{{Short description|Japanese archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean}} {{Redirect|Bonin}} {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | image = Ogasawara islands.png | image_upright = 1.2 | caption = The Bonin Islands or the Ogasawara Islands comprises three main island groups{{mdash}}Chichijima, Hahajima, and Mukojima{{mdash}}located SSE of Tokyo. Administratively, they also include the nearby Volcano Islands (including Iwo Jima). | official_name = Ogasawara Islands | location = Japan | includes = Islands, reefs, and marine areas | criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ix)}}(ix) | ID = 1362 | coordinates = {{Coord|27|43|6|N|142|5|59|E|format=dms}} | year = 2011 | area = {{convert|7,939|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}} | locmapin = Oceania | map_caption = Location of the Bonin Islands in Oceania }}
The '''Bonin Islands'''<!-- Japanese in #Name section -->, also known as the {{nihongo|'''Ogasawara Islands'''|小笠原諸島|lead=yes}}, are a Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located around {{convert|1000|km|mi|lk=out|sp=us}} SSE of Tokyo and {{convert|1000|mi|km|sp=us|order=flip}} northwest of Guam.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/12/national/history/ogasawara-islands-remote-witnesses-front-lines-japanese-history/|title=Ogasawara Islands: Remote witnesses on the front lines of Japanese history|last=Yoshida|first=Reiji|date=2018-07-12|work=The Japan Times Online|access-date=2019-09-25|issn=0447-5763}}</ref><ref name=Coppock /> The group as a whole has a total area of {{convert|84|km2|sp=us}} but only two of the islands are permanently inhabited, Chichijima and Hahajima. Together, their population was 2,560 as of 2021. Administratively, Tokyo's Ogasawara Subprefecture also includes the settlements on the Volcano Islands and the Self-Defense Force post on Iwo Jima. The seat of government is Chichijima.
Because of the Bonins' isolation, many of their animals and plants have undergone unique evolutionary processes. They have been referred to as the "Galápagos of the Orient" and were named a Natural World Heritage Site in 2011. When first reached during the early modern period, the islands were entirely uninhabited, although subsequent research has found evidence of some prehistoric habitation by Micronesians. Upon their repeated rediscoveries, the islands were largely ignored by the Spanish, Dutch, and isolationist Japanese until finally being claimed by a passing British captain in 1827. American, European, and Hawaiian colonists arrived from the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1830. Subsequently, Meiji Japan successfully colonized and reclaimed the islands in 1875, but Bonin Islanders' community continued up to World War II, when most islanders were forcibly relocated to Honshu. Following Japan's defeat, the US Navy occupied the island, bulldozing existing Japanese homes and restricting resettlement until full control of the Bonins was returned to Japan in 1968. Ethnically, the island is now majority Japanese but remains unusually diverse, which is reflected in the local Creole language known as Bonin English. Improved transportation has made agriculture more profitable and encouraged tourism, but the development required for an airport remains a contentious local issue.
{{Anchor|Etymology|Toponymy|Name}}
==Names== The name ''Bonin'' comes from an 1817 article in the French {{lang|fr|Journal des Savans}} by Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat in which{{mdash}}among various other misunderstandings of his source material{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=35}}{{mdash}}he misread a description of the islands as uninhabited ({{lang|ja|無人嶋}}, "desert island[s]") for their actual name, used the wrong reading of the characters ({{Lang|ja-Latn|buninshima}} for {{Lang|ja-Latn|mujintō}}), and then transcribed the resulting reading incorrectly into French as {{lang|fr|Bo-nin Sima}},{{sfnp|Rémusat|1817|p=390}}{{sfnp|Kublin|1953|p=36}} which eventually lost its original hyphen.
The name ''Ogasawara'' ({{lang|ja|{{linktext|小笠原}}}}; {{IPA|ja|ogasawaɾa}}) literally means "little hat-shaped field(s)" but is used for the islands in honor of Ogasawara Sadayori ({{lang|ja|小笠原 {{linktext|貞|頼}}}}), a supposed ancestor of the ronin Ogasawara Sadatō ({{lang|ja|小笠原 {{linktext|貞|任}}}}) fictitiously credited with the discovery of the chain. Within Japanese, the Bonins proper are known as the "Ogasawara Islands" or "Group" ({{lang|ja|小笠原{{linktext|群島}}}}, {{Lang|ja-Latn|Ogasawara-guntō}}) while the "Ogasawara Islands" or "Archipelago" ({{lang|ja|小笠原{{linktext|諸島}}}}, ''Ogasawara-shotō'') is a wider term including the other islands of the Ogasawara Municipality ({{lang|ja|小笠原{{linktext|村}}}}, ''Ogasawara-mura'') and its coterminous Ogasawara Subprefecture ({{lang|ja|小笠原{{linktext|支庁}}}}, ''Ogasawara-shichō''){{mdash}}namely, the Volcano Islands and three remote islands of Nishinoshima, Minamitorishima, and Okinotorishima. These islands are parts of Japan's Nanpō Islands.
The islands were also formerly known to Europeans as the '''Archbishop Islands''' ({{langx|es|Islas del Arzobispo}}), probably in honor of Pedro Moya de Contreras, archbishop of Mexico and viceroy of New Spain, who sent an expedition to the area in the late 16th century.<ref name="Moriarty & Roberts"/>
==History==
===Prehistory=== At the end of the 20th century, prehistoric tools and carved stones were discovered on North Iwo Jima and Chichijima, establishing that the islands were previously home to at least some members of an unknown Micronesian people.<ref name="history">{{citation |url=http://www.iwojima.jp/ogasa2.html |title=小笠原・火山(硫黄)列島の歴史 |lang=ja |last= |first= |date= |publisher= |location= }}.</ref>
===Early modern period=== The first recorded visit by Europeans to the islands happened on 2 October 1543, when the Spanish explorer Bernardo de la Torre on the ''San Juan'' sighted Haha-jima, which he charted as ''Forfana''.{{sfnp|Welsch|2004}} The islands were uninhabited at that time. Japanese discovery of the islands occurred in ''Kanbun'' 10 (1670) and was followed by a shogunate expedition in ''Enpō'' 3 (1675).<ref>Tanaka, Hiroyuki (1993). [http://japanese.human.metro-u.ac.jp/kokubun/bonins/04tanaka.htm "''Edo Jidai ni okeru Nihonjin no Mujin Tou (Ogasawara Tou) ni tai-suru Ninshiki''" ("The Ogasawara Islands in Tokugawa Japan").] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225144611/http://japanese.human.metro-u.ac.jp/kokubun/bonins/04tanaka.htm |date=2007-12-25 }} ''Kaiji Shi Kenkyuu''(''Journal of the Maritime History''). No. 50, June, 1993.</ref> The islands were then referred to as {{nihongo|Bunin jima|無人島|''Buninjima''}}, literally "the uninhabited islands". Shimaya Ichizaemon, the explorer at the order of the shogunate, inventoried several species of trees and birds, but after his expedition, the shogunate abandoned any plans to develop the remote islands.{{sfnp|Rüegg|2017}}
The first published description of the islands in the West was brought to Europe by Isaac Titsingh in 1796. His small library of Japanese books included {{Nihongo3|''An Illustrated Description of Three Countries''|三国通覧図説|Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu}} by Hayashi Shihei.<ref>WorldCat, [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sangoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page ''Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu'']; alternate romaji [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sankoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page ''Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu'']</ref> This book, which was published in Japan in 1785,<ref>Cullen, Louis M. (2003). {{Google books|ycY_85OInSoC|''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds'', p. 137.|page=137}}</ref> briefly described the Ogasawara Islands.<ref>Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. (1998). {{Google books|Zu_ql5zHQRUC|''Re-inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation'', p. 24.|page=24}}</ref>{{sfnp|Kublin|1953}}
