Tarama, Okinawa


Tarama is a village in Miyako District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, consisting of Tarama Island and Minna Island, between Ishigaki Island and Miyako Island.
, the village had a population of 1,058 residents and 466 households, with a density of 48.1 persons per km2. The total area is.

History

Under the Ryukyu Kingdom, Tarama is said to have been used as a penal colony for political prisoners.
In 1879, with the abolition of the han system and creation of the prefectures of Japan, Tarama became part of the newly formed Okinawa Prefecture. In 1896 the village became part of Miyako District. In 1908, with the abolishment of the magiri system in Okinawa, the three districts of the present-day village, Nakasuzu, Shiyugaa, and Minna, became part of the village of Hirara. They were separated from Hirara in 1913 as part of a further redistricting of Okinawa, and incorporated as the Village of Tarama.
During the Second World War there was a small Japanese garrison on the island, and it was bombarded by the Allies by air and sea during the Battle of Okinawa, although there was practically nothing to bomb.
The village hall of Tarama was the first modern tiled structured to be built on the islands, and the first village council consisted of eight citizens. Residents of Minna completed a planned relocation to the Takano district of Hirara in 1961.
Tarama was electrified and received direct telephone service in 1964, and residents were supplied with power for five hours a day. This increased to 17 hours a day by 1969, and the village was fully electrified in 1972. Regular ferry service to the village began in the same period, and Tarama Airport was opened in December 1971.

Geography

The two islands of the village, Tarama and Minna, are located at the midpoint between Ishigaki Island and Miyako Island. The islands face the Pacific Ocean to the south and the East China Sea to the north. The two islands have historically suffered from typhoon damage and drought.

Administrative divisions

The village is divided in three wards.
  • Minna
  • Nakasuji
  • Shiokawa

Climate

Tarama has tropical rainforest climate, bordering on a humid subtropical climate.

Demographics

Tarama has seen population decline since the beginning of the 20th century. Before World War II typhoon damage and drought caused many residents to leave the island, mostly to Osaka and areas of the newly formed Japanese Empire. Residents of Tarama emigrated to Taiwan, the South Pacific, Korea, and Manchuria in this period. Residents of Minna completed a planned relocation to the Takano district of Hirara in 1961. There is only one household, of two people, on Minna Island.

Education

The village of Tarama has one preschool, one elementary school, and one junior high school, all named Tarama.
The preschool and Tarama Elementary school are connected, and located directly south of the village hall at the north of the island. Tarama Junior High School is located south of the village hall. Minna, due to its depopulation, no longer has any educational institutions. The village has no high school; students must leave the island to attend high schools in other areas of Okinawa Prefecture.

Transportation

serves the island.

Cultural and natural assets

Tarama Village hosts sixty designated or registered tangible cultural properties and monuments, at the national, prefectural or municipal level.
  • Name

Cultural Properties">Cultural Property (Japan)">Cultural Properties

  • Documents relating to the Oyazato Family
  • Genealogy of a branch line of the Shōei Clan
  • Genealogy of a branch line of the Shōei Clan
  • Genealogy of a branch line of the Shōei Clan
  • Genealogy of the branch line of the Ntabaru Clan
  • Genealogy of the Chūdō Clan
  • Genealogy of the main line of the Ntabaru Clan
  • Genealogy of the main line of the Shōei Clan
  • Genealogy of the Urato Clan
  • Hanging scroll inscribed 寿
  • Hanging scroll inscribed 福
  • Kumiodori script
  • Land Register
  • Land Registry Map
  • Land Tax Register
  • Plaque inscribed 龍光
  • Register from the Year of the Ox
  • Register from the Year of the Rat
  • Taishang Ganying Pian
  • Wage Records
  • Yoseyama Regulations

Folk Cultural Properties">Cultural Property (Japan)#Folk Cultural Properties">Folk Cultural Properties

  • Futenma Utaki Sacred Site
  • Minema Utaki Sacred Site
  • Minna Utaki Sacred Site
  • Tomari Utaki Sacred Site

Historic Sites">Monuments of Japan#Designated monuments of Japan"> Historic Sites

  • Ama-gā spring
  • Bunajē Ugam Praying Site
  • Fushato-gā spring
  • Futajji Ugam Praying Site
  • Futatsu-gā spring
  • Gratitude Memorial
  • Ibi Praying Site and Shinobose Residence
  • Kadikari-nu-uya Residence
  • Minna Utaki Archaeological Site
  • Miyako Watchtower
  • Ntabaru Tuyumya's Myāka Tomb on Terama Island
  • Ntabaru Ugam Praying Site
  • Ntabaru Ugan Archaeological Site
  • Parima-gā spring
  • Piitumata Ugam Praying Site
  • Satunushi-baka Tomb
  • Shiokawa Utaki Archaeological Site
  • Shiokawa Utaki Sacred Site
  • Shugā-gā Spring
  • Takada Coast, Dutch merchant ship
  • Tarama Jinja Shrine
  • Terayama Site
  • Torizuka Site on Minna Island
  • Uigusuku-Kandō Residence
  • Ungusuku Utaki Sacred Site
  • Utsubaru Ugam Praying Site
  • Yaeyama Watchtower
  • Yaeyama Watchtower Archaeological Site

Natural Monuments">Monuments of Japan#Designated monuments of Japan">Natural Monuments

  • Bantigue tree of Panari Rock on Minna Island
  • Fukugi tree community of Ungusuku Utaki
  • Plant communities and fukugi trees of Shiokawa Utaki
  • Plant community of Minebaru on Tarama Island
  • Plant community of Ntabaru Utaki on Tarama Island
  • Shurē Ugam Praying Site
  • Tarama Island windbreak forest