THE AMAMI ISLANDS - Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands - page 108

due north of Okinawa's Cape Hedo and that's much further north than either Yorontō or
Okinoerabujima, both of which are in Kagoshima.
Yet, despite this geography, whenever one finds a reference to Iōtorishima ( 硫黄鳥島 ;
Iwō-tori-shima) it's invariably described as being 135 miles (216 kilometers) northeast of
Kume Island, which is almost 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Okinawa and nowhere near
Iōtori. So what's the connection? Well none, geographically, but politically the reason is
grounded in history. Long ago it was included in the Ryukyu Kingdom and another name for
it was “Okinawa Torishima,” or in English “Okinawa Bird Island.” An island of birds? Per-
haps, but there's a reason for this as well. It's common in the Ryukyus to call any minor, off-
shore, unnamed islet “Bird Island” ( 鳥島 ; Torishima). And historically this Bird Island, which
is an active volcano, was mined for its sulphur by Okinawans, not people from Amami. Sul-
phur was an important source of tribute in the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Pot of Gold in Tokuno? A sugar cane field, the ocean in the background and a rainbow after a drench—it's
all anyone might ask for—except perhaps for that pot of gold.
As is the case with so many active volcanic islands in Japan, it also became known as
“Iōjima,” Japanese for “Sulphur Island,” ( 硫黄島 ; Iwō-jima), the most famous example of
which is the battle-scarred island of this same name far to the east in the Pacific. For one reas-
on or another, over time this little islet earned itself a combination of the two names: “Iō” ( 硫
黄 = sulphur) plus “tori” ( 鳥 = bird) equals “Iōtori” plus naturally then “shima” ( 島 = island).
Therefore, literally “Iōtorishima” ( 硫黄鳥島 ) is “Sulphur Bird Island.”
To make matters just a bit more confusing, there is another “Iōjima” or “Iwōjima” ( 硫黄
島 ) in the Ōsumi Islands' Northwestern Group (the Mishimas), discussed earlier, on page 32 ,
and another “Torishima” ( 鳥島 ) some 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Kume Island, dis-
cussed later, on page 189 . The latter islet is uninhabitable and used for a bombing range. Even
among Japanese people and Okinawans, these tiny obscure places get mixed up. For this reas-
on, the Torishima near Kume is often referred to as “Kume-Torishima” to help distinguish it