Iki Island

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / image missing

Iki (Japanese壱 岐 岛, Iki no shima, literally " Einkap Island " ) is a Japanese island, which is located 20 kilometers north-northwest of Kyushu before Higashi- Matsuura Peninsula and southeast of the Tsushima Islands.

• 4.1 Agriculture
• 4.2 Fishing and whaling
• 4.3 whaling
• 4.4 Tourism

• 5.1 antiquity 5.1.1 Harunotsuji - The main settlement of the country Iki to the Yayoi period?

• 8.1 Non - Japanese secondary literature
• 8.2 Japanese secondary literature

Geography

Iki is the Tsushima Strait, where again the running between Iki and Higashi- Matsuura strait as Iki - channel (壱 岐 水道, Iki - Suidō ) or Iki Road (壱 岐 海峡, Iki Kaikyo ) is called.

The area of ​​the island covers 133.92 km ² with a north- south extent of about 17, and an east- west extension of about 14 km. At Iki include 23 more islands: 4 inhabited and 19 uninhabited.

Geology

The average height of the land surface is 100 m above sea level, some hills rise to heights of 200 m. The highest elevation in this weakly curved relief is the Dakenotsuji (岳ノ辻) with 212.9 m.

The island is a basalt plateau effusive origin and equipped with pyroclastic cones, of which were the last active 600,000 years ago. The northwest of the island is still active, here - in the district Yunomoto (湯ノ本, literally " hot spring " ) - there are hot springs.

Climate

Iki is part of the Climate province of North Kyushu, the (north of Kyushu Mountains, comprises the northern part of Kyushu, the western Chugoku with Shimonoseki and the islands of Tsushima Strait Under the Air provinces of Japan, she has held a unique position. Though located on the north side of Japan, among them the annual cycle of precipitation according not to the climate types of the " Japanese back " ( ura Nihon ), the renowned Japanese sea landscapes, still to the Seto Inland Sea. for the former lacks the wintry precipitation maximum, are for the latter, the encountered here annual precipitation totals of 1600-2000 mm too high. The warm Tsushima current is maintained at Iki mild winters: the average January temperature does not drop below 7 ° C. In the hottest month of August, the temperatures will be around 27 ° C. There are two equally high precipitation maxima in September with about 267 mm and about 277 mm in June. The annual precipitation total is about 2000 mm.

Status as a regional authority

On Iki Iki there was originally the province over the and part of the province of Hizen, in turn, the fief ( han ) Hirado extended. With the abolition of the Han and the establishment of prefectures in 1871, first came to Iki - from the Han Hirado incurred - Prefecture Hirado, but still came up in the prefecture of Nagasaki in the same year. The original two counties ( gun ) were united in 1896 to Iki -gun. Were counted after the usual formalities in 1889 in the old Iki -gun and seven in the old Ishida -gun five villages, so remained for further municipal mergers by the year 1970, a number of four places left.

The island held until 1 March 2004 the status of a district. The local administrative headquarters was the town Iki. The circle was in 2004 - in the wake of successive reorganization of the Japanese administrative units - in the city (shi) over which covers the entire island and is composed of the four " quarters " Chō ) Gōnoura, Katsumoto, Ashibe and Ishida.

Due to the remote location, many administrative functions of the prefecture are the Regional Office Iki (壱 岐 地方 局, Iki Chiho kyoku ) - up to 2004 sub-prefecture Iki - perceived.

Colonization

The island is inhabited by 28 941 inhabitants ( 1 October 2011) On the surrounding four inhabited islands in addition 436 people live.

The plateau areas in the interior are inhabited disperse. Agricultural land interspersed with scattered farmsteads. The fishing villages along the coast, however, have a concentrated settlement patterns.

Economy

Agriculture

The island has abundant groundwater reserves and reservoirs, allowing the meliorierten areas near the coast on wet rice cultivation fields. In the hinterland, especially tobacco, watermelon and Mikan are planted. The local Shōchū considered as a specialty. There are also some minor beef farms and fisheries.

