Tsushima, Nagasaki

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**Tsushima**
**対馬市**
Tsushima's location in Nagasaki, Japan.
Location
Country	Japan
Region	Kyūshū
Prefecture	Nagasaki
Physical characteristics
Area	708.61 km² (273.60 sq mi)
Population (as of 2005)
Total	39,983
Density	56.42 /km² (146 /sq mi)
Location	34°12′N, 129°17′E
Symbols
Tree	Chionanthus retusus
Flower	Azalea
Bird	Ring-necked Pheasant
Flag
Tsushima Government Office
Mayor	Yoshiyuki Matsumura
Official website: City of Tsushima

Tsushima (対馬市, Tsushima-shi^?) is a city governed by Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the only city of Tsushima Subprefecture and it entirely occupies the Tsushima Island Archipelago, which lies in the Tsushima Strait north of Nagasaki on the western side of Kyūshū, the southernmost mainland island of Japan.

As of 2005 the city has an estimated population of 39,983 and a density of 56.42 persons per km². Its total area is 708.61 km², 17.3% of the area of Nagasaki Prefecture.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Islands
2 Flora and Fauna
- 2.1 Tsushima Cat
3 History
4 Economy
5 Sister cities
6 Environmental problems
- 6.1 Illegal fishing
- 6.2 Seashore pollution
7 People from Tsushima
8 See also
9 Notes
10 External links
- 10.1 Japanese
- 10.2 Korean

[edit] Geography

The city of Tsushima is located on Tsushima Island and other small neighbouring islands, lying slightly to the west side of Tsushima Strait, south of the Sea of Japan and north-east of the East China Sea. The island also lies between South Korea and the Japanese mainland. Its coastline has a total length of 915 km. Aso Bay, a prominent bay with a rias coastline, is located between the islands. Tsushima lies about 60 km from Iki, 138 km from the city of Fukuoka, and 49.5 km from Busan, South Korea.

[edit] Islands

Several other islands encompass Tsushima city, in addition to Kamino-shima and Shimono-shima, both of which makes up the Tsushima Island(s):

Santsu-jima (三ッ島)
Shimasan-jima (島山島)

[edit] Flora and Fauna

[edit] Tsushima Cat

Peculiar to the island is the Tsushima Cat. Present on the islands since ancient times, its numbers have decreased sharply, and it is now listed as an endangered species. As of 1997, it was estimated that only 70 to 90 animals remained.

[edit] History

On April 1, 1975, Toyotama village was promoted to the status of a town. Mine village was also elevated to the status of a town in the following year.

The city was established on March 1, 2004 by merging six towns on Tsushima Island: Izuhara, Mitsushima, Toyotama, Mine, Kami-agata, and Kami-tsushima.

[edit] Economy

Tsushima is ideally located for fishing, and many Tsushima residents exploit this as fishermen. It is also famous for its pearl culture. The natural beauty of the Tsushima Islands ensures there is much to see and the tourism industry is quite substantial. Beaches are crowded with tourists in the summer.

Harbor in Tsushima (1990)

[edit] Tourism

Tsushima Island, encircled in crystal blue waters and rich with wildlife offers a unique tourist experience. Attracting mainly South Koreans, Tsushima offers some adventure packages catering primarily to South Koreans. These are generally guided adventure tours consisting of hiking and fishing. Vacation packages are generally booked through South Korean tour agencies. Local English speakers are extremely rare in Tsushima. Fortunately, some hotels offer a telephone English translating service. The port town of Izuhara (port of debarkation if arriving from Busan, South Korea) consists of a handful of modern hotels and pleasant restaurants. Seafood in Tsushima is divine. Seafood prices are reasonable, as the islands' primary industry is fishing. Most restaurants hold their seafood in the ocean contained within netted cages. Opposed to tanks and aquariums, this method is much more effective in maintaining freshness.

[edit] Airport

Tsushima Airport (TSJ)

[edit] Seaport

Tsushima has two sea ports, Izuhara and Hitakatsu. Ferries cross to the port of Hakata on Kyūshū about ten times per day. Ferries also travel daily to Busan in South Korea.

[edit] Sister cities

Guam (United States of America)
Busan (South Korea)

[edit] Environmental problems

Tsushima is geographically close to the Korean Peninsula, so environmental problems arising from South Korea affect Tsushima.

[edit] Illegal fishing

From the 1990s, illegal fishing by South Koreans has threatened Tsushima's sea. They poached cuttlefish within exclusive economic zone of Japan, and are adversely affecting the Tsushima fishing industry. Since many South Korean hovercraft are illegally armed, they cannot be sent back to Korea by local fishermen.

This situation led to the mobilization of the patrol vessel of the Tsushima Maritime Safety Department of Japan. However, in spite of an oral warning from the patrol vessel, a South Korean hovercraft may ram the patrol vessel or throw things such as Molotov cocktails or kitchen knives and generally fight back. Finally, if it escapes into South Korean economic waters, the Japanese government and Tsushima's fishermen are cheated of their produce.

Moreover, the maritime safety official of Japan who fought against the South Korean hovercraft was abducted on June 1, 2005. It is pointed out every year that the South Korean hovercraft situation is becoming more and more problematic. Therefore, the selection of new methods to combat the hovercraft is being pressed for in the Japanese government. After the South Korean maritime police agency caught the illegal ship within South Korean EEZ, and the Japanese maritime safety official was rescued.

[edit] Seashore pollution

A lot of garbage, such as a refrigerator, is washed up on the seashore, which is crowded with sun bathers in summer. This problem has been threatening the health of Tsushima's citizens and Tsushima's environment.

Since the Korean alphabet (Hangul) was written on some of the garbage, it was concluded that it had floated from South Korea. It was concluded that about 80 percent of the garbage which drifted ashore floated from South Korea.^{[citation needed]} Oil, detergent, and other materials leaking from this garbage is damaging the local marine environment.

When pulling up a fish with a net, a PET bottle was brought up instead and the fisherman was completely at a loss.

Moreover, more than $200,000 has been spent to process the garbage which had landed on the seashore since 2001, and a shadow is being cast over it at city finances.

Regarding this problem, a certain Masan member of a city council said "Since the garbage which drifted ashore is South Korean garbage, it should be cleaned up by Masan visiting Tsushima periodically." However, the polyethylene tank containing chemicals that are believed to be dangerous and some harmful substances have also been discovered in large quantities. It is a problem which must be immediately tackled for the health of the local environment and safety of Tsushima citizens.

A student of a Busan university of foreign studies will visit Tsushima annually from 2003 to help the clean-up operation. However, it also has strong implications on Japan-South Korean relation. It is desired that both Tsushima city and Masan city cooperate to solve the problem and allow realistic and productive correspondence.

On May 20, 2006, a combined team comprising of South Korean students and locals from Tsushima jointly cleaned up the polluted beaches along Tsushima.^[1] On October 2007, about 130 Korean and Japanese students participated in the 2nd Tsushima Japan-Korea Student Meeting cleaned up the beach.^[2]