is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

located in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

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 ...

Population

As of 2003, the district has 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 22,070 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 159.86 persons per km². The total area is 138.06 km².

Geography

The entire territory of the district is an island called

Suō-Ōshima is a town and an island located in Ōshima District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Suō-Ōshima was formed on October 1, 2004 from the merger of the former towns of Ōshima, Kuka, Tachibana and Tōwa, all from towns of Ōshima District. As ...

. The district is connected with

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

by a bridge. The area is about 138 square kilometres. There are 22,000 people on the island. The whole island is set aside as a national park. The special product is a

mandarin orange A mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), often simply called mandarin, is a small, rounded citrus tree fruit. Treated as a distinct species of orange, it is usually eaten plain or in fruit salads. The mandarin is small and oblate, unlike the ...

called "Ōshima mikan". There are 500

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

groves. Katazoegahama beach is one of the more popular beaches in the west of Japan. This is also famous for camping. There is a tennis court and a roller skate rink, near the beach. Furthermore, there is a resort hotel.

Ōshima Bridge

The Ōshima Bridge was erected in 1976. It is the second longest span in Japan of this style of bridge. The span of the bridge is 1020m. Its color is pale green. The tide in the strait under the bridge is known as one of the fastest in Japan.

Connection with Hawaii

Suō-Ōshima is the home of the emigrants from the beginning of the history of the island. The island people go everywhere around the western area of

Japanese Archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...

. In late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of the islanders went to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and worked at sugar plantation. Suō-Ōshima is also the home of the seagoing people. In the ancient and Middle Ages, sea rovers called Ochi Suigun (Ochi fleet), Kōno Suigun (Kōno fleet), Murakami Suigun (Murakami fleet) inhabits in the western area of the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large in area and is either completely surrounded by dry land (landlocked), or connected to an ocean by a river, strait or " arm of ...

. They had disbanded at 16th century but their descendants became the skilled fisherfolks. They had gone to Hawaii and became the foundation stone of the modern fishery of Hawaii. The

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 ...

is a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

Kauai, Hawaii Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the List of islands of the United States by area, 21st-largest ...

. There is a Hawaii historical museum, which was built in 1999 in Ōshima. Office workers and bus drivers in town wear colorful

aloha shirt The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...

s as a uniform in summer. In May 2007, Hawaii's replica ancient voyaging canoe '' Hōkūle'a'' visited this small island to honour the connection between Suō-Ōshima and Hawaii.

Tsuneichi Miyamoto

Tsuneichi Miyamoto, one of the greatest cultural anthropologist in Japan is the native of this island.

Towns and villages

Merger

*On October 1, 2004, the towns of

Kuka KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems. In 2016, the company was acquired by the Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group. It has 25 subsidiaries in countries including the United States, the Eur ...

, Ōshima, Tachibana and Tōwa from Oshima District merged to form the new town of

. Since then Suō-Ōshima is the sole town in the district.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima District, Yamaguchi Districts in Yamaguchi Prefecture