About Yakushima

Yakushima is an island located 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Cape Sata, which lies on the southern tip of the main island of Kyushu. Though Yakushima is a small island with an area of 50,000 hectares (193 square miles) and a circumference of 130 kilometers (81 miles), it has the highest mountain in all of Kyushu: Miyanouradake, which stands 1,935 meters (6,348 feet) tall.

Yaskushima is a beautiful place where many colorful tropical fish swim near the coral reefs surrounding the island, and sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand dunes. Just a short distance away at the top of the mountain, however, lies a world of snow and ice in the winter. This tiny island, less than 30 kilometers wide, is a microcosm of all of the nature of Japan, a country that stretches some 2,000 kilometers from north to south. Some 20% of the forests on the island, an area reaching from the coast to the top of Miyanouradake and measuring 10,747 hectares, have been added to the World Heritage List.

Tropical coastal areas of Yakushima are also home to a flower called the beach morning glory. Ficus microcarpa trees (commonly know as Chinese banyan) grow in the forest. In the mountains, there are evergreen forests (meaning that the leaves on the trees do not fall even in the winter and stay green all year round) containing oak and other trees up to an altitude of 1,000 meters. There are also Japanese camellia, Camellia sasanqua, Chloranthus glaber, and Ardisia crenata (sometimes known as coralberry) trees.

Moving higher up the mountains, Yakusugi cedars can be found at elevations above 500 meters. One of these is a massive tree called the Jomon Cedar, which is estimated to be 7,200 years old, although some people think it is more like 2,200 years old. The tree takes its name from the Jomon period (from about 10,000 BC to about 300 BC), when it is believed to have taken root. It is 25.3 meters high and 16.4 meters around at the base. It is truly the king of all the trees on Yakushima.

Yakushima was selected to be a World Heritage site for three main reasons: (1) As the elevation increases, the island's plants change from subtropical to subarctic; (2) it has one of the few evergreen forests remaining in the world; and (3) the types of cedar trees that can only be found in Japan have very beautiful shapes.

In November 2002, a total of 1,300 representatives of local governments throughout Japan and other people interested in cedar trees gathered for the World Cedar Environmental Summit in Yakushima, where they considered such environmental issues as the protection of nature and the use of cedar trees.

As the numbers of tourists have increased in recent years and development has proceeded, the sand dunes where sea turtles lay their eggs have rapidly disappeared. Because sea turtles instinctively return to the same sand dunes every year, if the landscape is changed they are unable to come ashore. In order to deal with this problem, a group dedicated to protecting the sea turtles has been formed (NPO Sea Turtle Center) (site is Japanese only). This group conducts a number of activities aimed at creating an environment in which sea turtles can lay their eggs, such as investigating the habitats of red sea turtles, cleaning sand dunes, and planting trees.

Photos: Kagoshima Prefectural Tourist Federation (top); NPO Sea Turtle Center (bottom)