Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In this photo looking east, tiny Jijitsurujima is on the far left (north) and far larger Gishippujima is on the
right (south).
Tokashiki has a tragic historical note. At the onset of the Battle of Okinawa, the island was
blasted by the preliminary air assault and then subject to ground invasion by US forces, all a
prelude to the invasion of Okinawa-hontō the next day. Over wrought with fear, fueled by in-
sane propaganda, half the island's residents committed suicide rather than be captured alive.
There is a small monument to them called the Mass Suicide Site (
集団自殺 之地
; Shūdan
jisatsu no chi). It's just below Tokashiki's highest point at Mt Akama, a very short distance
above the island's largest youth camp on the northern end of Tokashikijima. There is also a
little war memorial not too far away and a history and culture museum in Tokashiki village.
Tokashiki main island is itself surrounded by a half dozen miniscule satellite islands.
We'll mention them starting from the north and traveling around the island clockwise.
JIJITSURUJIMA
(
地自津留島
; Jijitsurujima). The most northerly of the little set of islands sur-
rounding Tokashiki is about a 100-foot (30-meter) swim due north of Gishippu, which itself
is due north above Tokashiki. This tiny northern islet is known as Jijitsuru. That's a mouthful,
but it kind of rolls of the tongue. It's a mostly round, green little place, about 330 feet (100
meters) in diameter from almost any point. It has a rocky shoreline which offers no beaches.
GISHIPPUJIMA
(
儀志布島
; Gishippu-jima). This uninhabited islet is located just below Jijit-
suru and is about 750 feet (225 meters) of the northern shore of the Tokashikijima “main-
land.” It's a long, thin, green-covered, oval-shaped islet with some pretty beaches on each side.
The island is almost 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) long from north to south and about 1,310 feet
(400 meters) wide east to west at its widest center point. That gives the island a shoreline of
a little over 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) and an area of a bit less than half a square kilometer. It's
comparatively hilly; the island's highest point is 374 feet (114 meters) above sea level.
