The is an archipelago in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, the islands of which are administratively part of Oki District,

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamag ...

, Japan. The islands have a total area of . Only four of the around 180 islands are permanently inhabited. Much of the archipelago is within the borders of

Daisen-Oki National Park is a national park in the Chūgoku region, Honshū, Japan, and spans the prefectures of Okayama, Shimane, and Tottori. Mount Daisen is the focus of the park, which also includes the volcanic mountains and plains of Hiruzen, Mount Kenashi, Mo ...

. Due to their geological heritage, the Oki Islands were designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in September 2013.

Geology

Sekiheki Pyroclastic Cone (From Lookout)

The Oki Islands are volcanic in origin, and are the exposed eroded summits of two massive

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and p ...

es dating approximately 5 million years ago to the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non- avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

and

Quaternary period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

s. Dōgo to the east is the largest island in area, and has the highest elevation, Mount Daimanji, at above sea level. The Dōzen group of islands to the west are all portions of single ancient volcanic

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber ...

which collapsed, leaving three large islands ( Nishinoshima, Nakanoshima and

Chiburijima is one of the Dōzen Islands in the Oki archipelago in the Sea of Japan. The island, 13.7 km2 in area, has a population of approximately 650 persons and is the smallest of the inhabited islands in the Oki archipelago in area and in populati ...

) and numerous smaller islands and rocks in a ring formation surrounding a central lagoon. The archipelago is approximately 40- north of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island ...

coast at its closest point. For administrative purposes, the Japanese government officially considers the disputed islet of

Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, also known by their Korean name of Dokdo or their Japanese name of Takeshima,; ; . form a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...

(Dokdo or Takeshima) to be a part of the town of Okinoshima on Dōgo.

Climate

*Summers (June–August) average around 30 degrees Celsius plus humidity. There usually is a strong sea breeze. The sea waves during the summer rarely exceed 2 meters. *Autumn (September–November) is temperate. It begins to rain more often and the waves begin to grow. *Winters (December to the end of February) are relatively mild. Temperatures rarely drop below freezing. Also, due to the warming influence of the sea, Oki does not get much snow and any snow does not lie for long because the ground is not cold enough. The ferry is more likely to be canceled due to high waves, but it is still possible to leave the island. The Rainbow fast ferry stops operating in December. *Spring (March–May) is generally regarded as the best season. There are many opportunities for viewing cherry blossoms on Oki during the spring. The Rainbow fast ferry starts running mid-February.

Important Bird Area

The islands have been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because they support populations of Japanese wood pigeons.

History

file:Liancourt Rocks8442.jpg, A Japanese map dating from 1724, with the Oki Islands at the lower right,

in the center, and Ulleungdo on the left The Oki Islands have been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic era, and numerous artifacts from the Jōmon period, Jōmon, Yayoi period, Yayoi and Kofun periods have been found by archaeologists, indicating continuous human occupation and activity. The islands were organized as Oki Province under the ''

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki' ...

'' reforms in the latter half of the seventh century, and the name “Oki-no-kuni” appears on wooden markers found in the imperial capital of

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

. The islands are mentioned in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara, Nara, Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remai ...

chronicles ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperi ...

'' and '' Nihon Shoki,'' and Dōgo Island was the location of the capital of ancient Oki Province. During the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, due to its remoteness, Oki Province came to known as a place for political exile. In 1221,

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; a ...

was sent to Oki, and died in exile on the islands; In 1332,

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

was also sent in exile to Oki, but later managed to escape and regain control of the country. From the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first '' shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

Oki Province was governed primarily by the ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The po ...

'' of Izumo Province. In the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

, it was ruled successively by the Sasaki clan, the

Yamana clan The was a Japanese samurai clan which was one of the most powerful of the Muromachi period (1336-1467); at its peak, members of the family held the position of Constable ('' shugo'') over eleven provinces. Originally from Kōzuke Province, and ...

and the

Kyōgoku clan The were a Japanese ''daimyō'' clan which rose to prominence during the Sengoku and Edo periods. The clan descend from the Uda Genji through the Sasaki clan.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 27–28./ref> The name derives ...

. In the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

the Amago clan held this province. After the Amago fell and the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

was established, Oki Province was declared a ''

tenryō The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedi ...

'' dominion under the direct control of the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

''. The ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' of Matsue Domain, belonging to the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of t ...

, was appointed as governor. The entire province had an assessed revenue of only 18,000 '' koku'', although its actual revenues were closer to only 12,000 ''koku''. The province was a frequent port of call for the '' Kitamaebune'' coastal trading ships during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. Following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, Oki Province became "Oki Prefecture" from February to June 1869. It was then attached to

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hir ...

until 1876, when it was transferred to

. In 1892, Lafcadio Hearn visited the islands, spending a month there, and writing about his experiences in ''Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan''. Oki was visited by the American naturalist

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He col ...

in 1906.

Administration

The population is approximately 20,000 inhabitants spread over the four municipalities of: * Okinoshima-chō (Okinoshima-town), includes all of Dōgo and the uninhabited

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be perman ...

s of Okinashima, Obanashima, Tsunameshima, Shijikijima and Ombeshima, with a total population of approximately 14,300. * Chibu-mura (Chibu-village), includes all of

and the nearby uninhabited islets of Ohatajima, Shimazushima, Asajima and Kamjima, with a total population of about 640. * Ama-chō (Ama-town), includes all of Nakanoshima and the nearby uninhabited islets of Omorijima and Matsushima, with a total population of about 2,300. * Nishinoshima-chō (Nishinoshima-town), includes all of Nishinoshima and nearby uninhabited islets of Hoshikamijima, Futamatajima and Okazuroshima, population about 2,800.3

Transportation

Oki Airport ( airport code "OKI") lies on the southeastern part of Dōgo and provides air service to

Osaka International Airport , often referred to as is the primary regional airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Classified as a first class airport, it is the airport closest to Kyoto, southwest of Kyoto Station. ...

(Itami, "ITM") and Izumo Airport ("IZO"). The Oki islands can be reached by

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

from harbours like Sakaiminato (Tottori Prefecture) and Shichirui (Shimane Prefecture) on the mainland. There are also frequent ferries operating between the Dōzen islands throughout the year.

Main islands

References

*National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGIA). ''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Japan Enroute''. Prostar Publications (2005).

External links

Map of the Oki IslandsView of the Oki IslandsOki Islands Tourism AssociationOki Islands UNESCO Global Geopark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oki Islands Islands of the Sea of Japan Global Geoparks Network members Geoparks in Japan Tourist attractions in Shimane Prefecture Archipelagoes of Japan Islands of Shimane Prefecture Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Important Bird Areas of Japan