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and ...

was located on Motobu Peninsula, but was decommissioned after 1945.

Other peninsulas on Okinawa

* Chinen Peninsula * Henoko Peninsula *

Katsuren Peninsula The is a peninsula on Okinawa Island. It is bordered by Nakagusuku Bay to the south, Kin Bay to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the east.South China Morning PostThe stunning fortresses of Okinawa have endured centuries of conflict , Post ...

Yomitan Peninsula is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Geography Yomitan is located on the western coast of the central part of Okinawa Island. The village is bound to the north by Onna, to the east by Okinawa City, to the ...

References

External links and references

Lonely Planet on Motobu Peninsula

Places to see on Motobu Peninsula

A google map

{{Okinawa Okinawa Prefecture Tourist attractions in Okinawa Prefecture Geography of Okinawa Prefecture