is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. Access to the island is by hydrofoil ferry (7 or 8 times a day from Kagoshima, depending on the season), slow car ferry (once or twice a day from Kagoshima), or by air to Yakushima Airport (3 to 5 times daily from Kagoshima, once daily from Fukuoka and once daily from Osaka). Administratively, the whole island is the town of Yakushima. The town also serves neighbouring Kuchinoerabujima. 42% of the island is within the borders of the Yakushima 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. (There are no hydrogen cars stationed on the island but electric cars are run by the municipality.)
World Heritage designation
In 1980, an area of was designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. In 1993, 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
Overview
Yakushima is located approximately south of the southern tip of Ōsumi Peninsula in southern Kyushu, or south of Kagoshima. The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) 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 . The island is roughly circular in shape, with a circumference of and a diameter of . The highest elevations on the island are , with a height of , and , with a height of above sea level; however, Yakushima has another 30 peaks of over in height. There are numerous hot springs on the island.
Settlements
Major settlements of the island, composing Yakushima Municipality, are the port towns of Anbō and Miyanoura. Between them is located Yakushima Airport. 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, Kigensugi and Yakusugi.
History
Yakushima has been settled since at least the Jōmon period. It was 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 CE. It formed part of ancient Tane Province. It was often mentioned in the diaries of travelers 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.
In 2017, Yakushima was struck by Typhoon Noru causing one death.
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 stabilized at just over 13,000 inhabitants.
Traditionally, the economic mainstays of the population were forestry and the export of wood products (principally cedar roof shingles), and commercial fishing. Cultivation of oranges and tea, the distilling of shōchū, and tourism are now the main sources of income.
Flora and fauna
Yakushima contains one of the largest tracts of existing Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests, an endangered habitat ecoregion. The only large animals indigenous to the island are red-bottomed macaques (Yakushima macaque) and a variety of sika deer (yakushika). The Japanese raccoon dog is also a common animal, but is not native to the island. Japanese weasels (Mustela itatsi) 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 are found farther south in the islands of Okinawa. The island, along with neighbouring Tanegashima, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Japanese wood pigeons, Ryukyu green pigeons and Ryukyu robins.
