Climate

Tsushima has a marine humid subtropical climate strongly influenced by monsoon winds. The average temperature is 15.8 °C (60.4 °F),^[13] and the average yearly precipitation is 2,132.6 mm.^[13] The highest temperature ever recorded on the island is 36.6 °C (97.9 °F), on 20 August 2013, and the lowest −6.8 °C (19.8 °F), in 1895.^[14] Throughout most of the year, Tsushima is 1–2 °C cooler than the city of Nagasaki.^[13][15] The island's rainfall is generally higher than that of the main islands of Japan; this is attributed to the difference in their size. Because Tsushima is small and isolated, it is exposed on all sides to moist marine air, which releases precipitation as it ascends the island's steep slopes. Continental monsoon winds carry loess, dust which is a highly fertile mix of clay and sand, from China in the spring and cools the island in the winter.^[6]

Fauna

The island's fauna include leopard cat, Japanese marten, Siberian weasel, and rodents.^[18] Otters were discovered to be living on Tsushima in February 2017.^[19] Migrating birds that stop over on the island include hawks, harriers, eagles, and black-throated loons. Forests, covering 90% of the island, consist of broad-leafed evergreens, conifers, and deciduous trees including cypress. Honey bees are common, with many used to produce commercial honey.^[20] The Tsushima Island pitviper (Gloydius tsushimaensis) is a venomous snake endemic to the Tsushima Island.^[21] The islands have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Japanese wood pigeons and Pleske's grasshopper warblers.^[22]

Tsushima Reef, located in the bay between Tsushima and Iki Island, is the northernmost coral reef in the world, surpassing the Iki Island reef discovered in 2001.^[23] It is dominated by cool-tolerant stony or Scleractinian Favia corals but the observed settling of tropical Acropora coral is expected to provide an ongoing indicator for continuing global warming.^[24]

Flora

The whole island is covered in forest and there are few plains. There are Yoshino cherry and Chionanthus retusus.

• 
  Tsushima leopard cat
• 
  Yoshino cherry
• 
  Chionanthus retusus

Industry

According to a 2000 census, 23.9% of the local population is employed in primary industries while 19.7% and 56.4% of the population are employed in secondary and tertiary industries, respectively. Of these economic activities, fishing amounts to 82.6% of the primary industry, with much of it dedicated to catching squid on the eastern coast of the island. The number of employees in the primary industries has been decreasing, while employee growth in the secondary and tertiary industries has been increasing.

Tourism

Tourism, targeting mainly South Koreans, has recently made a great contribution to the islands' economy. The number of Korean tourists to the island increased greatly after the launching of a high-speed ferry service from Busan to the island in 1999. In 2008, 72,349 Koreans visited the island. Due to a drop in the value of the won, the number fell to 45,266 in 2009. Korean tourists generate an estimated ¥2.1 billion in revenue for the local economy and generate about 260 jobs on the island.^[25]

The island expected around 200,000 visitors from Korea in 2013, surpassing the number of visitors from within Japan for the first time.^[26] However, a summer pageant focused on a historical event involving Korean emissaries was cancelled that same year.^[26][27] In 2018, 90% of visitors to Tsushima were from South Korea; however, there was an 88% decrease (1.7 million fewer visitors) in Korean visitors in 2019. This occurred because of a trade war between Korea and Japan that started in July 2019 when Japan restricted the export of chemical materials relied upon by Korea's large consumer electronics industry. This export restriction is seen to have been a retaliatory act by Japan for a Korean court order that Nippon Steel (Japan's largest steelmaker) pay reparations to the families of Koreans forced into slave labor for the company during World War II. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has further reduced and limited tourism.^[28]

Tsushima has been gaining popularity as a tourist destination thanks in large part to the samurai action-adventure stealth game Ghost of Tsushima that was released in 2020, with visitors keen to see some of the places featured in the game, as well as discover what the island is like in "real life". This includes trying local culinary specialties such as rokube noodles, ishiyaki, tonchan and anago conger eel.^[29]

Ancient and classical period

Kaneda Castle ruins

Watazumi Shrine

Hiroshige

In Japanese mythology, Tsushima was one of the eight original islands created by the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami. Archaeological evidence suggests that Tsushima was already inhabited by settlers from the Japanese archipelago and Korean Peninsula from the Jōmon period to the Kofun period. The Records of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical text, describes a country called Duì hǎi guó (Chinese: 對海國; Japanese pronunciation: Tsuikai-koku) with a population of more than one thousand households, which is commonly identified with Tsushima. It was one of the about 30 that composed the Yamatai union countries.^[30] These families exerted control over Iki Island, and established trading links with Yayoi Japan. Since Tsushima had almost no land to cultivate, islanders earned their living by fishing and trading.

Since the beginning of the early sixth century, Tsushima has been an official province of Japan, known as Tsushima Province (today Tsushima, Nagasaki.)