These groups were collectively called the Archbishop Islands in Spanish sources of the 18th–19th century, most likely due to an expedition organized by Pedro Moya de Contreras, archbishop of Mexico and viceroy of New Spain, to explore the northern Pacific and the islands of Japan. Its main objective was to find the long sought but legendary islands of ''Rica de Oro'' ("Rich in Gold"), ''Rica de Plata'' ("Rich in Silver"), and the ''Islas del Armenio'' ("Islands of the Armenian"). After several years of planning and frustrated initial attempts, the expedition finally set sail on 12 July 1587, commanded by Pedro de Unamuno. Even if it did revisit the Daitō Islands, already charted by Bernardo de la Torre in 1543, the expedition could not find the wanted islands after searching the positions where they were charted in contemporary references.<ref name="Moriarty & Roberts">{{cite journal|author1=James R. Moriarty III|author2=William R. Roberts|title=Between Cipango and Quivira: The legends of Rica de Oro y Rica de Plata and the Islas del Armenio|journal=Southern California Quarterly|date=1975|volume=57|issue=3|page=229}}</ref> Japanese maps at the time seem to have been rather inaccurate, to the point that some contemporaries considered them to have been deliberately misleading{{sfnp|Beechey|1831|pp=[https://archive.org/details/narrativeavoyag02beecgoog/page/n263 237–240]}} to discourage colonization attempts by foreign nations. Frederick William Beechey used the Spanish name as late as 1831, believing that the Japanese "Boninsima" were entirely different islands.{{sfnp|Rein|1884|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BrzteY1ur2kC&dq=ogasawara&pg=PT554 533–534]}}
===19th century=== On 12 September 1824, American Captain James Coffin in the whaler {{ship||Transit|1817 ship|2}} first visited the southern group of islands (''Coffin Islands''). He revisited the archipelago in 1825, but this time, he arrived at the middle group of islands (''Beechey Group'').{{sfnp|Chapman|2016|p=27}}
In September 1825, the British whaling ship ''Supply'' landed in the southern Bailey Group of islands. In 1826, another British whaler, ''William'', arrived at Beechey Island.{{sfnp|Chapman|2016|p=27}} Whaling ships called regularly for water and turtles before continuing their voyages.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.II,'', (1847) London, Charles Knight, p.205.</ref>
In 1827, Captain F. W. Beechey of {{HMS|Blossom|1806|6}} reached the island chain and claimed them as a British possession.{{sfnp|Beechey|1831}} A copper plate was removed from ''Blossom''{{'}}s hull and left on a beach as a marker of the claim:{{Blockquote|text=HBM Ship ''Blossom'' Capt F. W. Beechey took possession of this Group of Islands in the Name of and on the behalf of His Britannic Majesty George the IV on the 14th June 1827.<ref>{{cite journal| last =Oldman | first =W. O. | title =Historical Relic | journal =The Journal of the Polynesian Society | volume =53 | issue =4 | page =211 | date =December 1944 | jstor =20702990 }}</ref>}}
He also named the island of Chichijima "Peel" after then British Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel.<ref name=Coppock /> Beechey was also surprised to find two men living on the islands. They remained on the islands after the ''William'' left the year before in 1826. The men were Wittrein and Petersen.{{sfnp|Chapman|2016|p=27}}
In 1830, with the help of the British Consul to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Richard Charlton, Richard Millichamp, and Matteo Mazzaro sailed to the islands.{{sfnp|Chapman|2016|p=27}} The first permanent colony was made up of Nathaniel Savory of Bradford, Massachusetts, America, Richard Millichamp of Devon, England; Matteo Mazzaro of Ragusa/Dubrovnik, Austrian Empire (now in Croatia); Alden B. Chapin and Nathaniel Savory of Boston; Carl Johnsen of Copenhagen; as well as seven unnamed men and 13 women from the Kingdom of Hawaii.<ref>Notes on the Bonin Islands, Michael Quin, ''Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London'', Vol. 26, (1856), pp. 232–235, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)</ref> They found the climate suitable for farming and the raising of livestock. Rum was made from cane sugar, and bordellos were opened, sometimes staffed by women kidnapped from other island chains. Whalers and other ships that could not find another friendly port in Japan often visited the Bonins for provision and recreation.<ref>Coppock, p. 61</ref>
Two years later, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland published a posthumous, abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation of {{Lang|ja-Latn|Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu}}.{{sfnp|Klaproth|1832|p=256}}
Further settlers arrived in 1846 aboard the whaling ship ''Howard''. They established themselves initially in South Island. One of them, a woman from the Caroline Islands named Hypa, died in 1897 at the age of about 112, after being baptized on her deathbed.{{sfnp|King|1898}}
Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States Navy visited the islands in 1853 and bought a property at Port Lloyd from Savory for $50. The US "Colony of Peel Island" (Chichijima) was created, and Savory was appointed governor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rüegg |first=Jonas |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/kuroshio-frontier/A3240222992D53CAAAB0223267DEFEB8 |title=The Kuroshio Frontier: Empire and Environment in the Making of Japan's Pacific |date=2025 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-53457-4 |series=Cambridge Oceanic Histories |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/9781009534611}}</ref>
In 1853 there were Peel Island 31 inhabitants, made up as follows; four English, four American, one Portuguese, the rest being natives from either the Sandwich, the Ladrones, the Caroline or Kingsmill islands, together with children born on the Bonins.<ref>[http://nihongo.hum.tmu.ac.jp/~long/bonins/robertson.htm The Bonin Islands]</ref>
[[File:Ogasawara Islands in the Pre-war Showa era.JPG|thumb|left|A village in the Bonins during the early Shōwa period]] In January 1862 (Bunkyū 1), the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan claimed the islands in a short-lived colonial enterprise. The shogunal steamboat ''Kanrin Maru'' was dispatched to the islands with a crew of cartographers, physicians, and prominent bureaucrats. The islands were officially renamed Ogasawara, referring to the legendary Japanese discoverer from the late 16th century. This tentative colonization, however, did not last for long. In the summer of 1863, under foreign pressure, the shogunate ordered the evacuation of the islands.{{sfnp|Rüegg|2017}}
In 1875, the Japanese Meiji government reclaimed the islands.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sr-yzZK-WRgC&pg=PA175 Language and Citizenship in Japan, edited by Nanette Gottlieb, Chapter 10, p. 176].</ref> The Japanese names of each island were resolved, and 38 settlers from Hachijojima were sent the following year. In 1876, the islands were put under the direct control of the Home Ministry. Further foreign settlements were banned, and the government assisted settlers who wished to relocate from mainland Japan. The islands' forests were also reduced to use the land for sugar cane production. Colonists largely segregated themselves in two different villages, one for the Bonin Islanders and the other for the Japanese.<ref name=Coppock /> Bonin Islanders were eventually granted Japanese nationality in 1882. Jack London visited the islands in 1893 and published an account of his sojourn.<ref name=Coppock>{{cite magazine |last=Coppock |first=Mike |date=21 January 2021 |title=American Outpost at Japan's Front Door |url=https://www.historynet.com/american-outpost-at-japans-front-door/ |magazine=American History |location=Arlington, Virginia |publisher=HistoryNet LLC}}</ref>
===20th century=== Lionel Cholmondeley compiled a history of the islands over several years, publishing it in 1915.{{sfnp|Cholmondeley|1915}}
In 1917, 60–70 Bonin islanders claimed ancestry among the 19th-century English-speaking settlers; however, in 1941, no Bonin people would acknowledge descent from these early colonists.<ref>''National Geographic'', October 1944, pp. 387–388, 404.</ref> The current residents include some who claim to be related to Nathaniel Savory.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ogasawara-channel.com/contents/mouriso.htm|title=父島の宿|access-date=2007-09-05}}</ref> In the winter of 1920–1921, Russian Futurist painter David Burliuk lived in the Bonin Islands and painted several landscapes of the islands.<ref>{{cite book |last=Société Anonyme |author-link=Société anonyme |title=Société Anonyme (the First Museum of Modern Art, 1920–1944): Monographs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEJOAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2013-05-20 |year=1972 |publisher=Arno Press |isbn=978-0-405-00772-9 |page=87}}</ref>
