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'Iwo Jima' ( officially ''Iōtō'',^[1]
also frequently ''Iōjima'' : “sulfur island”) is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which makes up the southern end of the Ogasawara Islands. The island is located 1,200 kilometers (650 nm) south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of the prefecture of Tokyo. It is famous as the site of the February–March 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Japan during World War II, when the iconic photograph ''Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'' was taken. The U.S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when it was returned to Japan. Today Iwo Jima has no permanent civilian population, but has an air base operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Contents

Name

Geographic features

History

Before 1945

Reunion of honor

Naval air base

U.S. nuclear arms base

Iwo Jima in popular culture

Photo Gallery

See also

Notes

External links

Name

Iwo Jima was traditionally called ''Iwōtō'' (''Iōtō''). Prior to Japan’s 1946 orthography reform, a historical spelling resulted in (approximately) ''Iwōtō'' (modern ''Iōtō''). An alternative, ''Iwōjima'' (modern ''Iōjima'')—where ''jima'' is an alternative pronunciation of ''tō'' (島 “island”), also appeared in nautical atlases.^[2]
Japanese naval officers who arrived to fortify the island before the American invasion mistakenly called it ''Iwo Jima''.
In this way, the "Iwo Jima" pronunciation became mainstream and was the one used by American forces who arrived during World War II. Former island residents protested against this rendering, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Geographical Survey Institute debated the issue and formally announced on June 18, 2007, that the official Japanese pronunciation of the island’s name would be reverted to the pre-war ''Iōtō''.
Moves to revert the pronunciation were sparked by the high profile films ''Flags of Our Fathers'' and ''Letters from Iwo Jima''. The change does not affect how the name is written in Japanese (硫黄島), only how it is pronounced.

Geographic features

Landsat photo of Iwo Jima (Iōtō), ca. 2000

The island has an approximate area of 21 km² (8 mi²) at . The most prominent feature is ^[3] on the southern tip, a vent that is thought to be dormant and is 166 m (546 ft) high. Iwo Jima is unusually flat and featureless for a volcanic island. Suribachi is the only obvious volcanic feature, as it is only the raised center of a larger submerged volcanic caldera.

History

Before 1945

Before World War II Iwo Jima was adminstered (as it is today) by the prefectural government of Tokyo. A census in June 1943 reported an island civilian population of 1018 (533 males, 485 females) in 192 households in six settlements. The island had a primary school, a shinto shrine, and a single police officer; it was serviced by a mail ship from Haha-jima once a month, as well as a Nippon Yusen ship once every two months. The island's economy relied upon sulfur mining, sugarcane farming, and fishing; an isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with poor economic prospect, Iwo Jima had to import all rice and consumer goods from the Home Islands.
Even before the beginning of World War II, there was a garrison of the Imperial Japanese Navy at the southern part of Iwo Jima. It was off-limits to the island's civilian population, who had little contact with the naval personnel in any case, except for trade purposes.
Throughout 1944 there was a massive military buildup on Iwo Jima, in anticipation of an American invasion; in July its civilian population were forcibly evacuated, and no civilians have settled permanently on the island ever since.
After the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, the U.S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when it was returned to Japan.

Reunion of honor

On February 19, 1985, the 40th anniversary of the day that U.S. forces began the assault on the island, veterans from both forces gathered for the Reunion of Honor just a few meters away from the spot where U.S. Marines had landed on the island.^[4]
During the memorial service a granite plaque was unveiled with the message:
It is inscribed on both sides of the plaque, with the English translation facing the beaches where U.S. forces landed and the Japanese translation facing inland, where Japanese troops defended their position.
After that, the Japan-U.S. combination memorial service of the 50th anniversary was held in front of this monument in March 1995. The 55th anniversary was held in 2000, followed by a 60th reunion in March 2005 (see U.S. National Park Service photo below).

Naval air base

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) operates a naval air base on the island. The airstrip is 2,650 meters (8,700 ft) long and 60 meters (200 ft) wide. Its orientation is 07/25. The four-letter ICAO code is RJAW and the three-letter IATA code is IWO. The JMSDF is in charge of support, air-traffic control, fueling, and rescue. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force also utilizes the base. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is in charge of explosive-ordnance disposal. 400 Japanese troops live on the island. The United States Navy also utilizes the base for operations such as nighttime carrier landing practice.

U.S. nuclear arms base

Iwo Jima appears to be one of a number of Japanese islands which has been used by the United States to host nuclear arms, according to Robert S. Norris, William M. Arkin, and William Burr writing for the ''Bulletin of Atomic Scientists'' in early 2000.^[5][6]
This is despite a Japanese policy of not allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese soil. Whether the site is currently used for this purpose is unknown, as great secrecy surrounds the United States’ siting of nuclear arms bases; but on December 12, 1999, U.S. Undersecretary for Defense Policy Walter Slocombe told The New York Times, “Our position is that there have been no violations of our obligations under the security treaty and related arrangements.”^[7]

Iwo Jima in popular culture

Iwo Jima features in the book ''Flags of Our Fathers'' and two 2006 movies, the one based on the book—''Flags of Our Fathers''—and another—''Letters from Iwo Jima''—based on a Japanese book of letters (some final) written by Japanese soldiers on the island; ''Flags'' depicts the battle from the American perspective, whereas ''Letters'' shows it from the much-different Japanese point of view. Both films were directed by Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood.
The island is also featured in the 1949 John Wayne film ''Sands of Iwo Jima''.

Photo Gallery

See also

★ Battle of Iwo Jima

★ Raising the flag on Iwo Jima

★ Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter

Notes

1. 地名等の統一に関する連絡協議会　硫黄島の呼称を「いおうじま」から「いおうとう」へ変更
2. Japan changes name of Iwo Jima Hans Greimel
3.
4. "A Higher Honor"
5. How much did Japan know?, , Robert S., Norris, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2000
6. NRDC: Nuclear Notebook: Appendix B: Deployments By Country, 1951-1977, , Robert S., Norris, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1999
7. Allegations of Clandestine US Nuclear Weapons in Japan, , , , Disarmament Diplomacy,

External links

★ Map by Geographical Survey Institute of Japan

★ Iwo Jima (Iōtō) on Google Maps

★ 2007 Tonemapped HDR Image of Mt. Suribachi- The sand underneath the vegetation in the foreground is the original beach that the Marines landed on during their assault on the island.

★

★ Iwo-Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan

★ History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II Volume IV: Western Pacific Operations by George W. Garand and Truman R. Strobridge

★ [1],[2] - Satellite photos taken on Dec 4, 2003, from www.spaceimaging.com

★ 3-D Stereo Photograph of Iwo Jima Flag-raising - From The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com

★ Photograph of a C130 fly-by past Iwo Jima and the original source can be found here.