Tsuken Island

Tsuken Island

Native name: 津堅島 Japanese: Tsuken-jima Okinawan: Biti Nickname: Carrot Island
Aerial view of Tsuken Island
Tsuken Island
Geography
Coordinates	26°15′02″N 127°56′31″E / 26.25056°N 127.94194°E / 26.25056; 127.94194
Archipelago	Okinawa Islands
Adjacent bodies of water	Pacific Ocean
Area	1.88 km2 (0.73 sq mi)
Length	2.3 km (1.43 mi)
Width	1.3 km (0.81 mi)
Coastline	7 km (4.3 mi)
Highest elevation	38.8 m (127.3 ft)
Administration
Japan
Region	Kyūshū
Prefecture	Okinawa
City	Uruma
Demographics
Population	485 (2005)

Tsuken Island (津堅島, Tsuken-jima^?, Okinawan: Biti) is an island in the Pacific Ocean in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The island is southernmost of the Yokatsu Islands, and is located 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) south south-east of the Katsuren Peninsula off Okinawa Island at the entrance of Nakagusuku Bay. Tsuken covers 1.88 square kilometres (0.73 sq mi) and has a population of 487 residents.

The only settlement on Tsuken is located in the southwest of the island. The settlement includes the Port of Tsuken, a post office, and a medical clinic attached to the Okinawa Prefectural Chubu Hospital in Uruma. The island is home to Tsuken Elementary School (19 students) and Tsuken Junior High School (11 students). The island has no high school; students must leave the island after junior high school to continue their education. While residents of Tsuken speak standard Japanese, usage of the Okinawan language remains strong on the island, specifically the South-Central dialect of the language.

Tsuken runs 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) from north to south and .8 kilometres (0.50 mi) to 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) east to west. Its highest point is in the southwest of the island at 38.8 metres (127 ft).

Tsuken was once covered with a dense forest of fountain palms, but the middle portion of Tsuken was entirely burned during World War II, and palm groves remain only at the north of the island. Thick belts of vegetation that now exist around coastal areas of the island protect the settlement and agricultural land from sea breeze. The central and northern parts of Tsuken are used for the production of carrots, a noted agricultural product of the island.

Tsuken is historically linked to Kudaka Island to the south. Safe passage between the islands was possible at low tide via small boats, and there was considerable cultural exchange between the islands. Tsuken was settled early in the history of the Ryukyu Islands, as evidenced by its numerous shell mounds, of which three have been excavated. Tsuken was home to the ruins of a small castle, the Kubō Gusuku. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry recorded the island as "Taking Island" in his narrative on travel to the Ryukyu Islands.