thumb|right|A man at a well, alongside buildings with the thatched roofs, weather-beaten unpainted sides and paper partitions and windows, characteristic of the islands before World War II Bonin islanders were relegated to an insignificant status until the early Shōwa period. After Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, English was banned on the Bonins, and Bonin Islanders had to take on Japanese names.<ref name=Coppock /> As fighting crept closer to Japan during the later stage of World War II, most inhabitants were forcibly evacuated to the mainland. There was a Japanese military base on Chichijima run by a Major {{nihongo|Sueo Matoba|的場 末男|Matoba Sueo}}, who was known for engaging in cannibalism and other heinous acts on prisoners of war.{{sfnp|Welch|2002}} The torpedo bomber of later American President George H. W. Bush crashed in the ocean near Chichijima. He ended up getting rescued by USS ''Finback'' and becoming the only one to survive ultimately.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0312/20/cp.00.html |title=Story of George H. W. Bush World War II Experience |newspaper= CNN|date=December 20, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=George Herbert Walker Bush |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-b/bush-george-h-w.html |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |publisher=United States Department of the Navy |date=19 August 2019}}</ref> Eight other airmen downed near the islands were later executed and cannibalized by the Japanese soldiers.<ref name=Coppock/> After the war, Lieutenant General Tachibana, Major Matoba, and Captain Yoshii were found guilty and hanged.{{sfnp|Welch|2002}}<ref name="yamashita6">{{cite book |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/yamashita6.htm |title=Case No. 21 Trial Of General Tomoyuki Yamashita[,] United States Military Commission, Manila, (8 October–7 December 1945), and the Supreme Court Of The United States (Judgments Delivered On 4 February 1946). Part VI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208093731/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/yamashita6.htm |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |access-date=December 18, 2006}}</ref> The Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, one of the fiercest battles of World War II, was fought on a garrison island in this region of the Pacific.<ref>Nicol, C. W., "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20110807cw.html "The far-out Ogasawaras]", {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120720111510/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20110807cw.html |date=2012-07-20 }} ''Japan Times'', 7 August 2011, p. 10.</ref>
Following Japan's surrender, the islands were controlled by the United States Navy for the next 23 years, which the Westerners referred to as "Navy Time". All residents except those descended from the original settlers (Bonin Islanders) and/or related to them by marriage were expelled,<ref>[https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/1794/12/bradshawsmall.pdf J. Bradshaw, "Review of English on the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands"],''Language Documentation and Conservation'' v2, n1 (June 2008), pp. 176–8</ref> while Bonin Islanders (inhabitants of White American or European, Micronesian or Polynesian ancestry) were allowed to return.<ref>Trumbull, Robert. [https://www.nytimes.com/1956/03/11/archives/bonin-islanders-seek-us-tie-but-remain-international-pawns.html?sq=ogasawara&scp=51&st=p "Bonin Islanders Seek U.S. Tie But Remain International Pawns; Descendants of Americans Ask Citizenship in Vain—Fight Return of Japanese,"] ''New York Times.'' March 11, 1956.</ref> Vacant properties of exiled Japanese were bulldozed as part of the Navy's management of nuclear weapons on Chichijima. In 1956, the residents petitioned for American annexation of the islands but received no response. In 1968, the United States government returned the Bonins to Japanese control. Bonin Islanders could either become Japanese nationals or receive American citizenship and repatriate to the United States. The majority remained in the islands as Japanese citizens. Initially, 600 Japanese relocated to the islands, growing to about 2,000 by the end of the 20th century.<ref name=Coppock />
===21st century=== The Bonins were named a natural World Heritage Site on 24 June 2011.<ref name="world heritage">{{cite web|last=Japan Times|author-link=Japan Times|title=Ogasawara Islands Join World Heritage family|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110626a5.html|access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref>
==Economy== Historically, the Bonin Islands consisted of subsistence farming with some exploitation of timber and grazing land for export to the mainland. With improved transportation, it has developed as a tourist destination, particularly for Japanese interested in scuba diving and ecotourism. Foreign tourists are also sometimes drawn by the islands' remoteness and unusually mixed local culture. Refrigeration has also allowed for the greater exportation of fruits and vegetables. Coffee bushes have also recently been introduced successfully.<ref>[https://world-natural-heritage.jp/en/food/ogasawara-food/ Experience the distinctive cuisine of Ogasawara, born from its uncommon island environment]</ref>
Some government agencies are also involved with the islands. A {{convert|25|m|ft|adj=mid|-diameter}} radio telescope is located in Chichijima, one of the stations of the very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) project. It is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
==Geography and administration== {{main|Geography of the Bonin Islands}}
thumb|Satellite photo of Chichijima and Hahajima
The Bonin Islands consist of three subgroups. Their former names come from a variety of sources, but their Japanese ones generally reflect a family: * Muko-jima Group ({{lang|ja-Hani|聟島列島}} {{transliteration|ja|Muko-jima Rettō}}), formerly the Parry Group **Muko-jima ({{lang|ja-Hani|聟島}}, {{literally|Bridegroom Island}}) **Yome-jima (嫁島, {{lit|Bride Island|lk=no}}), formerly Kater Island **Nakōdo-jima or Nakadachi-jima (媒島, {{lit|Matchmaker Island|lk=no}}) **Kita-no-jima (北の島 or 北島, {{lit|Northern Island|lk=no}}) **Mae-jima (前島, {{lit|Front Island|lk=no}}), formerly The Ears * Chichi-jima Group (父島列島 {{transliteration|ja|Chichi-jima Rettō|lk=no}}), formerly the Beechey Group **Chichi-jima (父島, {{lit|Father Island}}), formerly the Main Island or Peel Island **Ani-jima (兄島, {{lit|Elder Brother Island|lk=no}}), formerly Hog Island or Buckland Island **Otōto-jima (弟島, {{lit|Younger Brother Island|lk=no}}), formerly North Island or Stapleton Island **Mago-jima (孫島 {{lit|Grandchild Island|lk=no}}) **Higashi-jima (東島 {{lit|East Island|lk=no}}) **Nishi-jima (西島 {{lit|West Island|lk=no}}), formerly Goat Island **Minami-jima (南島 {{lit|South Island|lk=no}}), formerly Knorr Island * Haha-jima Group (母島列島 {{transliteration|ja|Haha-jima Rettō|lk=no}}), formerly the Baily Group or Coffin Islands **Haha-jima (母島, {{lit|Mother Island}}), formerly Hillsborough Island **Mukō-jima (向島, {{lit|Yonder Island|lk=no}}), formerly Plymouth Island **Hira-jima or Taira-jima (平島, {{lit|Flat Island|lk=no}}) **Ane-jima (姉島, {{lit|Elder Sister Island|lk=no}}), formerly Perry Island **Imōto-jima (妹島, {{lit|Younger Sister Island|lk=no}}), formerly Kelly Island **Mei-jima (姪島, {{lit|Niece Island|lk=no}})
Although not part of the {{Nihongo|Bonins|小笠原群島|Ogasawara-'''guntō'''}} geographically,{{sfnp|Freeman|1951|pp=229–235}} the nearby Volcano Islands, Nishinoshima (Rosario Island), Okinotorishima (Parece Vela), and Minamitorishima (Marcus Island) are organized as part of {{Nihongo|Ogasawara municipality|小笠原村|Ogasawara-'''mura'''}}.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/73107/Bonin-Islands "Bonin Islands,"] ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' Retrieved July 06, 2009.</ref> Ogasawara itself is organized as a subprefecture of Tokyo.<ref name="nussbaum981">Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Tōkyō" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 981–982}}; in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC| "Kantō" p. 479}}</ref> In Japanese, the geographical expression for the full range of the municipality is the {{Nihongo|"Ogasawara Archipelago"|小笠原諸島|Ogasawara-'''shotō'''}}, which in turn is sometimes calqued back into English as another meaning for "the Bonin Islands".
