travel guide of Kuchino-erabu island

Geography

Item	Remarks
Position	12 km to the west of Yakushima
Area	35.8 square km
Coast extension (ambient)	49.7 km
Population (January 2014)	140 people
Population density	4.2 people (per square kilometer)
Maximum altitude	657 meters (Shin-dake)
Terrain	Large undulating mountains
Main industry	Fishing industry

Source:Prof. KINOSHITA Kisei,
Topography and Vegetation of Volcanic Islands Studied by Near-Infrared Camera and Satellite Imagery; KINOSHITA Kisei,Center for Educational Research and Development, Faculty of Education, Kagoshima University
By Prof. Kinoshita, the above images of Kuchinoerabu-jima has been published on his Internet site (Volcanic Island Kuchinoerabu-jima; -Near-Infrared and visible views-).


Geography
The Kuchinoerabu-jima is a small remote island(35.8 square km) near the coast of Japan's southern Kyushu island. It is located at the south of Kagoshima Prefecture, and about 12 km west of Yakushima.

From Yakushima.
You can see the Kuchinoerabu-jima from a beach of Yakushima.

With a major axis in the direction of the east-southeast from the west-northwest, it is a ground-shaped island.
The Kuchinoerabu-jima is the largest volcanic island in Satsunan Islands and Tokara Archipelago in Kagoshima prefecture, and it is believed to be an aggregate of 10 different volcanoes.



There currently is an active volcano on Kuchinoerabu-jima, but volcano's activity level is low. The highest point on the island is Mt. Shin-dake with a height of 657 meters, and only the low-land is a slight indentation of the coastline.



Most of the coast surrounding the island is a steep cliff.





The Island is covered with a laurel forest consisting of Sudajii (Castanopsis sieboldii Hats.) , Tabunoki (Persea thunbergii Kosterm.), Hisakaki (Eurya japonica Tunb.) , Gajumaru (Chinese Banyan, Ficus microcarpa L.f.), Akou (Banyan tree, Ficus superba Miq. var. japonica Corner) and Moku-tachibana (Ardijia sieboldii Miq.).
In 2007, the entire area of the island was designated as a national park.

Living on the island

The population is 140 people (January 2014) . The clerk of the town hall branch has only one person stationed. There is no KOBAN (police office branch). An officer is not stationed. There is no fire department, but islanders have organized a fire brigade on their own. There is one post office (2 clerks and one part time clerk). It is also serve as a bank. There is one grocery store and one liquor store. There is no general store. There is one junior high school and one elementary school. This is a merger school. There are 10 elementary school students, 8 junior high school students, and 10 teachers . There is no industry and no big company. Islanders are engaged in agriculture and fishing. It is difficult for islanders to live with only one full-time job with only one island job, so many need second and third jobs. Because almost everyone works multiple job, the islanders lead a difficult life. However, both the young and old islanders are lively.

Harbor and Honmura village
90% of the population lives in Honmura village.

Junior high school students in Erabu introduce about Erabu. Foods and drinks Deer is very delicious meat. It is little tough. I like Karaage the best of all cooked deer. Takenoko is very delicious. This grows in May. It is very useful. Mitake is made from Koganesenngann, a type of sweet potato. Koganesenngan is made by Kuchierabu locals.sake. Mitake is precious sake. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　June, 2014 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Takuma Sekiguchi Cultures I'll talk about Erabu's culture. I'll talk about school swimming at first. Usually students swim in the school's swimming pool. But our school doesn't have a pool. So we swim in the sea. The first time, we collect trash on the beach. It was enjoyable. Because the sea has waves. That time we got tanned. Next, I talk about excursions. We sometimes go no some excursions. For example, mountain, sea and so on. I think schools going to the mountain and sea as a school event are unusual. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　June, 2014 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Masatomo Nakao

Shops and public facilities

Facility	Contents
Accommodation	8 guest houses	No hotel and inn.
Restaurant	No restaurant	Be careful for lunch!
Shop	grocery store, liquor store and gasoline SS No general store No super market or convenience store	Only one liquor store.
Medical care	Clinic of the Municipal: One doctor One nurse
Bank	Japan Post Bank	No ATM
Post office		one (three clerks)
Hot Springs	4 sources
Community center	Two centers Honmura and Yumugi have a community center, each.
Branch of the town hall	Yakushima-cho branch office staff: one person
School	School merger; one elementary school and one junior school dual classes
Power plant	Heavy oil power plant	~300kw per hour
Business	Calf breeding farm one Cargo transport company, 8 Guest houses

Use of Land　　　　　　(1993)

Classification	Hectare (ha)
Mountain Pine cedar Wilderness Pasture Agricultural land Other	557 1403 744 650 150 300
Total	3804

From the report of Yakushima high school(1993).


Changes in the population (To date from the Meiji era)
Vertical axis: the population 　Horizontal axis: Christian Era

In the era (1960's) of high economic growth, a number of islanders had left the island. Currently, a slight decline continues.


With 138 inhabitants of March 2013, the proportion of those 65 and older was 39.9% (yellow, blue, and green).


Changes in the number of current students (blue) and graduates (red) in elementary school
Vertical axis: the number of elementary school students
Horizontal axis: Christian Era



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