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PART 1

THE SATSUNAN ISLANDS

薩南諸島

The Satsunans (薩南諸島; Satsunan-shotō) are the island portion of Kagoshima-ken. The balance of the prefecture lies on the mainland. Unlike the more southerly Okinawan Islands, the Satsunan Islands, especially the northerly ones, have a more temperate climate, only vaguely subtropical. Although it rarely ever freezes, it can be cool, even cold, in the winter. The islands are best visited in the summer, but of course at that time it can be very hot and humid. Spring is best as fall can mean typhoons. Overall, the vegetation of southern Kyushu Island, the Kagoshima area, the Satsuma and Ōsumi Peninsulas and the Satsunan Islands is blessed with more than abundant rainfall. Thus it is lush, with cycads, tree ferns and some of the more hardy species of various palm trees found in great profusion.

The Satsunan group consists of about 25 inhabited islands and more than another dozen uninhabited islands spread out over three major groups: the Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami. The Satsunans occupy a total of 966 square miles (2,503 square kilometers). The tiny, uninhabited chains of the Kusagaki (草垣 群島; Kusagaki-guntō) and Uji Islands (宇治群島; Uji-guntō), found approximately 31 miles (50 kilometers) further west and 37 miles (60 kilometers) northwest, respectively, of Kuroshima in the East China Sea are not included in this definition.

Cape Sata (Sata-misaki), the final tip at the end of the Ōsumi Island chain.