Under the Ritsuryō system, Tsushima became a province of Japan. This province was linked with Dazaifu, the political and economic center of Kyūshū, as well as the central government of Japan. Due to its strategic location, Tsushima played a major role in defending Japan against invasions from the Asian continent and developing trade lines with Baekje and Silla of Three Kingdoms of Korea. After Baekje, which had been aided by Yamato Japan, was defeated in 663 by Sillan and Tang Chinese forces at the Battle of Baekgang, Japanese border guards were sent to Tsushima and Kaneda Castle was constructed on the island.

Tsushima Province was controlled by officials called Tsushima no kuni no miyatsuko (対馬国造) until the Nara period, and then by the Abiru clan until the middle of the 13th century. The role and title of "Governor of Tsushima" were exclusively held by the Shōni clan for generations. However, since the Shōni actually resided in Kyūshū, it was the Sō clan, known subjects of the Shōni, who actually exerted control over these islands. The Sō clan governed Tsushima until the late 15th century.

Feudal period

Mongol invasion in 1274

Joseon missions to Japan started in the Muromachi era for about 400 years were welcomed by the Yamato people as seen in this painting of Edo

Tsushima domain shipyard site ruins. Built in 1663 CE

Tsushima was an important trade center during this period. After the Toi invasion, private trade started between Goryeo, Tsushima, Iki Island, and Kyūshū, but halted during the Mongol invasions of Japan between 1274 and 1281. The Goryeosa, a history of the Goryeo dynasty, mentions that in 1274, Korean troops of the Mongol army led by Kim Bang-gyeong killed a great number of people on the islands.

Tsushima became one of the major bases of the Wokou, Japanese pirates, also called wakō, along with Iki and Matsuura. Due to repeated pirate raids, the Goryeo and Joseon at times placated the pirates by establishing trade agreements as well as negotiating with the Ashikaga shogunate and its deputy in Kyūshū and at other times used force to neutralize the pirates. In 1389, General Pak Wi of Goryeo wiped out Wokou on the island of Tsushima.

On 19 June 1419, the recently abdicated king Taejong of Joseon sent general Yi Jongmu to an expedition to Tsushima island to clear it of the Wokou pirates, using a fleet of 227 vessels and 17,000 soldiers, known in Japanese as the Ōei Invasion. After suffering casualties in an ambush, the Korean Army retaliated inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese which later negotiated a ceasefire that led to the withdrawal of the Joseon army on 3 July 1419.^[31][32] In 1443, the Daimyō of Tsushima, Sō Sadamori proposed the Treaty of Gyehae. The number of trade ships from Tsushima to Korea was decided by this treaty, and the Sō clan monopolized the trade with Korea.^[33]

In 1510, Japanese traders initiated an uprising against Joseon's stricter policies on Japanese traders from Tsushima and Iki coming to Busan, Ulsan and Jinhae to trade. The So Clan supported the uprising, but it was soon crushed. The uprising later came to be known as the "Disturbance of the Three Ports" (三浦の乱 (Sanbo-No-Ran) in Japan and 삼포왜란 (三浦倭亂, Sampo Waeran) in Korea). Trade resumed under the direction of King Jungjong in 1512, but only under strictly limited terms, and only twenty-five ships were allowed to visit Joseon annually.^[34]

In the late 16th century, Japanese leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi united the various feudal lords (daimyō) under his command and in 1587, Hideyoshi confirmed the Sō clan's possession of Tsushima. Sō Yoshitoshi (宗 義智, 1568 – 31 January 1615) was a Sō clan daimyō (feudal lord) of the island domain of Tsushima. Planning to unite all factions with a common cause, Hideyoshi's coalition attacked Joseon Korea, leading to the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). Tsushima was the main naval base for this invasion, and in continuing support of the war, large numbers of Korean prisoners were transported to Tsushima until Japan’s defeat at the hands of the Koreans in 1598.

Portrait of Sō Yoshitoshi in 1615

In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu established a new shogunate; and Sō Yoshitoshi was officially granted Fuchū Domain (100,000 koku) in Tsushima Province.^[35]

The Tsushima-Fuchū Domain shipyard was built in 1663 CE. There are still ruins of the shipyard on the island.

After Japan's attempts at conquest failed, peace was re-established between the two nations. Once again, the islands became a port for merchants. Both the Joseon Dynasty and the Tsushima-Fuchū Domain sent their trading representatives to Tsushima, governing trade until 1755.

