is part of Okayama Prefecture

Okayama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is a small, uninhabited island located in the Inland Sea of Japan, hidden from the land by the much larger Kakuijima, and approximately 6 km off the border of Hyōgo

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

 and Okayama prefectures. During the early Meiji Period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 the island was used as a penal colony for Christians

Kirishitan

, from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Christian missionaries were known as bateren or iruman...

. The name means literally "Crane (bird)

Crane (bird)

Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...

 Island".

Geography

The island is under 400m across. It is roughly triangular with a craggy southeastern side and narrow sandy beaches divided by rocky outcrops on its southwestern and northern shores. A concrete jetty on the northern side and another shorter jetty overlooked by a disused one-room reception building on the southwestern side, are the only signs of previous habitation visible from the sea. Inland there are a few abandoned buildings, all built in the last 50 years or so, which are now falling into ruin. In the northwestern corner of the island there is a well that dates back to the time of the penal colony (in working order at time of writing). The highest point on the island is 49m above sea level. It has an area of 0.1 km² and 2.1 km of coastline.

History

During the Edo Period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 the island was privately owned and uninhabited. In August 1870 (the 3rd year of Meiji), as part of the Urakami Yoban Kuzure

Urakami Yoban Kuzure

was the last and biggest of four crackdowns on Christians in Urakami Village, Nagasaki, Japan.Christianity was prohibited in Japan for 259 years, from 1614 after the Catholic Church had been seen to become a threat - Nagasaki had grown prosperous through trade with Portugal, local lords and their...

, 117 Christians from Nagasaki were exiled to the island and it became a penal colony.
On Tsuru Shima during three years of forced labour and forced conversions 18 of the internees perished, 17 of them as martyrs, before religious freedom was granted in 1873 and the prohibition on Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 was finally lifted. The unhewn headstones marking the graves of those who died can still be found on the hillside above the cliff at the southern tip of the island, along with a stone memorial and cross that have been erected by the local Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 church. The remains of the small Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 shrine that was used for the conversions are also still there.

Around the time of Japan’s entry into the Second World War the island was returned to private ownership and planted with Orange

Orange (fruit)

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

s, however the plantation later failed when the pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 trees that acted as a windbreak were destroyed by a beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 infestation. The owners then operated a guesthouse on the island until 1990 when it was again left uninhabited.

The former penal colony is now one of Bizen City

Bizen, Okayama

is a city located in Okayama, Japan. The city is particularly famous for its Bizen-yaki pottery. It is also home to literary critic Hakuchō Masamune's birthplace, which is now a museum....

’s designated cultural heritage sites and a pilgrimage is held annually following part of the internees’ route, or “the Journey”, to the island.