== Geology == The Bonin Islands are a part of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc of Pacific islands. A fore arc, they lie above the subduction zone where the Pacific Plate slides beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. This began during the Eocene, simultaneously producing the deep Bonin Trench to the east about 50 million years ago and prolonged volcanic activity that created the islands on the west around 48 million years ago. The Bonins are mostly composed of an andesitic volcanic rock called boninite, rich in magnesium oxide, chromium, and silicon dioxide. They may represent the exposed parts of an ophiolite that has not yet been emplaced on oceanic crust. Although the area is currently dormant, most of the islands still have steep shorelines, often with sea cliffs ranging from {{convert|50|to|100|m|ft|sp=us}} high.<ref name=como/>
The Volcano Islands are much younger and still geologically active. Iwo Jima is a dormant volcano characterized by rapid uplift and several hot springs. The highest point in the entire chain lies on South Iwo Jima, at {{convert|916|m|ft|sp=us}}. In November 2013, a new volcanic island formed offshore from Nishinoshima and eventually merged with it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nishinoshima Continues to Grow |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/86111/nishinoshima-continues-to-grow |website=Earth Observatory |publisher=NASA |access-date=20 June 2020 |date=24 June 2015}}</ref>
The islands are fringed with healthy coral reefs and have many small beaches.<ref name=como>[http://www.coremoc.go.jp/english/pub/coralreefjapan/060101_ogasawara.pdf coral reefs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410061717/http://www.coremoc.go.jp/english/pub/coralreefjapan/060101_ogasawara.pdf |date=April 10, 2008 }}</ref>
==Climate== The climate of the Bonin Islands ranges from a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa'') to tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification ''Am'').
The climate of Chichijima is on the boundary between the humid subtropical climate (Köppen classification ''Cfa'') and the tropical monsoon climate (Köppen classification ''Am''). Temperatures are warm to hot all year round due to the warm currents from the North Pacific gyre surrounding the island. Rainfall is less heavy than in most parts of mainland Japan since the island is too far south to be influenced by the Aleutian Low and too far from Asia to receive monsoonal rainfall or orographic precipitation on the equatorward side of the Siberian High. The wettest months are May and September, while the driest are January and February.
{{Weather box |location = Chichijima (1991–2020) |width=auto |single line = Y |metric first = Y |Jan high C = 20.7 |Feb high C = 20.5 |Mar high C = 21.7 |Apr high C = 23.4 |May high C = 25.6 |Jun high C = 28.5 |Jul high C = 30.4 |Aug high C = 30.3 |Sep high C = 29.9 |Oct high C = 28.6 |Nov high C = 25.9 |Dec high C = 22.7 |year high C =25.7 |Jan mean C = 18.5 |Feb mean C = 18.1 |Mar mean C = 19.3 |Apr mean C = 21.1 |May mean C = 23.4 |Jun mean C = 26.2 |Jul mean C = 27.7 |Aug mean C = 28.0 |Sep mean C = 27.7 |Oct mean C = 26.4 |Nov mean C = 23.8 |Dec mean C = 20.6 |year mean C= 23.4 |Jan low C = 15.8 |Feb low C = 15.4 |Mar low C = 16.8 |Apr low C = 18.8 |May low C = 21.4 |Jun low C = 24.4 |Jul low C = 25.6 |Aug low C = 26.1 |Sep low C = 25.7 |Oct low C = 24.4 |Nov low C = 21.6 |Dec low C = 18.2 |year low C= 21.2 |rain colour = green |Jan rain mm = 63.6 |Feb rain mm = 51.6 |Mar rain mm = 75.8 |Apr rain mm = 113.3 |May rain mm = 151.9 |Jun rain mm = 111.8 |Jul rain mm = 79.5 |Aug rain mm = 123.3 |Sep rain mm = 144.2 |Oct rain mm = 141.7 |Nov rain mm = 136.1 |Dec rain mm = 103.3 |Jan humidity = 66 |Feb humidity = 68 |Mar humidity = 72 |Apr humidity = 79 |May humidity = 84 |Jun humidity = 86 |Jul humidity = 82 |Aug humidity = 82 |Sep humidity = 82 |Oct humidity = 81 |Nov humidity = 76 |Dec humidity = 70 |Jan rain days = 11.0 |Feb rain days = 8.5 |Mar rain days = 9.8 |Apr rain days = 10.0 |May rain days = 11.8 |Jun rain days = 8.8 |Jul rain days = 8.6 |Aug rain days = 11.3 |Sep rain days = 13.4 |Oct rain days = 13.7 |Nov rain days = 12.0 |Dec rain days = 11.2 |unit rain days = 0.5 mm |Jan sun = 131.3 |Feb sun = 138.3 |Mar sun = 159.2 |Apr sun = 148.3 |May sun = 151.8 |Jun sun = 205.6 |Jul sun = 246.8 |Aug sun = 213.7 |Sep sun = 197.7 |Oct sun = 173.2 |Nov sun = 139.1 |Dec sun = 125.3 |source = Japan Meteorological Agency <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=44&block_no=47971&year=&month=&day=&view=h0|title=気象庁｜過去の気象データ検索|work=jma.go.jp}}</ref> }}
The easternmost island, Minamitorishima or Marcus Island, has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen classification ''Aw'') with warm to hot temperatures throughout the year. The wettest months are July and August, while the driest are February and March.
