Yakushima

Yakushima (Japanese屋久岛) is one of the Nansei Islands Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture. On the island there is the homonymous municipality Yakushima.

Every year the island of more than 300,000 tourists visited that have been going there primarily to the dense evergreen moist forest. Yakushima Yakushima is by the airport and two ports which are served by ferries to the mainland connection.

Geography

Yakushima is 61.3 kilometers from the southern tip of Cape Sata ( Sata - misaki ) located on the peninsula of the island of Kyūshū Ōsumi. The island has an area of 504.89 km ², a circumference of 89 km and a diameter of 28 km. The highest mountain not only the island but also the greater region of Kyushu is the Miyanoura with 1935 meters.

Population

Most residents had Yakushima in 1960 with 24,010 people. Until about 1995, the number had dropped to just over 13,000 constantly and then remained at this level. The economic structure moved from the several hundred years, exports of timber products on coastal fisheries and orange cultivation towards infrastructure and tourism as the main source of income.

Climate

It is said that it is raining " 35 days a month " on Yakushima. In the lowlands of the annual rainfall is 4,000 mm, 8,000 mm in the mountains. In autumn and winter there are periods of drought, but in spring and summer heaviest downpours almost every year associated with landslides. The temperature ( water temperature not below 19 ° C) decreases in winter not below 10 ° C near the sea, yet Yakushima is the southernmost town in Japan, there is snow in the winter in the mountains. In summer the temperature reaches its maximum at nearly 30 ° C. to about 1000 m altitude.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

1993 Fir Forest ( " cedar forest ", Cryptomeria japonica) from Yakushima was due to its rich flora, especially the Yaku - Sugi - 1900 very durable cedars - and impressive rhododendrons (flowering in early June ), declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. As the oldest copy is considered the Jōmon Sugi, already since prehistory of Japan, the Jōmon period, exists, and various measurements of an age 2170-7200 years of rich.

Attractions

Hiking: Yakushima is a popular hiking island, with more than 30 peaks over 1000 meters.
Onsen: bathing in natural hot springs by the sea.
Beach: beach public bathing is possible, at night you can watch sea turtles laying eggs from April to August
Yaku - Sugi: Old, large, thick cedars