Yakushima Island
(1994 est. pop. 14,000). Yakushima Island is sixty kilometers south of Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyushu. The island is 500 square kilometers in size. Yakushima is characterized by a hot and humid climate and has the heaviest precipitation in Japan, with an annual rainfall of 400 centimeters in the coastal regions and 1,000 centimeters in the mountains. This rainfall has promoted the use of waterpower to produce electricity.
Yakushima Island is a mountainous island. Miyanouradake (1,935 meters) in the central part is the highest peak in Kyushu. Forestry makes up a major portion of the economy. However, 80 percent of the forests became assets of the Japanese national government at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868– 1912). The Japanese cedar (Yakusugi) tree grows here and many of them are over one thousand years old. The variety of plants growing in any given locale on the island changes with the altitude and ranges from species indigenous to subtropical zones to those of cold temperature zones. Agricultural products are sugarcane, sweet potatoes, and Ponkan oranges (Citrus reticulata). One-third of the island forms the principal part of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park, which contains twenty-three volcanic peaks. In 1993 Yakushima became the first place in Japan to be designated as a World Heritage Site, and 196,500 tourists visit annually.
Nathalie Cavasin
Further Reading
Kagoshima Prefecture. (1996) "Yakushima." Kagoshima, Japan: Kagoshima Prefecture.
Takahashi Yoshinobu. (1997) "Economy of Yakushima and Natural Environment." Tropics 6, 4: 467–477.
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