“Minami-Tori-shima”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The meaning of its Japanese name is "Southern Bird Island". It is the easternmost territory belonging to Japan, and the only Japanese territory on the Pacific Plate, past the Japan Trench. Although very small (just over 1 km²) and without a civilian population, it is of strategic importance, as it enables Japan to claim a {{convert|428,875|km²|sqmi|1}} Exclusive Economic Zone in the surrounding waters. It is also the easternmost territory of Tokyo, being administratively part of Ogasawara village.

Geography

Minami-Tori-shima is triangular in shape, and has a saucer-like profile, with a raised outer rim of between {{convert|5|and|9|m|ft|0}} above sea level. The central area of the island is {{convert|1|m|ft|0}} below sea level. Minami-Tori-shima is surrounded by a fringing reef which ranges from {{convert|50|to(-)|300|m|ft|0}} in width, enclosing a shallow lagoon, which is connected with the open ocean by narrow passages on the southern and northeastern sides. Outside the reef, the ocean depths quickly plunge to over {{convert|1000|m|ft}}. The island has a total land area of {{convert|1.2|km2|acre}}.

History

The first discovery and mention of an island in this area was made by a Spanish Manila galleon captain, Andrés de Arriola in 1694.^[2] It was charted in Spanish maps as Sebastián López, after the Spanish Admiral Sebastián López, victorious in the battles of La Naval de Manila in 1646 against the Dutch. Its exact location was left unrecorded until further sightings in the early 19th century.

Captain Bourne Russell (1794–1880) in the Lady Rowena departed Sydney NSW 1830 November 2nd on a Pacific whaling voyage. On his return 1832 June 27th he reported an island not on his charts, which he named "William the Fourth's Island". The newspaper report gives a description of the size, shape, and orientation of the island and its reef, but unfortunately not only misspells the captain's name but gives the island a south latitude.^[3]

The island was mentioned again in 1864 by the ship Morning Star, belonging either to the United States or the Kingdom of Hawaii. Its position was recorded by a United States survey ship in 1874, and first landed on by a Japanese national, Kiozaemon Saito in 1879. On June 30, 1886, a Japanese named Shinroku Mizutani led a group of 46 colonists from Haha-jima in the Ogasawara Islands to settle on Minami-Tori-shima. The settlement was named "Mizutani" after the leader of the expedition. The Empire of Japan officially annexed the island July 24, 1898,^[4] the previous United States claim from 1889 according to the Guano Islands Act not being officially acknowledged. The island was officially named "Minami-Tori-shima" and placed administratively under the Ogasawara Subprefecture of Tokyo.

Sovereignty over the island before World War I was apparently disputed as various sources from the time move the island from the American to Japanese domain without specific explanation. In 1902, the United States dispatched a warship from Hawaii to enforce its claims, but withdrew on finding the island still inhabited by Japanese, with a Japanese warship patrolling nearby. In 1914, William D. Boyce included Minami-Tori-shima as an obviously American island in his book, The Colonies and Dependencies of the United States. In 1933, by orders of the Japanese government, the civilian inhabitants of Minami-Tori-shima were evacuated. In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Navy established a meteorological station on the island, and built an airstrip.

After the start of World War II the Japanese garrison stationed on the island consisted of the 742-man Minami-Tori-shima Guard Unit, under the command of Rear Admiral Masata Matsubara and the 2,005 man 12th Independent Mixed Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army, under the command of Colonel Yoshiichi Sakata.^[5] The United States Navy bombed it repeatedly in 1942^[6] and in 1943,^[7] but never attempted to capture it (the island was featured in the U.S. film The Fighting Lady). Though isolated, the Japanese were able to resupply the garrison by submarine, using a channel cut through the reef on the northwest side of the island. That channel is still visible today. The island was subject to repeated U.S. air attacks during World War II and finally surrendered when the destroyer {{USS|Bagley|DD-386|6}} arrived on August 31, 1945.

The Treaty of San Francisco transferred the island to American control but was returned to Japan in 1968. The Americans retained control of the airstrip and LORAN station until 1993.

The island is extremely isolated and Coast Guardsmen stationed on the island served one-year tours that were later modified to allow an R&R visit to mainland Japan at the six-month point. At the end of this isolated tour of duty crew members received an additional 30 days of compensatory leave. While under U.S. administration, on Thursdays a C-130 Hercules from the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan, would resupply the island on weekly missions. Often Coast Guardsmen would judge landings by raising placards with large numbers. An unusually long four-hour ground time was scheduled to allow technicians who flew in to perform maintenance on the transmitter and to offload extra fuel from the C-130 to power the island's generator. It also allowed the Coast Guardsmen to read and answer letters while aircrews would snorkel and collect green glass fishing buoys that wash up on the shore. It takes about 45 minutes to walk around the island.

The station was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) on September 30, 1993, and was closed on December 1, 2009.