{{Weather box |location = Minamitorishima or Marcus Island (1991–2020) |width=auto |metric first = Y |single line = Y |Jan high C = 24.6 |Feb high C = 24.3 |Mar high C = 25.3 |Apr high C = 27.1 |May high C = 29.0 |Jun high C = 31.0 |Jul high C = 31.3 |Aug high C = 31.0 |Sep high C = 30.9 |Oct high C = 30.2 |Nov high C = 28.7 |Dec high C = 26.7 |year high C = 28.3 |Jan mean C = 22.4 |Feb mean C = 21.8 |Mar mean C = 22.5 |Apr mean C = 24.3 |May mean C = 26.1 |Jun mean C = 28.0 |Jul mean C = 28.5 |Aug mean C = 28.4 |Sep mean C = 28.5 |Oct mean C = 27.9 |Nov mean C = 26.5 |Dec mean C = 24.5 |year mean C = 25.8 |Jan low C = 20.3 |Feb low C = 19.6 |Mar low C = 20.4 |Apr low C = 22.3 |May low C = 24.1 |Jun low C = 25.8 |Jul low C = 26.1 |Aug low C = 26.1 |Sep low C = 26.4 |Oct low C = 25.9 |Nov low C = 24.7 |Dec low C = 22.6 |year low C = 23.7 |rain colour=green |Jan rain mm = 69.7 |Feb rain mm = 43.4 |Mar rain mm = 56.0 |Apr rain mm = 59.6 |May rain mm = 100.6 |Jun rain mm = 44.3 |Jul rain mm = 139.8 |Aug rain mm = 177.1 |Sep rain mm = 94.8 |Oct rain mm = 89.6 |Nov rain mm = 83.0 |Dec rain mm = 90.8 |year rain mm = 1052.8 |Jan humidity = 70 |Feb humidity = 70 |Mar humidity = 74 |Apr humidity = 79 |May humidity = 79 |Jun humidity = 77 |Jul humidity = 77 |Aug humidity = 79 |Sep humidity = 79 |Oct humidity = 78 |Nov humidity = 76 |Dec humidity = 74 |year humidity = 76 |Jan rain days = 10.9 |Feb rain days = 8.5 |Mar rain days = 8.1 |Apr rain days = 7.8 |May rain days = 9.3 |Jun rain days = 7.2 |Jul rain days = 14.8 |Aug rain days = 16.7 |Sep rain days = 14.1 |Oct rain days = 12.7 |Nov rain days = 10.4 |Dec rain days = 11.8 |unit rain days = 0.5 mm |Jan sun = 170.8 |Feb sun = 179.4 |Mar sun = 222.3 |Apr sun = 240.2 |May sun = 275.1 |Jun sun = 311.2 |Jul sun = 276.3 |Aug sun = 248.1 |Sep sun = 254.6 |Oct sun = 250.8 |Nov sun = 211.0 |Dec sun = 182.3 |year sun = 2821.7 |source = Japan Meteorological Agency <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=44&block_no=47991&year=&month=&day=&view=h0|title=気象庁｜過去の気象データ検索|work=jma.go.jp}}</ref> |date=2021年9月 }}
==Ecology== {{main|Ogasawara subtropical moist forests}}
===Flora===
[[File:Ogasawara Islands, Tokyo, Japan.jpg|thumb|right|Kominato beach and Kopepe Beach, Chichi-jima]]
Flora have evolved differently on each of the islands. The Bonin Islands are sometimes referred to as the Galápagos of the Orient.<ref>{{Cite news|last =Yamaoka| first =Fumiko| title =Saving an endangered bird in 'Orient's Galápagos'|newspaper =The Japan Times| date =May 12, 2007| url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070512f1.html}}</ref><ref name="world heritage"/> They form a distinct subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion, the Ogasawara subtropical moist forests. The ecoregion has a high degree of biodiversity and endemism. The islands are home to about 500 plant species, of which 43% are endemic. The forests are of three main types:<ref name="eoe">"Ogasawara subtropical moist forests". ''Encyclopedia of Earth''. Accessed 28 July 2020. [https://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Ogasawara_subtropical_moist_forests]</ref>
*Type I: ''Elaeocarpus–Ardisia'' mesic forest is found in moist lowland areas with deep soils. The forests have a closed canopy with a height of about {{convert|15|m|ft|sp=us}}, dominated by ''Ardisia sieboldii''. ''Elaeocarpus photiniaefolius'', ''Pisonia umbellifera'', and ''Planchonella obovata'' are other important canopy species. These forests were almost completely destroyed by clearing for agriculture before 1945. *Type II: ''Distylium–Raphiolepis–Schima'' dry forest is found in drier lowland and upland sites with shallower soils. It is also a closed-canopy forest, with a {{convert|4|to|8|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}} canopy composed mostly of ''Distylium lepidotum'', ''Rhaphiolepis integerrima'', ''Schima mertensiana'', ''Planchonella obovata'', and ''Syzygium buxifolium''. The Type II forests can be further subdivided into: **Type IIa: ''Distylium-Schima'' dry forest occurs in cloudy upland areas with fine-textured soils. These forests contain many rare and endemic species, with ''Pandanus boninensis'' and ''Syzygium buxifolium'' as the predominant trees. **Type IIb: ''Raphiolepis-Livistona'' dry forest is found in upland areas with few clouds and rocky soils. ''Rhaphiolepis integerrima'' is the dominant tree species, along with the fan palm ''Livistona boninensis'', ''Pandanus boninensis'' and ''Ochrosia nakaiana''. *Type III: ''Distylium-Planchonella'' scrub forest is found on windy and dry mountain ridges and exposed sea cliffs. These forests have the highest species diversity on the islands. ''Distylium lepidotum'' and ''Planchonella obovata'' are the dominant species, growing from {{convert|0.5|to|1.5|m|ft|sp=us}} tall. Other common shrubs are ''Myrsine okabeana'', ''Symplocos kawakamii'', and ''Pittosporum parvifolium''.<ref name = eoe/>
These islands are home to the northernmost outliers of the palm genus ''Clinostigma''. ''Clinostigma savoryanum'' is endemic and has been planted in Mediterranean climates with success. Other unique species include ''Metrosideros boninensis'', a plant related to similar species growing in Fiji and New Caledonia.
===Fauna=== Due to its isolation and recent colonization, the Bonin Islands contain several endemic animal species, most of them recently extinct.