Fishing and whaling

The from the warm Tsushima Current, a slow-moving flow of the Kuroshio branch, surrounded island offered has always been rich fishing grounds. The first fishing settlements can already be detected for the Yayoi period. Although commercial fishing is restricted. In a small scale is still fished and harvested seafood. In the nets of the fishermen go mainly sardine ( Sardinops melanostictus ,鰯, iwashi ), mackerel ( Seriola quinqueradiata ,鰤, buri ) and squid (イカ, ika). In addition, harvested from Ama divers mussels, snails and kombu, especially abalone, sea urchins, and so-called turban snails ( Turbo ( Batillus ) cornutus ,サザエ, sazae ). As maritime Kulinaria the island's main sea urchins and Buri apply.

Whaling

It used to be operating on the islands whaling. In the 1970s and 1980s, especially the fishermen of the place Katsumoto got into the headlines. You had the local Minke Whale and dolphin stocks decimated by a natural competitors in the commercial fisheries off. After 1982, the City Council banned the commercial catch of Buri. 1977 invited local fishermen a television broadcasters to film a mass slaughter of dolphins. The recordings led to sharp condemnation by environmental activists. Today is operated on Iki no commercial whaling more.

Tourism

The island promotes tourism location with Onsen, hotels, beaches and golf courses and campgrounds. On the north coast of the island there is a dolphinarium. Together with the neighboring island of Tsushima form parts of the island since 1968, the Iki - Tsushima Quasi-National Park, which is woven into the concept of tourism.

History

Since time immemorial the island of Iki and Tsushima were important bridges between Japan and the Korean peninsula. However, their proximity to the Asian mainland they made ​​repeated to a sensitive target for continental invasion attempts.

Antiquity

In Weizhi Worenchuan (Japanese魏志 倭人 伝, Gishi Wajinden, dt " Records of Wei: life of the people of Wa" ), part of the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, a report drawn up at the end of the third century Chinese account of the on a widely held archipelago east of the Korean peninsula living people of Wa is a "land Iki " (一支 国, Iki - koku ) listed as one of the dominated by the Kingdom Yamatai countries. But as the distances above the island rule in the report as the location of this country, there are doubts whether the Iki the Yayoi period coincides with the island today. Through archaeological excavations in the Taishō and Shōwa period, when several major Yayoi Age settlements have been discovered, the likelihood of this match moved back within reach.

Harunotsuji - The main settlement of the country Iki to the Yayoi period?

In December 1995, published in charge of the evaluation of the finds and findings "Committee of Education, Nagasaki Prefecture " (长崎 県 教育 委员会, Nagasaki-ken Kyoiku iinkai ) that the archaeological site Harunotsuji (原の辻) the main settlement of that in Gishi Wajinden said country Iki was. For this thesis talks that the distance information in the book are extremely inaccurate - the geographical position thus could not be accurately established itself. Apart from the inconsistent distance information there is thus little reason to doubt that it was the island is that ancient Iki. Harunotsuji is also the second largest Yayoi Period settlement after the excavation Toko (唐 古) in Nara prefecture. The evaluation of the excavated artifacts, including Magatama, weapons, ceramics, bone and glass jewelry, indicate a close contact with the Japanese islands and mainland Asia during the Yayoi period.

Besides Harunotsuji artifacts of the Yayoi period were at the two further excavations at the sites Karakami (カラカミ 遺蹟) and Kurumade (车 出 遗迹) salvaged.

Medieval to Early Modern

After the Toi invasion ( 1019), private trade relations between Goryeo, Tsushima, Iki and Kyushu relax. The island was placed under the rule of the Matsuura clan (松浦 党, Matsuura -tō ). In the Kamakura period entranced by the Mongol invasion of 1274 and 1281, the trade off again. The invaders fell both times initially cruel about the bad defending Iki and Tsushima Islands ago, before you moved on to the Bay of Hakata. Later, the island was next to Tsushima and Matsuura at a main base of the Wokou Pirates.

In the Edo period, the island was under the rule of the clan of Hirado Hirado Matsuura part of the Han.

Traffic

The island has ferry terminals in Ashibe, Ishida and Gōnoura, which connect Iki to Japan. The Iki located on the east coast airport connects the island to the capital of the prefecture Nagasaki. The state highway 382 connects the villages of the island with each other, the public transport is provided by bus services of the company " Iki - Kotsu ".