The island was described by Hayashi Shihei in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu, which was published in 1785. It was identified as part of Japan.^[36]

In 1811, for cost reduction, representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate met at Tsushima with ambassadors from the Joseon king (Joseon Tongsinsa).^[37]

Until the Meiji, Tsushima was a frontier between Japan and Korea, heavily dependent on trade with Korea, with unique institutions/systems of trade which strongly resembled those of Korean, not Japanese, institutions - for instance, a measurement system for the taxation of land in Japan, is determined by the production of kokus of rice. Tsushima had a low production of rice, so it was permitted to use a unique survey system (Kendaka (間高)) by the Tokugawa shogunate. Because it had originated in the China Land Survey System (間尺法), it was similar to the system of Korea - gyeolbu (結負制); Tsushima law resembled Korean law in its calculation of finances. "Unfree labor" or slavery for fixed periods of time, always rare in any form in the rest of Japan, existed as an established institution, often as a form of punishment, in Tsushima as it did in Korea. The Tsushima han owned a 33 hectares (82 acres) place of residence in Busan, according to Murai Shosuke, the Japanese were given the title from the Joseon dynasty called "marginal men", and was responsible for security in this residential area.^[38] Lewis also cites the official preparations of Sō Yoshitoshi listing some 1,000 Koreans as guides in preparation for Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea to support a "zone of ambiguous boundary qualities" aspect of Tsushima.^[38] The islanders spoke the Tsushima dialect and their daily customs, social structure, and economic interactions were in Japanese, with exception of loanwords from Korean in their dialect.^[39]

Modern period

Canal constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1900

In an episode now known as the Tsushima incident, the Imperial Russian Navy tried to appropriate the island by establishing a base on the island in 1861. In 1860 this plan had been made by Vice Admiral Ivan Likhachev, commanding the Russian squadron in the waters of Japan and the Commander of the Possadnick, Birilev in co-operation with the Russian Consul at Hakodate Goshkevitch. The plan had been discussed with high authorities at St Petersburg who had given the green light to proceed with it. If the plan were to miscarry they would deny all knowledge about it.^[40] The Russians were forced to withdraw by Vice Admiral John Hope, Commanding the British ships in the waters of Japan on orders of Sir Rutherford Alcock, representing Britain in Japan and the British government. Support at St Petersburg was given by the British Envoy Lord Napier and the Dutch Envoy Baron Gevers^[41]

As a result of the abolition of the han system, the Tsushima Fuchu domain became part of Izuhara Prefecture in 1871. In the same year, Izuhara Prefecture was merged with Imari Prefecture, which was renamed Saga Prefecture in 1872. Tsushima was transferred to Nagasaki Prefecture in 1872, and its districts of Kamiagata (上県) and Shimoagata (下県) were merged to form the modern city of Tsushima. This change was part of widespread reforms within Japan which started after 1854. Japan was at this time becoming a modern nation-state and regional power, with widespread changes in government, industry, and education.

After the First Sino-Japanese War ended with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan felt humiliated when the Triple Intervention of the three great powers of Germany, France, and Russia forced it to return the valuable Liaodong Peninsula to China under threat of force. Consequently, the Japanese leadership correctly anticipated that a war with Russia or another Western imperial power was likely. Between 1895 and 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy blasted the Manzeki-Seto canal 25 metres (82 feet) wide and 3 metres (9.8 feet) deep; it was later expanded to 40 metres (130 feet) wide and 4.5 metres (14.8 feet) deep through a mountainous rocky isthmus of the island between Asō Bay to the west and Tsushima Strait to the east, technically dividing the island into three islands.^[42] Strategic concerns explain the scope and funding of the canal project by Japan during an era when it was still struggling to establish an industrial economy. The canal enabled the Japanese to move transports and warships quickly between their main naval bases in the Seto Inland Sea (directly to the east) via the Kanmon and Tsushima Strait into the Korea Strait or to destinations beyond in the Yellow Sea.

An imperial ordinance in July 1899 established Izuhara, Sasuna, and Shishimi as open ports for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom.^[43]

During the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the Russian Baltic Fleet under Admiral Rozhestvensky, after making an almost year-long trip to East Asia from the Baltic Sea, was crushed by the Japanese under Admiral Togo Heihachiro at the Battle of Tsushima.^[44] The Japanese third squadron (cruisers) began shadowing the Russian fleet off the tip of the south island and followed it through the Tsushima Strait where the main Japanese fleet awaited. The battle began at slightly east-northeast of the northern island around midday and ended to its north a day later when the Japanese surrounded the Russian Fleet. Japan won a decisive victory.

From 1948 to 1949, due to the Jeju uprising, and its resulting suppression and massacre by anti-communist Korean forces, thousands of Jeju residents fled to Japan via Tsushima.^[45]

In 1950, the South Korean government asserted sovereignty over the island based on "historical claims".^[46] Korea-US negotiations about the Treaty of San Francisco made no mention of Tsushima Island.^[47] After this, the status of Tsushima as an island of Japan was re-confirmed.^[48] While the South Korean government has since relinquished claims on the island, some Koreans (including some members of the Korean parliament) have periodically attempted to dispute the ownership of the island.

In 1973, one of the transmitters for the OMEGA-navigation system was built on Tsushima. It was dismantled in 1998.

Today, Tsushima is part of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. On 1 March 2004, the six towns on the island – Izuhara, Mitsushima, Toyotama, Mine, Kamiagata, and Kamitsushima – were merged to create the city of Tsushima. About 700 Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel are stationed on the island to watch the local coastal and ocean areas.^[25] The island is also the site of dozens of lighthouses as well as smaller beacons.^[49]