==== Birds ==== [[File:BOPE.JPG|thumb|right|A Bonin petrel]]The range of the Bonin petrel extends beyond the Bonins themselves to other islands in the North Pacific. There are two restricted-range species of birds on the islands, the Japanese wood pigeon ({{lang|la|Columba janthina}}) and the near-threatened Bonin white-eye ({{lang|la|Apalopteron familiare}}), formerly known as the Bonin honeyeater. The Japanese wood pigeon was extirpated from the Iwo Island groups in the 1980s. The formerly endemic Bonin pigeon ({{lang|la|C. versicolor}}), Bonin thrush ({{lang|la|Zoothera terrestris}}) and Bonin grosbeak ({{lang|la|Carpodacus ferreorostris}}) are now extinct.<ref name="birdlife">"Bonin Islands" ''Avibase – Bird Checklists of the World''. BirdLife International. Accessed 27 July 2020. [https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=JPbo]</ref>
==== Mammals ==== A small extinct bat, Sturdee's pipistrelle, is only known in one record and has not been seen since 1915. The Bonin flying fox ({{lang|la|Pteropus pselaphon}}), also called the Bonin fruit bat, is endemic to the islands. It is currently listed as endangered,<ref name="iucn">{{Cite iucn | author = Vincenot, C. | title = ''Pteropus pselaphon'' | volume = 2017 | article-number = e.T18752A22085351 | date = 2017 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T18752A22085351.en }}</ref> and a survey published by the Ogasawara Office of Education in 1999 estimated their number at around 100.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion | id=oc0109 | name = Ogasawara subtropical moist forests | access-date=2008-01-17}}</ref> The Bonin sambar (''R. unicolor boninensis)'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pocock |first1=R.I. |year=1943 |title=The Skull-characters of some of the Forms of Sambar (''Rusa'') occurring to the East of the Bay of Bengal. — Part III. ''Rusa nigricans'' and ''Rusa boninensis'' |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |volume=10 |issue=63 |pages=191–196 |doi=10.1080/03745481.1943.9728010}}</ref> a subspecies of the sambar deer, was supposedly a population introduced to the islands only as late as 1850, but is also known from subfossil remains{{check|date=April 2024}}{{cn|date=April 2024}}<!-- dubious due to the island's oceanic location -->; it went extinct after 1925–26, when Richard Goldschmidt saw the taxidermied pair of the Chichijima museum and was told by locals that merely "half a dozen" animals remained alive<ref>Goldschmidt, Richard (1927). ''Neu-Japan'': 223. {{doi|10.1007/978-3-642-99454-8}}</ref>
==== Invertebrates ==== [[File:Mandarina suenoae from Anijima, Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands.jpg|thumb|''Mandarina suenoae'' on Anijima]] The islands are also renowned for the many species of snails that are found across the islands, especially the {{lang|la|Mandarina}} snails.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chiba|first=Satoshi|date=1999|title=Accelerated Evolution of Land Snails Mandarina in the Oceanic Bonin Islands: Evidence from Mitochondrial DNA Sequences|journal=Evolution|volume=53|issue=2|pages=460–471|doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb03781.x|pmid=28565404|issn=1558-5646|doi-access=free}}</ref> Most of the native snails are now endangered or extinct because of introduced species and habitat loss.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chiba|first1=Satoshi|last2=Cowie|first2=Robert H.|date=November 2016|title=Evolution and Extinction of Land Snails on Oceanic Islands|journal=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics|volume=47|issue=1|pages=123–141|doi=10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054331|issn=1543-592X|doi-access=free}}</ref> The giant squid ({{lang|la|Architeuthis}} ''dux'') was photographed off the Bonins for the first time in the wild on 30 September 2004. It was filmed alive there in December 2006.<ref>{{cite news |date=2006-12-22 |title=Japanese Researchers Capture Giant Squid |work=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/japanese-researchers-capture-giant-squid |url-status=live |access-date=2007-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826165631/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238263,00.html |archive-date=2007-08-26}}</ref>
== Transportation ==
===Water transport=== thumb|right|upright|The ''Ogasawara Maru'' at Tokyo's Takeshiba pier. The liner travels between Tokyo and the Bonins. [[File:Port of Futami, Chichijima, Ogasawara.jpg|thumb|right|Futami Port, Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Village]] The main port is Futami on Chichijima. Since 2016, the main line connecting the islands to the mainland is the Ogasawara Shipping Company ({{lang|ja|小笠原海運株式会社}}). It operates the ''Ogasawara Maru'' ({{lang|ja|おがさわら丸}}), an 11,035-ton {{convert|150|m|sp=us|adj=on}} long vessel with 170 private rooms and a total capacity of 894 passengers.<ref name=boatymcboatface>{{cite web |url=http://www.ogasawara-channel.com/access/ogamaru.htm |title=おがさわら丸 (''Ogasawara Maru'') |date=2022 }}</ref> With a top speed of {{convert|24.7|knot|km/h mph|sp=us}}, it makes the trip from Takeshiba Pier in Tokyo in about 24 hours in good weather.<ref name=boatymcboatface/> The number of monthly voyages varies, having fallen during the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously, there had been plans for a 14,500-ton "techno superliner" able to reach a maximum speed of {{convert|38|knot|km/h mph}} and make the same journey in only 17 hours with a capacity of around 740 passengers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mes.co.jp/english/press/2004/20041115.html|title=Super High-Speed Ship (Techno Super Liner) for Ogasawara Line Naming and Launching Ceremony|access-date=2007-08-24 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235920/http://www.mes.co.jp/english/press/2004/20041115.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-09-26}}</ref> The project was canceled in July 2005, however, due to rising fuel prices and cost overruns of ¥2 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMV/2005jul0252.html|title=Japan pulls plug on Techno Superliner|access-date=2007-08-24}}</ref>
Hahajima is reachable via the ferry {{Lang|ja-Latn|Hahajima Maru}} from Chichijima.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ogasawarakaiun.co.jp/english/service/hahajima.html | title=OgasawaraKaiun Co., Ltd }}</ref>
===Road transport=== Ogasawara Village operates a bus service on Chichijima and elderly passengers may use a "silver pass". There is also a sightseeing taxi service, a rental car company, motorized scooter rental services, a bike rental service, and other amenities. Bringing your automobile onto the island is extremely difficult and costly.
===Air transport=== The Bonins have no airport. During severe accidents, illnesses, and other emergencies, a helicopter is dispatched from the Self-Defense Force (SDF) post on Iwo Jima. The ''ShinMaywa US-1'' seaplane from the SDF post at Iwakuni is used during visits by the Tokyo governor and other dignitaries and for any emergency requiring rapid transport back to Honshu.
For several decades, there has been talk of building a full airport.<ref>{{cite book|title = Ogasawara Shotō Kōkūro Kaihatsu Chōsa Hōkusho: Ogasawara Shotō no Shinkōjiritsu no tameni|trans-title = Ogasawara Island Airlines Development Study Report: For the Independence of the Ogasawara Islands|language = ja |editor = Tōkyōto Sōmukyoku Santama Tōsho Taisakushitsu Ogasawara Shinkōka|publisher = Tokyo Metropolitan Government |year = 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title = Ogasawara Shotō Kōkūro Kaihatsu Chōsa Hōkusho: Ogasawara Shotō no Kōkūjuyō Yosoku|trans-title = Ogasawara Island Airlines Development Study Report: Estimated Air Transportation Demand for Ogasawara Islands|language = ja |editor = Tōkyōto Sōmukyoku |publisher = Tokyo Metropolitan Government |year = 1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title = Ogasawara Shotō Kōkūro Kaihatsu Chōsa (sono 2) Hōkusho: Shūkō Kizai tō Chōsa oyobi Kūkō Kensetsu-an Sakutē Chōsa |trans-title = Ogasawara Island Airlines Development Study Report: Survey of Air Service Equipment and others with Study on Planning Airport Construction |language = ja |editor = Tōkyōto Sōmukyoku |publisher = Tokyo Metropolitan Government |year = 1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title = Ogasawara kūkō kensetsu kēkaku tō ni kansuru teigen |trans-title = Recommendations on Ogasawara Airport Construction |language = ja|author = Ogasawara kūkō kensetsu kēkaku tō senmon iinkai |editor = Tōkyōto Sōmukyoku Gyōseibu Chiiki Shinkōka|publisher = Tokyo Metropolitan Government|year = 1998}}</ref> Sites on Chichijima and Anijima have both been rejected. Travel time to the mainland would be cut to around two hours, improving tourism and providing emergency services,<ref name="yomiuri"/> and the national, regional, and local governments have all supported the idea in theory. Projects have lagged, however, due to concerns about their economic feasibility and concerns that the proposed sites are homes to numerous valuable, rare, or endangered plant species. Some locals have greatly desired an airport, while a desire to keep the islands' natural beauty untouched has prompted others to work to block one.<ref>{{cite journal|title = Ogasawara kūkō kensetsu no henkō motomeru / Nihon Seitai Gakkai dai 24-kai sōkai |trans-title = Petition to Change Ogasawara Airport Construction / 24th General Meeting, Ecological Society of Japan|language = ja|journal = Gijutsu to Ningen |editor = Agne|pages = 6–7|volume = 24|number = 10 (262)|issn = 0285-5186|oclc = 835524887|year = 1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title = Tokushū—Ogasawara no shizen to kūkō kensetsu kēkaku|trans-title =Special edition—Nature on Ogasawara and airport construction plan |language = ja|journal = Chiri|volume = 34|number = 11|pages = 21–68| issn = 0577-9308|oclc = 551698617|date = November 1989}}</ref> The issue is quite controversial on the islands.<ref name="jpri">{{cite web | url = http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op15.html | title = Dilemmas of Development on The Ogasawara Islands | first = Gavan | last = McCormack | date = August 1999 | publisher = Japan Policy Research Institute | access-date = 2008-01-17 | archive-date = 2013-01-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130116212758/http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op15.html }}</ref>
