Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture,
Japan. The island, 504.88 km² in area, has a population of 13,178. Access to
the island is by hydrofoil ferry, slow car ferry, or by air to Yakushima
Airport. Administratively, the whole island is the town of Yakushima. The
town also serves neighbouring Kuchinoerabujima. The majority of the
island is within the borders of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park.
Yakushima's electricity is more than 50% hydroelectric, and surplus power has
been used to produce hydrogen gas in an experiment by Kagoshima University. The
island has been a test site for Honda's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research.
World Heritage designation In 1980 an area of 18,958 ha was
designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. In 1993, 10 hectares
of wetland at Nagata-hama was designated a Ramsar Site. It is the largest nesting
ground for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle in the North Pacific. Yakushima's
unique remnant of warm/temperate ancient forest has been a natural World Heritage
Site since 1993. In the Wilderness core area) of the World Heritage Site, no
record of past tree cutting can be traced. The island is visited by 300,000
tourists every year. Geography
Yakushima is located approximately 61.3 kilometres south of the southern tip of
Osumi Peninsula in southern Kyushu, or 135 kilometres south of Kagoshima. The
Vincennes Strait separates it from the nearby island of Tanegashima, which is
home to the Japanese Space Centre. Periodic rocket launches from
Tanegashima can clearly be seen from Yakushima.
The bedrock of the island is granite, and as such it hosts no active
volcanoes. It has an area of approximately 504.5 square kilometres.
The island is roughly circular in shape, with a circumference of 89 kilometres
and a diameter of 28 kilometres. The highest elevations on the island are
Miyanouradake, with a height of 1,935 metres, and Nagatadake, with a height of
1,886 metres above sea level; however, Yakushima has another 30 peaks of over
1,000 metres in height. There are numerous hot springs on the island.
History Yakushima has been settled since at
least the Jomon period. It is first mentioned in written documents of the
Chinese Sui Dynasty of the 6th century, and in the Japanese Shoku Nihongi in an
entry dated 702. It formed part of ancient Tane Province. It was often
mentioned in the diaries of travellers between Tang Dynasty China and Nara
period Japan. During the Edo period, Yakushima was ruled by the Shimazu clan
of the Satsuma Domain and was considered part of Ōsumi Province. Following the
Meiji restoration, the island has been administered as part of Kagoshima
Prefecture. Demographics and economics
The population of Yakushima reached a peak in 1960 with 24,010 inhabitants. It
thereafter declined until about 1995, but has subsequently stabilised at just
over 13,000 inhabitants. Traditionally, the economic mainstays of
the population were forestry and the export of wood products, and commercial
fishing. Cultivation of oranges and tea, the distilling of shōchū, and tourism
are now the main sources of income. Flora and fauna
The only large animals indigenous to the island are red-bottomed macaques and a
variety of sika deer. The tanuki is also a common animal, but is not native to
the island. Japanese weasels may also be seen from time to time. The island is a
spawning ground for migratory loggerhead turtles, and dolphins are to be found
offshore. The coastal areas have coral reefs in places, although to a much
lesser extent than what are found further south in the islands of Okinawa.
Yakushima is famous for its lush vegetation. Most of the island has at
one time or another been logged, but has been extensively replanted and reseeded
since logging ended in the late 1960s, at which time a conservation regime was
established. In addition to this secondary forest, there are some
remaining areas of primary forest, composed mainly of a variety of
Cryptomeria japonica, or Japanese cedar, known as yakusugi, the best known single
example of which is named the Jomon Sugi, as its age is estimated to date to
at least the Jomon period of Japanese history, 2300 years ago. In addition,
the island lists over 50 varieties of endemic flower, notably rhododendrons,
and hundreds of rare endemic Bryophyta, as well as a number of endemic trees.
Climate Yakushima has a humid subtropical
climate with hot, humid summers and mild winters. Precipitation is extremely
heavy, with at least 250 millimetres in each month and as much as 773
millimetres in June alone. Yakushima is Japan's wettest place, and annual
precipitation in Yakushima is one of the world's highest at 4,000 to 10,000 mm.
It is said by the locals to rain "35 days a month". There are drier periods
in autumn and winter, while the heaviest downpours occur in spring and summer,
often accompanied by landslides. It is the southernmost place in Japan where
there is snow in the mountains, often for months, while the ocean temperature
is never below 19 °C. = Pollution=
The island is downwind of heavily polluted areas in the People's Republic
of China. Yakushima white pine in the forest on the island may have been
affected by combustion products from coal burning and automobile exhaust.
In popular culture The forests of Yakushima inspired the
forest setting in Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke.
The island was also seen in the 1996 movie Rebirth of Mothra.
The forests of Yakushima appear on the first episodes of Toei's tokusatsu TV
show Kamen Rider Hibiki. Jin Kazama was born and raised in
Yakushima and returned there after the events of Tekken 4.
It features in the game Persona 3 as a holiday destination during the summer
vacation. Eiji Miyake, main character in the novel
number9dream by author David Mitchell spends his childhood on the island.
Yakushima and its rainforest are the location of the tragic climax of Mikio
Naruse's 1955 film Floating Clouds. Yakushima is the inspiration behind the
forest of Dremuchij in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
See also Ernest Henry Wilson - Wilson stump
List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special
Natural Monuments List of World Heritage Sites in Japan
List of national parks of Japan Ramsar sites in Japan
References Witham, Clive. Yakushima: A Yakumonkey
Guide. Siesta Press. ISBN 0956150705 External links
UNESCO World Heritage Site Entry Forest and tree photos from Yakushima
old-growth forests Notes