is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Ōshima Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 7,102, and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 78.3 persons per km². Its total area is .

Geography

Ōshima Town covers the island of Izu Ōshima, in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, south of central Tokyo.

Climate

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōshima has declined in recent decades.

History

Mount Mihara on Izu Oshima in Japan - 2016-03-26 C

It is uncertain when human settlement first began on Ōshima, but archaeological finds from the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

have been discovered, and the island is mention from early

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 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 capita ...

documents. It is mentioned in historical records for its many volcanic eruptions. After the start 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 ...

, in 1878, the island came under the control of Tokyo-fu and was organized into six villages (Okada, Motomura, Senzu, Nomashi, Sashikiji and Habuminato) under Oshima subprefecture on April 1, 1908. The six villages were merged to form Ōshima Town on April 1, 1955. In the mid-1930s, Izu Ōshima became a popular suicide destination after three schoolgirls jumped into the active volcano in the center of the island. In 1935 alone, more than 800 suicides were recorded. The central volcano on the island, Mount Mihara erupted in 1965 and again in 1986, forcing the temporary evacuation of the inhabitants. On 16 October 2013, Typhoon Wipha passed over the island, dropping of rain in 24 hours and causing a landslide that killed 35 people.

Economy

Fishing and seasonal tourism are the mainstays of the economy of Ōshima.

Transportation

Airport

* Ōshima Airport

Harbor

* Port of Okada * Port of Motomachi

Education

Ōshima town operates three public elementary schools and three public junior high schools. Junior high schools: * Dai-ichi (No. 1 or First) (大島町立第一中学校) * Daini (No. 2 or Second) ( 大島町立第二中学校) * Daisan (No. 3 or Third) ( 大島町立第三中学校) Elementary schools: * Sakura Elementary School ( 大島町立さくら小学校) * Tsubaki Elementary School ( 大島町立つばき小学校) * Tsutsuji Elementary School ( 大島町立つつじ小学校) The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education operates two high schools in the municipality. Ōshima High School is an agriculture school known for producing baseball players, and is a marine biology school. Ōshima High School is attended primarily by children native to the island. Ōshima International Maritime Academy draws students from mainland Tokyo and neighboring Izu in order to participate in its marine biology program.

Sister cities

* Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Local attractions

The island is known for its Camellia Festival, Hanabi Festival, five black sand beaches, and several onsen.

References

External links

Ōshima Town Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima, Tokyo Towns in Tokyo Populated coastal places in Japan