On 26 June 2016, the Japanese Minister of Environment Tamayo Marukawa talked about airport construction on the Bonins after the meeting in Tokyo commemorating the fifth anniversary of their registration as World Natural Heritage.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLASDG26H0D_W6A620C1CC1000/ |title = Minister Marukawa of Environment Ministry seeks progress "Cooperation in Construction" for Ogasawara Airport|date = 2016-06-26|publisher = Nihon Keizai Shinbun|access-date = 2017-10-12}}</ref> At a 27 July 2017 meeting with Ogasawara Village, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that it was considering opening a regular air route between Tokyo and the Bonins using a proposed {{convert|1200|m|ft|adj=on|sp=us|abbr=on}} runway that would be built on Chichijima. This would allow it to land propeller aircraft with up to 50 passengers. The Tokyo government said that construction would depend on future assessments of the impact on the natural environment and economic feasibility. Ogasawara Village supported the runway in preference to expanding either the current helicopter or seaplane access.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK7W3VTMK7WUTIL01P.html|title = Ogasawara kōkūro, kūkō kensetsu-an jiku ni kentō—Tōkyōto ga hōshin|trans-title = Tokyo Metropolitan Government suggested policy with the Airport Construction Plan on Ogasawara Island|language = ja|publisher = Asahi Shimbun|date = 2017-07-27|access-date = 2017-10-12|archive-date = 2017-10-13|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171013065007/http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK7W3VTMK7WUTIL01P.html}}</ref> In fiscal 2019, 490 million yen was included in the Japanese budget for a feasibility study and a survey on Chichijima to determine the best location to construct the runway.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20190110-OYT1T50027/ |title = 「小笠原に空港整備」測量で都が実現性検討へ |work = 読売新聞オンライン |trans-title = "To Ogasawara Airport maintenance" feasibility study by survey |language = ja |publisher = Yomiuri Shimbun |date = 2019-01-10 |access-date = 2019-07-24 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190724205135/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20190110-OYT1T50027/ |archive-date = 2019-07-24}}</ref> In August 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a council during which it affirmed its desire to open an airport. Still, it claimed it would not occur until 2030 at the earliest.<ref name="yomiuri">{{cite web |title=小笠原に垂直離着陸可能な「ティルトローター機」案…滑走路５００ｍ、環境に配慮 |publisher=Yomiuri |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20200802-OYT1T50158/ |date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027191817/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20200802-OYT1T50158/ |archive-date=October 27, 2020}}</ref> To address environmental concerns, they further proposed shortening the runway to about {{convert|500|m|sp=us}} and using tiltrotor aircraft to compensate.<ref name="yomiuri"/>
==Demography, language, and education== [[File:Oubeikei-Tomin circa 1930.JPG|thumb|left|upright|An islander, who appears to be a Christian clergyman of Bonin Islanders, in about 1930]] In 2021, the Bonins had a population of 2560, divided between Chichijima (2120) and Hahajima (440).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soumu.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/07ogasawara/guidance/summary.html|title=支庁の案内: 管内概要 (Japanese)|access-date=2022-06-16|date=2021-04-01}}</ref> Virtually all of the Bonin Islands' permanent inhabitants are Japanese citizens. This includes a significant proportion of Bonin Islanders (ancestors from the United States, Europe, and other Pacific islands), who can often be distinguished by their physical features, family names spelled out with katakana, and adherence to Christianity. During and after the US military occupation of 1946–1968, a small minority of islanders opted for US citizenship and/or emigrated from the islands. However, most Bonin islanders now appear to be reassimilating with the ethnic Japanese majority.
Japanese is the common language. Because Bonin Islanders (settlers from the United States, Europe, and other Pacific islands) preceded ethnic Japanese settlers, an English-lexified pidgin which subsequently developed into a creole, known as Bonin English, Ogasawara Creole or Ogasawara Mixed Language, emerged on the islands during the 19th century.<ref name="Long 2004">{{cite journal |title=The Last Yankee in the Pacific: Eastern New England Phonology in the Bonin Islands |journal=American Speech |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=356–367 |last=Long |first= Daniel |author2=Peter Trudgill |year=2004 |doi=10.1215/00031283-79-4-356|s2cid=145388563 }}</ref> This was the result of Japanese being hybridized with island English, resulting in a mixed language that can still be heard.<ref name="Long 2007">{{cite book |title=English on the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands |last=Long |first=Daniel |year=2007 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-6671-3}}</ref>
The Ogasawara Village municipality operates public elementary and junior high schools, while Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education operates Ogasawara High School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ogasawara-h.metro.tokyo.jp/ |title=Chichi-jima |publisher=ogasawara-h.metro.tokyo.jp |access-date=2007-10-30 |archive-date=2020-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215113124/http://www.ogasawara-h.metro.tokyo.jp/ }}</ref> In the post–World War II era, {{nihongo|Admiral Arthur Radford Elementary School|ラドフォード提督学校}} (JA) taught elementary students and high school students went to Guam to do their high school education. Ogasawara High opened in 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metro.ed.jp/ogasawara-h/our_school/history.html|title=トップ > 学校案内 > 沿革|publisher=Ogasawara High School|access-date=2024-03-21|language=ja}}</ref>
== Fictional references == The Bonins have been referenced in several works of fiction. ''Bonin'' by Robert Standish describes itself as 'a novel', but claims 'this book is an accurate history of the Bonin Islands', based mainly on information from Nathaniel Savory's great-granddaughter, and includes descriptions of maltreatment of Bonin Islanders (the Anglo-Polynesian population) by the later Japanese settlers and authorities and a detailed map of the Chichijima group (on the back end-paper), including over 50 English place-names.<ref>Standish, Robert (pseudonym of Digby George Gerahty). (1943). ''Bonin: A Novel'', London: Peter Davies.</ref>
Chapter XVI of Jack London's autobiographical novel ''John Barleycorn'' says, "This isolated group, belonging to Japan, had been selected as the rendezvous of the Canadian and American sealing fleets", and describes the drunken visit of a young sailor and his shipmates to the Bonin Islands.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/John_Barleycorn_(London)/Chapter_XVI |title=John Barleycorn (London)/Chapter XVI |last=London |first=Jack |year=1913 |work=John Barleycorn |via=Wikisource}}</ref>
In the television series ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'', a fictional island in the chain, South Ataria Island (which would have laid at the southernmost position in the chain, surpassing Minami Iwo Jima), is the landing site of the SDF-1 Macross.<ref>[http://macross.anime.net/story/atlas/universe/milky_way/orion_arm/sol/earth/oceania/japan/south_ataria_island/index.html Macross Compendium Atlas Listing]</ref>
In the 1963 film ''Matango'', a luxury yacht is set adrift and lands on an island. Upon approaching the island, one of the crew members shouts: "I wonder if it's the Bonin Islands?"<ref>[http://www.cswap.com/1963/Matango/cap/en/25fps/a/00_17 Matango – 00:17<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The English subtitles for the film misspell Bonin "Bonan".{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
In the 2003 ''kaiju'' film ''Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.'', the twin Mothra larvae hatch from their egg in Himago Island and rush to help their mother who got attacked by Godzilla.
