280px, Isen Town Hall 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 on

Tokunoshima , also known in English as is an island in the Amami archipelago of the southern Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 27,000. The island is divided into three administrative t ...

, in Ōshima District,

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

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 6,137 in 3048 households 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 10 persons per km². The total area of the village is .

Geography

Isen occupies the southwestern tip of the island of

, with the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

to the west and

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the east. Most of the area is outside the mountainous areas of Tokunoshima, and it has the highest percentage of arable land area among the three towns on Tokunoshima. However, it is mainly made up of Ryukyu

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and its water conditions are the worst among the three towns. There are many limestone caves in the town. A major feature of the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

topography of Isen is that rivers are characterized by the fact that they go underground, carving deep valleys, and then emerge above ground to carve deep valleys again. The coastline is filled with

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s and oddly shaped rocks caused by marine erosion. Parts of the town were designated as part of the Amami Guntō National Park in 2017.

Surrounding municipalities

* Amagi *

Climate

The climate is classified as

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with very warm summers and mild winters (average temperature ). Precipitation is high throughout the year, but is highest in the months of May, June and September. Because of its climate, tropical and sub-tropical fruits are in abundance.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Isen is as shown below:

History

Archaeological sites have revealed historic ruins (pottery and tools) dating back 30,000 years. The now famous Kamuiyaki ware were discovered in 1983 and declared a National Historic Site in 2006. The findings suggest that the Sue ware pottery that spread around the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

and up into the

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

mainland were largely made in Tokunoshima. From the '' Ritsuryo'' period, Tokushima was part of

Ōsumi Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to the eastern half of modern Kagoshima Prefecture, and including the Ōsumi Islands . Ōsumi bordered on Hyūga to the northeast, and Satsuma Province to the nor ...

and was part of the holdings of Kagoshima Domain in 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 ...

. On April 1, 1908, the village of Shimajiri Village was founded with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. It was renamed Isen on June 29, 1921. As with all of Tokunoshima, the village came under the administration of the United States from 1 July 1946 to 25 December 1953. On 1 January 1962, Isen was upgraded to town status.

Government

Isen has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

village council of 14 members. Isen, collectively with the other municipalities of Oshima District, contributes two members to the Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Kagoshima 2nd district of the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

Economy

While mountainous in the north, the majority of land is relatively flat and arable, making Isen a prime location for agriculture. Isen's main agricultural products include

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, potatoes, pumpkins, horticulture, and fruit trees.

Education

Isen has eight public elementary school and three public junior high schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.

Transportation

Railways

Isen, as with the rest of Tokunoshima, does not have any passenger railway services.

Highways

Isen is not located on any national highway or expressway.

Local attractions

Isen has numerous sightseeing locations, including the Kamyuiki Ruins, Cape Inutabu, Yamamoto War Memorial, Seta-umi Beach, Kinenbama Beach, and a historical museum showcasing many of the archaeological discoveries found in Isen. Among historical sites is Shigechiyo Izumi's (泉重千代) grave site. Shigechiyo was Isen's oldest resident, being born on June 29, 1865, and dying February 21, 1986, making him 120 years old at the time of his death. He was inducted into the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for being the oldest living person alive; however subsequent research has brought into question his birth date. He is now widely considered to have lived until he was 105 years old, putting his real birthday as June 29, 1880. Isen is also famous for '' Tōgyū'' (bullfighting). Different from western bullfighting, in Tōgyū two bulls fight each other while people cheer them on. There are four main tournaments held every year: January (New Year Tournament), May (Golden Week Tournament), August, and October (All Tokunoshima Championship)

Noted people from Isen

* Shigechiyo Izumi – Japanese centenarian

Notes

External links

Isen official website
{{Authority control Towns in Kagoshima Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan