TheNanpō Islands (南方諸島,Nanpō Shotō) is a collective term for the groups of islands that are located to the south of theJapanese archipelago. They extend from theIzu Peninsula west ofTokyo Bay southward for about 1,200 km (750 mi), to within 500 km (310 mi) of theMariana Islands. The Nanpō Islands are all administered byTokyo Metropolis.
The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of theJapan Coast Guard defines the Nanpō Shotō as follows:[1]
TheGeospatial Information Authority of Japan, a government agency that is responsible for standardization of place names, does not use the term Nanpō Shotō, although it has agreed with the Japan Coast Guard over the names and extents of the subgroups of the Nanpō Shotō.[1]
Archeological evidence has since revealed that some of the islands were prehistorically inhabited by members of an unknownMicronesian ethnicity.[2] The Japanese claim to have discovered the islands in 1593; however, many of the islands were known by the Spanish sailors that went fromPhilippines toNew Spain sinceBernardo de la Torre's voyage in 1543, while the British claimed the islands in 1827. However, neither Japan nor Britain developed the Nanpō Islands, although a small colony ofBonin Islanders was established atChichi-jima.
Some Japanese began migrating to the islands in 1853,[3] and theShogunate government attempted to claim the islands in 1861.[4] In 1876, the Meji government of Japan formally incorporatedOgasawara islands into the territory with the consent of the Western powers, placing them under the administration of theTokyo Prefecture.[4][5] And in 1891 Japan incorporated the more southerly and then-uninhabitedVolcano Islands as part ofOgasawara Subprefecture.[4]
By the mid-1930s the islands wereclosed to foreigners and a smallImperial Japanese Navy base was established at Chichi-jima.[3] As the war intensified and U.S. forces approached in 1944, most of the civilians living on the islands were forced to evacuate.
After World War II, the islands were administered by the United States under Article III of theTreaty of San Francisco until they were returned to Japan in 1968.[4] In 2011, the Ogasawara Islands were included on UNESCO’sWorld Heritage list.
28°00′00″N141°00′00″E / 28.0000°N 141.0000°E /28.0000; 141.0000
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