The island is currently used for weather observation and has a radio station, but little else. Because of its isolation, it is of some interest to amateur radio hobbyists. The JMSDF garrison was supplied by C-130 from Iruma Air Base, or by C-130 from Haneda or Atsugi Air Base with flights via Iwo Jima on a weekly basis. The runway of Minami Torishima Airport is only {{convert|1300|m|ft}} long and cannot handle larger aircraft. The island is considered as a separate country for amateur radio awards. The island is off-limits to civilians, except from the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Minami-Tori-Shima area rare earth deposits

After China restricted exports of strategic rare earth oxides (REO) in 2009 Japan started to explore its seabeds for deposits.^[8] In January 2013, a deep-sea research vessel of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology obtained seven deep-sea mud core samples from the seafloor at 5,600 to 5,800 meters depth, approximately {{convert|250|km|mi}} south of the island.^[9] The research team found a mud layer 2 to 4 meters beneath the seabed that is extremely concentrated in REO. Analytical results showed that the maximum REO content in the mud was up to 0.66% REO.^[10]^[11]

On April 10, 2018 a scientific study of the seabed mud resulted in an estimate of 16 million tons of REO deposits in the studied area. The report discussed various REO supplies in terms of hundreds of years and stated that the area "has the potential to supply these metals on a semi-infinite basis to the world."^[12]

Climate

Minami-Tori-shima has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw), with warm to hot temperatures throughout the year. The wettest months are July and August, while the driest months are February and March.

See also

References

1. ^http://www.climate-charts.com/Countries/Japan.html
2. ^{{cite journal|last1=Welsch|first1=Bernhard|title=The Asserted Discovery of Minami-Tori-shima in 1694|journal=Journal of Pacific History|date=2001|volume=36|issue=1|pages=105–115|doi=10.1080/00223340120049479}}
3. ^http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12844875, The Sydney Herald (NSW) 1832 July 16 page 2b
4. ^Kuroda 1954, 87.
5. ^{{cite web|first1=Akira |last1=Takizawa |first2=Allan |last2=Alsleben |url=http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/japan_garrison.html |title=Japanese garrisons on the by-passed Pacific Islands 1944-1945 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106231303/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/japan_garrison.html |archivedate=2016-01-06 |df= }}
6. ^The Raids on Wake and Minami-Tori-shima, Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean. USN Combat Narrative series. Office of Naval Intelligence, United States Navy, 1943.
7. ^Paramount Battles Involving Essex Class Carriers {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515075743/http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~magneson/battles.html |date=2008-05-15 }}
8. ^{{cite web| url=http://www.mining.com/japans-massive-rare-earth-discovery-threatens-chinas-supremacy-89013/ |author=Cecilia Jamasmie |title=Japan's massive rare earth discovery threatens China's supremacy| publisher=Mining.com| date=March 25, 2013 |accessdate=April 16, 2018}}
9. ^{{cite news|title=Seabed offers brighter hope in rare-earth hunt|url=http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Seabed-offers-brighter-hope-in-rare-earth-hunt|accessdate=11 December 2016|work=Nikkei Asian Review|agency=Nikkei Inc.|date=25 November 2014}}
10. ^{{cite web|title=Discovery of rare earths around Minami-Torishima|url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/research-news/discovery-of-rare-earths-around-minami-torishima/|website=UTokyo Research|publisher=University of Tokyo|accessdate=11 December 2016|date=2 May 2013}}
11. ^{{cite conference |last=Zhi Li |first=Ling |last2=Yang |first2=Xiaosheng |title=China’s rare earth ore deposits and beneficiation techniques |url=http://www.eurare.eu/docs/eres2014/firstSession/XiaoshengYang.pdf |format=pdf |conference=1st European Rare Earth Resources Conference |publisher=European Commission for the 'Development of a sustainable exploitation scheme for Europe's Rare Earth ore deposits' |place=Milos, Greece |accessdate=11 December 2016|date=4 September 2014 }}
12. ^{{cite journal|title=The tremendous potential of deepsea mud as a source of rare-earth elements|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=8|issue=1|pages=5763|doi=10.1038/s41598-018-23948-5|pmid=29636486|pmc=5893572|quote=The calculated ΣREY for the entire research area is more than 16 million tons of rare-earth oxides (Mt-REO) (average ΣREY=964ppm). [...] The research area was estimated to be able to supply Y, Eu, Tb, and Dy for 780, 620, 420, and 730 years, respectively, and has the potential to supply these metals on a semi-infinite basis to the world.|year=2018|last1=Takaya|first1=Yutaro|last2=Yasukawa|first2=Kazutaka|last3=Kawasaki|first3=Takehiro|last4=Fujinaga|first4=Koichiro|last5=Ohta|first5=Junichiro|last6=Usui|first6=Yoichi|last7=Nakamura|first7=Kentaro|last8=Kimura|first8=Jun-Ichi|last9=Chang|first9=Qing|last10=Hamada|first10=Morihisa|last11=Dodbiba|first11=Gjergj|last12=Nozaki|first12=Tatsuo|last13=Iijima|first13=Koichi|last14=Morisawa|first14=Tomohiro|last15=Kuwahara|first15=Takuma|last16=Ishida|first16=Yasuyuki|last17=Ichimura|first17=Takao|last18=Kitazume|first18=Masaki|last19=Fujita|first19=Toyohisa|last20=Kato|first20=Yasuhiro}}