The 2017 anime film ''The Irregular at Magic High School: The Movie – The Girl Who Summons the Stars'' takes place on fictional islands in the Bonins.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrissy |first=Kim |date=June 20, 2017 |title=''The irregular at magic high school The Movie: The Girl Who Summons the Stars'' – Review |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/the-irregular-at-magic-high-school-the-movie/the-girl-who-summons-the-stars/.117653 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516112939/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/the-irregular-at-magic-high-school-the-movie/the-girl-who-summons-the-stars/.117653 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |access-date=May 16, 2022 |website=Anime News Network}}</ref>
In the 2023 ''kaiju'' film ''Godzilla Minus One'', Koichi Shikishima and his minesweeper crew travel there and are tasked with stalling Godzilla's approach to Japan.
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights=130> File:Mukojima, Ogasawara, Tokyo.jpg|Muko-jima File:Minamijima.jpg|Minami-jima, a small island in the Chichi-jima group File:Hahajima-oki.jpg|Haha-jima </gallery>
==See also== {{Portal|Tokyo}} * List of extreme points of Japan * List of World Heritage Sites in Japan * María de Lajara
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography=== * {{citation |last=Abel-Rémusat |first=Jean-Pierre |author-link=Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat |contribution=Description d'un Groupe d'Îles Peu Connues et Situé entre le Japon et les Îles Mariannes, Rédigée d'après les Relations des Japonais [Description of a Little Known Group of Islands Situated between Japan and the Mariana Islands, Including the Accounts of the Japanese] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-62q3dzY6EC&pg=RA2-PA384-IA1 |title=Journal des Savans ''[''Journal of the Learnèd'']'' |date=July 1817 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H-62q3dzY6EC&pg=RA2-PA387 387–396] |lang=fr |publisher=Royal Printing Office |location=Paris |ref={{harvid|Rémusat|1817}} |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-62q3dzY6EC&pg=RA2-PA387 }}. * {{citation |last=Beechey |first=Frederick William |author-link=Frederick William Beechey |title=Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait to Co-operate with the Polar Expeditions, Performed in His Majesty's Ship ''Blossom'' under the Command of Captain F.W. Beechey, R.N., F.R.S. &c. in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28 |publisher=H. Colburn & R. Bentley |year=1831 |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeavoyag02beecgoog }}. * {{citation |title=The Bonin Islanders, 1830 to the Present: Narrating Japanese Nationality |last=Chapman |first=David |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-2-01-504936-6 |location=London }}. * {{citation |last=Cholmondeley |first=Lionel Berners |author-link=Lionel Berners Cholmondeley |date=1915 |title=The History of the Bonin Islands from the Year 1827 to the Year 1876 |url=http://mysite.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/boninchol.htm |location=London |publisher=Constable & Co. }} * {{citation |last=Freeman |first=Otis Willard |date=1951 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjIhAAAAMAAJ |title=Geography of the Pacific |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-598-43606-1 |oclc=415089 }}. * {{citation |last=King |first=A.F. |contribution=Hypa, the Centenarian Nurse |title=The Mission Field |issue=43 |pages=415–421 |date=1898 }}. * {{citation |last=Hayashi |first=Shihei |author-link=Hayashi Shihei |date=1785 |lang=ja |title=''三國通覽圖說 [''Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu, An Abridged Illustrated Description of the Three Kingdoms'']'' |location=Edo |oclc=44014900 |publisher=autograph manuscript |url=http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ru03/ru03_01547/index.html }}. * {{citation |last=Klaproth |first=Julius |author-link=Julius Klaproth |date=1832 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCNMAAAAYAAJ |title=''三國通覽圖說'' San Kokf Tsou Ran To Sets, ou, Aperçu Général des Trois Royaumes ''[''Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu, or, General Outline of the Three Kingdoms'']'' |location=Paris |publisher=Oriental Translation Fund... |oclc=2563166 |lang=fr }}. * {{citation |last=Kublin |first=Hyman |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2561081.pdf |contribution=The Discovery of the Bonin Islands: A Reexamination |title=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=March 1953 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=27–46 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Milton Park |doi=10.2307/2561081 |jstor=2561081 }}. * {{citation |last=Rein |first=J.J. |date=1884 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrzteY1ur2kC |title=Japan: Travel and Researches |publisher= Psychology Press|location= |isbn=978-0-7007-1016-4 }}. * {{citation |last=Rüegg |first=Jonas |contribution-url=https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-23/ruegg |contribution=Mapping the Forgotten Colony: The Ogasawara Islands and the Tokugawa Pivot to the Pacific |title=Cross-Currents |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=440–490 |date=2017 |access-date=2018-11-24 |archive-date=2018-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124215956/https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-23/ruegg }}. * {{citation |last=Welch |first=Jeanie M. |contribution=Without a Hangman, Without a Rope: Navy War Crimes Trials after World War II |contribution-url=http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/welch_naval_MCs.pdf |title=International Journal of Naval History |volume=1 |issue=1 |date=April 2002 |access-date=2022-12-04 |archive-date=2019-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103132545/http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/welch_naval_MCs.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}. * {{citation |last=Welsch |first=Bernhard |date=June 2004 |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25169675 |contribution=Was Marcus Island Discovered by Bernardo de la Torre in 1543? |title=Journal of Pacific History |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=109–122 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Milton Park |jstor=25169675 }}.
==External links== {{commons category|Ogasawara Islands}} {{wikivoyage|Bonin Islands}} {{EB1911 poster|Bonin Islands}} * [https://www.vill.ogasawara.tokyo.jp/ Ogasawara Village] (Japanese) * [http://nihongo.hum.tmu.ac.jp/~long/bonins/default.html The Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands Language and Culture Site] (no longer maintained, apparently as of 2001) * [https://www.ogasawara-channel.com/ Ogasawara Channel] (Japanese) * National Archives of Japan: [https://web.archive.org/web/20090416020434/http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/jpg_prg/jgmWeb?%25TmpFileDisp%25Env=jpeg2k_images%2Fezu%2Fnihonyochizu%2F107_ogasawara_e.env The faked map of 1752 mentioned in Hiroyuki Tanaka's 1998 article.] * Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Ogasawara-mura: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080222173006/http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/spot/ogasa1.html maps/photos]
{{Ogasawara, Tokyo}} {{Tokyo}} {{World Heritage Sites in Japan}}
{{Authority control}}{{Coord|26|59|53|N|142|13|05|E|region:JP_type:isle_source:dewiki|display=title}} Category:Bonin Islands Category:Archipelagoes of Japan * Category:Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park Category:Islands of Tokyo Category:Ecoregions of Japan Category:World Heritage Sites in Japan Category:Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean