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Yakushima*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Japan
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, ix
Reference	662
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	1993  (17th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Yakushima (屋久島, Yakushima^?) is an island of about 500 km² and roughly 15,000 islanders to the south of Kyūshū in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) separates it from Tanegashima. The highest point on the island is Miyanoura-dake at 1,935 metres (6,360 ft). It is covered in dense forest noted especially for old growth Cryptomeria trees known as Sugi in Japan and magnificent Rhododendrons.

Yakushima's unique remnant of a warm-temperate ancient forest is a natural World Heritage Site since 1993. In the Wilderness core area (12.19 square kilometres (3,010 acres)) of the World Heritage Site, no records of past tree cutting can be traced¹. It is said to rain "35 days a month". Precipitation in Yakushima is one of the world's highest at 4,000 to 10,000 mm. There are in fact dry periods in autumn and winter, while heaviest downpours occur in spring and summer often accompanied by landslides. It is the southernmost place in Japan where there is snow in the mountains, often for months, while the ocean temperature is never below 19°C.

The "pristine" Yakusugi Forest is visited by 300,000 tourists every year. It is said to have inspired the forest setting in Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke.²³ The island was also seen in the 1996 movie Rebirth of Mothra where Mothra Leo laid his cocoons on one of the trees there.

The island has been a test site for Honda's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research. Yakushima's electricity is more than 50% hydroelectric, and surplus power has been used to produce hydrogen gas in a small experiment by Kagoshima University. There are no hydrogen cars stationed on the island but a few electric cars are run by the municipality.

Administratively, the whole island is the town of Yakushima. The town also serves the neighbouring Kuchinoerabujima.

Yakushima Airport serves the island.

In popular culture

• Eiji Miyake, the protagonist of David Mitchell's novel number9dream, is originally from Yakushima.
• In the Tekken series, after her battle with Devil, Jun Kazama retreats to Yakushima in order to protect her unborn son from his influence. In between the end of Tekken 4 and the start of Tekken 5 Jin returns to Yakushima were he is plagued by nightmares trigering the devil gene within him.
• In Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 game, Yakushima is used as a vacation place for the Kirijo group.

Wildlife

• Migratory Sea Turtles
• Deer (Yakushika)
• Monkey, red bottomed macaque
• Tanuki, not a native animal

See also

• Jōmon Sugi
• Yakushima White Pine
• Ernest Henry Wilson - Wilson stump

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

1. ^ "World Heritage Nomination - IUCN Summary". UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Retrieved on 2008-08-28.
2. ^ "World Heritage - Yakushima". Japan Airlines. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
3. ^ "Yakushima: Shiratani Unsuikyo". japan-guide.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Yaku Island

• UNESCO World Heritage Site Entry
• Yakushima (and Kyushu) experience

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Japan Buddhist Monuments, Hōryū-ji Area · Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu · Himeji Castle · Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) · Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) · Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara · Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama · Itsukushima Shinto Shrine · Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape · Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range · Shirakami-Sanchi · Shiretoko · Shrines and Temples of Nikkō · Yakushima

Coordinates: 30°21′31″N 130°31′43″E / 30.35861, 130.52861

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• This page was last modified on 23 October 2008, at 06:11.

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