is an island located in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, a part of the city of

Nagato, Yamaguchi 270px, Ōmijima coast 270px, Rice terraces in Yuya 270px, Misuzu Kaneko Memorial Museum is a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 31,518 in 15537 households and a population density of 88 persons per ...

, Japan. It is situated within the

Kita-Nagato Kaigan Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park on the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded on 1 November 1955 and has an area of . See also * List of national parks of Japan and of Japan are places of scenic beauty that are designated for pro ...

and is renowned for being one of the '100 Best Views in Japan.' The island received its designation as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1926.

Overview

The island has an area of 14 square kilometers (14 km²) and a circumference of about 40 kilometers. The highest point on the island is a mountain peak with a height of 319.9 meters on the northeast side. The north coast of the island is eroded by the rough waves of the Sea of Japan, resulting in unique rock formations that are popular destinations for sightseeing boats that depart from Senzaki Port on the mainland. In the southwest of the island lies Lake Oomiko, a

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

surrounded by sandbanks. The main settlements are the former Senzaki village on the west side of the island and the former Tori village on the east side.

Ōmijima Whale Grave

Tori village prospered as a base for coastal whaling from the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

to the end of the

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

, utilizing an ancient whaling practice where whales were driven into the shallow bay and subsequently killed with harpoons by fishermen. The Buddhist temple in the village, Kogan-ji, houses the , which was constructed in 1692, dedicated especially to the fetuses of unborn whales whose mothers had been slaughtered. This monument, made from granite, stands 2.4 meters high. Whaling has been practiced in Japan since prehistoric times, and whales were an important resource in some coastal communities. In certain areas, stranded whales were identified with the ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' Ebisu. With the introduction of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, mourning and memorial services, whale graves, and various mounds and monuments were constructed, but only a few of these have survived into the modern era. The Ōmijima grave was designated a National Historic Site in 1935. Visitors can learn more about the state of coastal whaling at that time at the 'Kujira Museum' near Kogan-ji. Additionally, the Hayakawa Family Residence, the former home of the head of the whalers, is recognized as an Important Cultural Property.

References

External links

*
Nagato city home page

Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism, Sports and Culture Department Culture Promotion Division
{in lang, ja Nagato, Yamaguchi Islands of the Sea of Japan Islands of Yamaguchi Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Places of Scenic Beauty