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 in Kumage District, Kagoshima, Japan. The town is on the island of

Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. It is accessible by hydrofoil ferry, car ferry, or by air to Yakushima Airport. Administratively, the island consists of the town ...

and Kuchinoerabujima.

History

On October 1, 2007, the town was formed by the merger of the towns of Kamiyaku and Yaku, both from Kumage District.

Geography

Major settlements of the island are the port towns of Anbō and Miyanoura. Other settlements are the coastal villages of Hiranai, Kuriobashi, Nagata, Okonotaki and the abandoned forest village of Kosugidani. Among the localities, there are the gorges of Shiratani Unsui, Arakawa,

Yakushima Airport is an airport located on the island of Yakushima in Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture, 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 bordere ...

, Kigensugi and Yakusugi.

Demographics

As of 2008, the town 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 13,486 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 24.9 persons per km². The total area is 540.98 km².

Transport

serves Yakushima. There are also

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

s and

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

serving the island. Kuchinoerabujima is accessible by a municipal ferry. Inside the island there is a

forest railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled Trunk (botany), logs to sawmills or railway stations. ...

, the Anbō Forest Railway.

Education

;High schools *Kagoshima Prefectural Yakushima High School *Yakushima Ōzora High School (correspondence course high school) ; Junior high schools *Anbō Junior High School *Gakunan Junior High School *Issō Junior High School *Kanadake Junior High School *Koseda Junior High School *Miyaura Junior High School *Nagata Junior High School ;Elementary schools *Anbō Elementary School *Hachiman Elementary School *Issō Elementary School *Kamiyama Elementary School *Kanadake Elementary School *Koseda Elementary School *Kurio Elementary School *Miyaura Elementary School *Nagata Elementary School

Climate

Image

File:Yakushima Kagoshima Prefecture Japan seen from distance.jpg, Forest of Yakushima File:Jetfoil Toppi 001.JPG, Hydrofoil serving the island

References

External links

*
Yakushima official website
{{Kagoshima-geo-stub Towns in Kagoshima Prefecture