World Heritage Sites in Japan Codexery

Bonin Islands

Remote Japanese archipelago with unique endemic species and mixed cultural heritage.

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Only two islands, Chichijima and Hahajima, are permanently inhabited.[1]

Key facts and history

Spanish explorer Bernardo de la Torre made the first recorded European visit on 2 October 1543, sighting Haha-jima.[2][3] Japanese discovery occurred in 1670, followed by a shogunate expedition in 1675 that inventoried trees and birds but led to no development plans.[4][5] The Tokugawa shogunate claimed the islands in January 1862, renaming them Ogasawara, but evacuated under foreign pressure in 1863.[5] Japan formally annexed the islands in December 1876, banning foreign settlement and offering loans to mainland settlers.[3]

The United States Navy controlled the islands for 23 years after Japan's surrender, a period Westerners called "Navy Time"[6] The Bonins were returned to Japanese control in 1968, and Bonin Islanders could choose Japanese nationality or American citizenship.[7] In 1830, the initial permanent settlement was formed by Nathaniel Savory (from Bradford, Massachusetts), Richard Millichamp (from Devon, England), Matteo Mazzaro (from Ragusa/Dubrovnik), Alden B. Chapin, Carl Johnsen, seven other unnamed men, and 13 women from the Kingdom of Hawaii.[8]

What the cited sources add

Coppock's 2021 account notes that the Bonins comprise about 32 square miles of land, with nine-mile-square Chichi Jima as the largest island.[3] The same source states that by 1882 all Americans in the Bonins had become Japanese nationals, and that Japan clear-cut forests to replicate Hawaii's sugar cane success.[3] The "Experience the distinctive cuisine of Ogasawara" source notes that Japanese coffee cultivation began on the Ogasawara islands and was revived about twenty years ago.[9] That source also states that the islands' produce, including mangos, lemons, papaya, and pineapple, is sold at farmers' markets.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yoshida, "Ogasawara Islands: Remote witnesses on the front lines of Japanese history", The Japan Times Online, 2018-07-12; Coppock, "American Outpost at Japan's Front Door", HistoryNet LLC, 21 January 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Welsch 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Coppock, "American Outpost at Japan's Front Door", HistoryNet LLC, 21 January 2021. facts only, no text reused. historynet.com
  4. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tanaka, Hiroyuki (1993). "Edo Jidai ni okeru Nihonjin no Mujin Tou (Ogasawara Tou) ni tai-suru Ninshiki" ("The Ogasawara Islands in Tokugawa Japan"). Kaiji Shi (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rüegg 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: J. Bradshaw, "Review of English on the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands",Language Documentation and Conservation v2, n1 (June 2008), pp. 176–8; Trumbull, Robert. "Bonin Islanders Seek U.S. Tie But Remain International Pawns; Descendants of Americans Ask Citizenship in Vain—Fight Return of Japanese," New (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Coppock, "American Outpost at Japan's Front Door", HistoryNet LLC, 21 January 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Bonin Islands" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chapman 2016, p. 27; Notes on the Bonin Islands, Michael Quin, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 26, (1856), pp. 232–235, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of T (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Experience the distinctive cuisine of Ogasawara, born from its uncommon island environment. facts only, no text reused. world-natural-heritage.jp

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bonin Islands (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Bonin Islands · Islands Of The Pacific

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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