is an inhabited island lying off the southern tip of the

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan and is located within the Kansai region. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. The peninsula has long been a sacred place in Buddhism, Shinto, and Shugendo, and many people wou ...

and the southernmost point of

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 ...

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 has an estimated population of around 2000, and is administratively part of the town of Kushimoto in

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

. The island is approximately in length from east-to-west by north-to-south.

Geography

Kii Ōshima is located approximately one kilometer to the east of Cape Shionomisaki and the island of Myogajima, and 1.8 kilometers from mainland

Honshu , 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 list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

. It has an intricate ria coastline are is noted for sea cliffs on all sides except for its western end. Cape Kashinozaki extends from the eastern end of the island, and is surrounded by semi-submerged reefs and rocks. The island has a circumference of and an area of The

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black Current or is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

surrounds the island, forming a fertile fishing ground, and approximately 60% of the interior of the island is cultivated. There are several hamlets, located in the south of the island. The island is connected to mainland Honshū by a series of three arch bridges. The road over the bridges opened to through traffic on September 8, 1999.

History

Fishermen from Taiji and Kushimoto have been using Kii Ōshima as a base for a long time. Ōshima Port, which is the center of the island, has prospered 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 ...

as both a fishing port as well as shelter for boats seeking protection from inclement weather on the coastal trading route between

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and the eastern provinces of Japan. Whaling has also been practiced for a long time, and Nippon Suisan Kaisha's whaling base was located at Ōshima Port. The Japan-U.S. Friendship Memorial Hall on the island commemorates the visit of the trade vessels '' Lady Washington'', under Captain John Kendrick, and ''Grace'', under William Douglas, in 1791. These ships and their crews were the first American ships to visit Japan, but were turned away by officials of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

under Japan's national seclusion policy at the time. . The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum commemorates the victims of the Ottoman frigate ''Ertuğrul'', which sank in a typhoon off of the island in 1890 with great loss of life. The village of Ōshima was established on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was annexed by the town of Kushimoto on January 15, 1958.

Gallery

Kushimoto-toruko-ireihi.jpg, Ertuğru Memorial Turkish Memorial and Museum Kushimoto Wakayama pref Japan02-b.jpg, Turkish Museum Umikongo Feb2010.jpg, coast of Kii-Ōshima

References

External links

Islands of Wakayama Prefecture Kushimoto, Wakayama {{wakayama-geo-stub

Geography

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links