is a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
located in
Shimajiri District
is a district located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
Etymology
Modern translation of Shimajiri means "Butt of the island" which may refer to its southerly position on the island of Okinawa. Compare this to Kunigami District, Okinawa.
Howev ...
,
Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...
,
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 ...
. It encompasses the island of
Iheya.
As of October 2016, the village 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 1,214 and the
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 56 persons per km
2. The total area is 21.72 km
2.
Geography
Iheya Village includes the islands of
Iheya and
Noho
NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...
, that are linked together through the Noho-Ōhashi Bridge. Most of the land is covered with forests and a part is registered as “agriculture promotion area” (農業振興地域).
��縄県伊平屋村公共施設用地等土地利用計画
Iheya Village has an area of 2172ha (21.72 km²), the land use survey of 2006 showed that 1146 ha (52.8%) were mountain forests, 285 ha (13.1%) were agricultural dry fields, 206 ha (9.5%) were moorlands, 123 ha (5.7%) were paddy fields, 37 ha (1.7%) were residential and 25 ha (1.2%) consisted in protective woods.
Iheya has given its name to a few species, including Iheyahigekusa grass (''Schoenus calostachyus''), Iheyayamatakamaimai snail (''Satsuma iheyaensis'') or Iheyatokagemodoki lizard (''
Goniurosaurus toyamai'').
Administrative divisions
The village includes five wards.
*Dana (田名)
*Gakiya (我喜屋)
*Maedomari (前泊)
*Noho (野甫)
*Shimajiri (島尻)
Dana, Maedomari, Gakiya and Shimajiri are on Iheya Island and Noho on Noho Island. Dana is sheltered on three sides by mountains, but Maedomari, Gakiya and Shimajiri are on alluvial deposits along the coast.
Climate
Ihaya Village is located in the subtropical zone. The dominant wind blows south-south-west, with a change for a north-north-west wind from autumn to winter. The annual mean precipitations are relatively high, around 2000 mm but vary highly by seasons. Agricultural products may be damaged by typhoons or by droughts in summer and autumn.
Education
* Iheya Junior High School (伊平屋中学校)
* Iheya Elementary School (伊平屋小学校)
Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education The Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education (沖縄県教育委員会) is the prefectural education agency of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.
The board oversees municipal school districts in Okinawa and directly operates many high schools.
Schools dir ...
operates high schools elsewhere in the prefecture.
Cultural Properties
*Name (Japanese) (Type of registration)
Cultural Properties
*Iheya Island Lighthouse (伊平屋島灯台)
Folk Cultural Properties
*Kami-Ashiage sacred site in Gakiya (伊平屋村我喜屋の神あしあげ) (Prefectural)
*Kami-Ashiage sacred site in Shimajiri (伊平屋村島尻の神あしあげ) (Prefectural)
Historic Sites
*Kusatobaru Shell Mound (久里原貝塚) (Prefectural)
*Yagura-baka tomb (屋蔵墓)
Places of scenic beauty
is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...
*Kumaya Coast (クマヤ海岸)
*Mount Koshi path (腰岳遊歩道)
*Nzōmiji spring (無蔵水) (Municipal)
*Sūgahama Beach (潮下浜)
*Yonesaki Coast (米崎海岸)
Natural Monuments
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...
*Hiramatsu Pine Tree Pinus luchuensis of Koshi (腰の平松)
*Kumaya Cave (くまや洞窟) (Prefectural)
*Mount Kuba in Dana (田名の久葉山) (Prefectural)
*Nentō Hiramatsu Pine Tree Pinus luchuensis (伊平屋島の念頭平松) (National)
*Ubame oak community Quercus phillyraeoides (伊平屋島のウバメガシ群落) (National)
*Yahe Rock (ヤヘ岩)
Notable residents
On May 25, 1964, Hihei Shiroma of Iheya petitioned the
United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affair ...
for the return of Okinawa to Japan, alongside Seigen Ukumoto of
Nakazato, Okinawa and Heiryo Chibana of
Yomitan, Okinawa, 8 years prior to the return of Okinawa to Japanese administrative control in 1972.
References
External links
*
Village of Iheya
Villages in Okinawa Prefecture
{{Okinawa-geo-stub