Chichi-jima (父島^?, Father Island), formerly known as Peel Island, is the largest island in the Ogasawara archipelago. Chichi-jima is approximately 150 miles (241.4 km) north of Iwo Jima. The island is within the political boundaries of Ogasawara Town, Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo, Japan.

Contents 1 Topography 2 History 2.1 Nineteenth century 2.2 World War II 2.3 Under the US sovereignty 2.4 After the reversion of Ogasawara islands 3 Island development 3.1 Astronomy and telemetry stations 4 Wildlife 4.1 Green turtle consumption and preservation 5 Education 6 See also 7 Notes

[edit] Topography

Chichijima is located at 27°4′0″N 142°12′30″E / 27.066667°N 142.20833°E / 27.066667; 142.20833Coordinates: 27°4′0″N 142°12′30″E / 27.066667°N 142.20833°E / 27.066667; 142.20833. There are currently around 2000 people living on the island, and the island's area is around 24 km².

[edit] History

Archeological excavations on the island show Micronesian people lived in the past, although the detail is not yet unknown^[1]. The Tokugawa Shogunate dispatched an expedition ship in 1675 and made a map of the island^[1].

[edit] Nineteenth century

Western ships visited the island in the Nineteenth century, including:^[2]

• The Beechey Pacific expedition in 1827,
• Naturalist Heinrich von Kittlitz in 1828 with the Russian Senjawin expedition, led by Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke;
• Commodore Matthew Perry's U.S. expedition to Japan in 1853;
• Naturalist William Stimpson of the Rodgers-Ringgold North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition came in 1854.

Two shipwrecked sailors who were picked up by Beechey in 1827 suggested that the island would make a good stopover station for whalers, and the first settlement was begun in May 1830 by thirty-six year old Nathaniel Savory along with twenty-two other men and woman from Pearl Harbor to the island. Descendants of Nataniel Savory live on the island to this day.

Commodore Perry's steamship Susquehanna anchored in Chichi Jima's harbor on June 15, 1853, for a stay of three days, on the way to his historic visit to Tokyo Bay. Perry proceeded to lay claim to the island for the United States. He appointed Nataniel Savory as an agent of the US Navy and formed a governing council with Savory as the leader. On behalf of the US government, Perry "purchased" 50 acres from Savory.^[3]

In 1862 a Tokugawa Shogunate ship entered a harbor at Chichi Jima and officially proclaimed the sovereignty of the Ozasawara islands^[1]. Japanese immigrants are introduced from Hachijōjima under the direction of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

[edit] World War II

The island was the site of a Japanese radio station during World War II, and was a frequent target of US attacks. A young George H. W. Bush was once shot down while on one of these raids. In 1944, all of the 6,886 inhabitants were ordered to evacuate from the Ogasawara islands. Japanese troops and resources from Chichi-Jima were used in reinforcing the strategic point of Iwo Jima before the historic battle that took place there from February 19 to March 24, 1945. The island also served as a major point for Japanese radio communication and surveillance operations in the Pacific, with two radio stations atop its two mountains being the primary goal of multiple bombing attempts by the US Navy.

Chichi-Jima was also the subject of a book by James Bradley entitled Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, a factual account of the lives of a group of young World War II fighter pilots, including George H. W. Bush. The book tells the story of United States Navy pilots who bombed the island's two radio stations, and details the stories of the US pilots who were captured, tortured, killed, and in some cases, partially eaten.

The island was never captured and at the end of World War II, was surrendered along with the Japanese government. After the surrender, some of the senior Japanese officers were court-martialled and punished according to the class "B" war crimes standard for ordering the execution and cannibalization of POW's.

At least two US citizens of Japanese descent served in the Japanese military on Chichi Jima during the war, including Nobuaki "Warren" Iwatake, a Japanese-American from Hawaii who was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army while living with his family back in Hiroshima.

[edit] Under the US sovereignty

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers allowed only 129 western origin locals to back to the island and destroyed the rest of the houses. In 1960 the harbor facilities were devastated by tsunamis after the Great Chilean Earthquake.

Chichi-jima was one of a number of Japanese islands which has been used by the United States to host nuclear arms in 1950's, according to Robert S. Norris, William M. Arkin, and William Burr writing for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in early 2000.^[4][5] This is despite the Japanese Constitution being explicitly anti-war. ^[6] Japan holds Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The island has been under Japanese control since 1968.^[7]

[edit] After the reversion of Ogasawara islands

[edit] Island development

[edit] Astronomy and telemetry stations

The Japanese National Institute of Natural Sciences (NINS) is the umbrella agency maintaining a radio astronomy facility on Chichi-jima.^[8] Since 2004, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) has been a division of NINS.^[9] The NINS/NAQJ research is on-going using a VLBI Exploration of Radio Astronomy (VERA) 20m radio telescope. The dual-beam VERA array consists of four coordinated radio telescope stations located at Mizusawa, Iriki, Ishigakijima and Ogasawara.^[10] The combined signals of the four-part array produce a correlated image which is used for deep space study.^[11]

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also maintains a facility on Chichi-jima.^[12] The Ogasawara Downrange Station at Kuwanokiyama, was established in 1975 as a National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) facility. The Station is equipped with radar (rocket telemeter antenna and precision radar antenna) to check the flight trajectories, status, and safety of rockets launched from the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC).^[13]

[edit] Wildlife

Possibly as a result of the introduction of alien animals, at least three species of birds became extinct: the Bonin Nankeen Night Heron, Bonin Grosbeak a finch, and Bonin Thrush. The island was the only known home of the thrush and probably the finch, although the heron was found on Nakōdo-jima (also "Nakoudo-" or, erroneously, "Nakondo-") as well. The existence of the birds was documented by von Kittlitz in 1828, and five stuffed thrushes are in European museums.

The Bonin Wood-pigeon died out in the late Nineteenth century, apparently as the result of the introduction of alien mammals, or from both causes. The species is known to have existed only on Chichi-jima and another island, Nakōdo-jima.

[edit] Green turtle consumption and preservation

The inhabitants of the island have caught and consumed green turtles as a source of protein. Local restaurants serve turtle soup and sashimi in dishes. In the early 20th century, some thousand turtles were captured in a year and the populations of turtles had decreased^[14]. Today in Chichi-jima, only one fisherman is allowed to catch turtles and its number is restricted under 135 in a season^[14].

The Fisheries Agency and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government operate a conservation facility on the edge of Futami Harbor^[15]. Eggs are carefully planted in the shore and infant turtles are raised at the facility until they have reached a certain body mass, at which point they are released into the wild with an identification tag. Today the number of green turtle had been stabilized and increased slowly^[14].

[edit] Education

Ogasawara Village operates the island's public elementary and junior high schools.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education operates Ogasawara High School on Chichi-jima.

[edit] See also

• Haha-jima

[edit] Notes