Now when it comes to Tokyo, people usually think of the capital of Japan (actually the capital), a super prosperous metropolis, but in fact, the "Tokyo" and "Tokyo" in the Japanese population are actually different concepts. "Tokyo" is a bustling big city, but "Tokyo" belongs to a Japanese administrative division. Friends who are familiar with Japan may know that in addition to a city like "Tokyo", half of the "Tokyo" is called "Tama Place" in the west, which also occupies half of Tokyo.
However, Tama is still close to Tokyo at least, and has a town, but in addition to this, the "Tokyo Capital" actually includes a part - an island!
3 parts of Tokyo
Yes, Tokyo is actually composed of three parts: the ward (Tokyo City 23 District), Tama place, and the island part (i.e. Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands). There is nothing to say about the Izu Islands very close to Tokyo, but the Ogasawara Islands are quite special. This place is nearly 2,000 kilometers away from , Tokyo District 4, and a metropolis governs 2,000 kilometers away. This may not be found in the world.
Tokyo also manages a group of islands
What is the special nature of the Ogasawara Islands? This place was actually not the first discovered by the Japanese. Some people say that it was discovered by Spanish explorers in 1543. The Japanese had no idea that there was such a place before. Japan was not an explorer of the "Age of Discovery", so of course it did not catch up with the development of this place. But the part that the Spaniards discovered was actually Iwo Jima, not the core part of the Ogasawara Islands.
But according to the Japanese, in 1593 (the 20th year of Tensuke in Japan), the Ogasawara clan in the Shino area also discovered it and named the archipelago after its surname. However, this statement was not proposed by the descendants of the Ogasawara clan until the 18th century, and there is no original historical material, so it is doubtful.
Ogasawara Islands
Both of the above statements are doubtful, but in 1639, the statement that 4 people in the Netherlands discovered the Ogasawara Islands is quite credible. At that time, the Dutch maritime trade was very developed, and the Dutch fleet discovered the Ogasawara Islands, but they didn't care much, because it was just a desert island.
1670, Japan's Edo Shogunate , and seven people including Nagasu-emon from the Yoshishu family encountered wind and waves while taking a boat and drifted to the Ogasawara Islands and the Hachijo Islands and other islands. After returning to Edo, they informed the Edo Shogunate of this experience. This attracted the attention of the shogunate. In 1675, the Matsuura Party (a samurai group famous for its naval army) of the Edo Shogunate went to the Ogasawara Islands for a 36-day investigation, incorporated it into the Japanese territory, and set up a monument (the inscription is "inside this island of Japan") to delineate the island boundary. But this is only nominal, because this place is too remote and there is no possibility of development under the conditions at that time, so it is still a deserted island. Although some Japanese expedition teams have explored here many times after
, they do not pay much attention to this place. However, as the navies of the Western powers became stronger and stronger, they occupied Ogasawara.
19th century, due to the development of the whaling industry, Ogasawara's value increased: this is an excellent supply area for whaling ships to sail from ocean.
In 1830, with the support of the British ambassador to Honolulu, 25 people of different nationalities born in Massachusetts, USA began to colonize the Ogasawara Islands. These people were born in the United States but were colonized on behalf of the British, so they brought the rice flag over there. This is the first time that humans have settled in the Ogasawara Islands, and Britain has claimed sovereignty over the Ogasawara Islands.
The 25 people were reclaimed very successfully, and a colony was quickly built to provide supplies to the whaling ships. But this place is too far away after all, so the British government cannot control it. It is a "land of transformation", so the Americans took advantage of the situation. For the British, Ogasawara is better than nothing, but for the Americans, Ogasawara is a very good transit station when their fleet sails in the Pacific.
The United States is not convenient to occupy the Ogasawara Islands itself, so Americans strongly advocate that the sovereignty here belongs to the Japanese. After all, dealing with the Japanese is more convenient than dealing with the British Empire. However, because the United States encountered the Civil War, this issue was shelved, but Japanese shogunate attached great importance to this issue. The shogunate realized that Ogasawara had been controlled by Britain and sworn sovereignty, and understood the United States' position, so the shogunate also began to act.
After several rounds of disputes with Britain, it was not until 1876 after the Meiji Restoration that Britain recognized Japan's sovereignty over the Ogasawara Islands. So this place became the only overseas territory in Japan.
In 1875, the UK transferred ownership of these islands to Japan. In 1882, all islanders accepted Japanese nationality. In addition, Japan also sent residents to colonize and develop this place.
During World War II, the Ogasawara Islands were an important strategic anchor in the southern waters of Japan. The US and Japanese troops fought fiercely for the Ogasawara Islands, and the United States has been controlling this place after its victory. Until 1968, based on the Ogasawara Restoration Agreement, the archipelago was returned to Japan, and the residents who had been relocated returned to the island.
Ogasawara Village Akira
Now the administrative division here is under the jurisdiction of Ogasawara Village, Tokyo. The Ogasawara Islands are composed of more than 30 small islands, including the famous islands such as the Mad Island, the Mad Island and Iwo Jima, with a total area of 104.41 square kilometers and a total population of 2,380 people.
However, it is very interesting that the English name of Ogasawara Islands is Bonin Islands. This Bonin is a transliteration in Japanese, meaning uninhabited island.
Author: Yunfan
