Ogasawara, Tokyo

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map of Tokyo showing Ogasawara Village in bottom inserts
Map of Pacific Ocean showing islands of Ogasawara Village
Flag
Emblem

Ogasawara (小笠原村, Ogasawara-mura) is a Japanese village in the Ogasawara Subprefecture of Tokyo.[1]

History[change | change source]

In 1940, municipalities were created for groups and single isolated islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government was made responsible for local government on the islands, including

  • Ōmura (大村) on Chichijima (父島列島, Chichijima rettō)
  • Ōgimura-Fukurosawa (扇村袋沢村) on Chichijima
  • Kitamura (北村) on Hahajima (母島列島, Hahajima rettō)
  • Okimura (沖村) on Hahajima
  • Iōtōmura (硫黄島村) on Iwo Jima, including the Volcano Islands (火山列島, Kazan-rettō)

The local government structure of the post-war occupation of these islands is still used today.[1]

Geography[change | change source]

The islands of the village include:

  • Bonin Islands (小笠原群島, Ogasawara Guntō) 73.00 km²
    • Mukojima (聟島列島, Mukojima rettō)[2] 6.57 km²
    • Chichijima[1] 38.89 km²
    • Hahajima[1] 27.54 km²
  • Nishinoshima (西之島, literally, "Western Island") 0.29 km²
  • Volcano Islands 29.71 km²
    • North Iwo Jima (北硫黄島, Kita-Iōtō, literally, "North Sulphur Island") 5.57 km²
    • Iwo Jima 20.60 km²
    • South Iwo Jima (南硫黄島, Minami-Iōtō, literally, "South Sulphur Island") 3.54 km²
  • Okinotorishima (沖ノ鳥島 or 沖鳥島, literally, "Remote Bird Island")[3] 0.01 km²
  • Minamitorishima (南鳥島, literally, "Southern Bird Island") 1.40 km²

The Japanese government identifies Okinotori as Japan's southernmost island. It is 1,700 kilometers south of central Tokyo.[4]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McCormack, Gavan. "Dilemmas of Development on The Ogasawara Islands," Archived 2013-01-16 at the Wayback Machine JPRI Occasional Paper, No. 15 (August 1999). Japan Policy Research Institute (University of San Francisco). Retrieved 2013-2-27.
  2. Freeman, Otis W. (1951). Geography of the Pacific, pp. 229-235.
  3. Yong Hong, Seoung. (2009). Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea, p. 148; Onishi, Norimitsu. "Japan and China Dispute a Pacific Islet," The New York Times. July 10, 2005. Retrieved 2013-2-27.
  4. "Japan hopes to build lighthouse on atoll disputed with China," Xinhua (China). August 5, 2005. Retrieved 2013-2-27.

Other websites[change | change source]

Media related to Ogasawara, Tokyo at Wikimedia Commons