Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Formerly an island in Kagoshima Bay, Sakurajima volcano attached itself to the mainland of Kyūshū in
1914 by a narrow isthmus when its lava flows connected it to the Ōsumi Peninsula. There's a causeway on
it now.
Cape Sata (Sata-misaki), mainland Japan's southernmost point.
The southern Ryukyu chain is subdivided into several groups, including the Okinawa,
Miyako and Yaeyama Islands. These island groups extend southwest from the main island of
Okinawa more than 312 miles (500 kilometers) to the small island of Yonaguni, only 68 miles
(110 kilometers) east of northern Taiwan. In addition, Okinawa Prefecture includes the geo-
logically and geographically unrelated small archipelagos of the Daitō Islands, 219 miles (350
kilometers) to the east of Okinawa Island in the Pacific Ocean, and the Senkakus, a disputed,
uninhabited group close to mainland China and above Taiwan.
Altogether, the Satsunan Islands of the northern half of the Ryukyus constitute about 966
square miles (2,503 square kilometers). The southern half of the Ryukyus, Okinawa-ken, is
879 square miles (2,276 square kilometers). It's a bit difficult to make suitable comparisons
when they're this little, but the smallest state in the US is Rhode Island (not an island incid-
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