Ōnohara Islands

Ōnohara-jima
Native name: 大野原島
Geography
Location	Izu Islands
Coordinates	34°02′41″N 139°23′15″E / 34.04472°N 139.38750°E
Archipelago	Izu Islands
Area	0.2 km2 (0.077 sq mi)
Highest elevation	114 m (374 ft)
Administration
	Japan
Prefecture	Tokyo
Subprefecture	Miyake Subprefecture
Village	Miyake
Demographics
Population	0

The Ōnohara Islands (大野原島, Ōnohara-jima) are a group of volcanic deserted islands located in the Philippine Sea approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi) south of Tokyo and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Miyake-jima, in the northern portion of the Izu archipelago, Japan. The group is also known as Sanbon-dake (三本岳, lit. “Three Peaks”) from its profile.

Geography

Ōnohara-jima consists of nine main islets and several smaller rocks and stacks. The island is the remnant of an andesite lava dome with sheer sides, the only visible portion of a submarine volcanic caldera. The above sea-level portion has a surface area of approximately 0.2 square kilometers, with a summit height of 114 metres (374 ft) on the main islet of Koyasu-shima (小安島).

Located in the Kuroshio Current, the area has abundant sea life, and is popular with sports fishermen and scuba divers.

During the Korean War, aircraft of the US Air Force used Ōnohara-jima as a bombing range, endangering the Japanese murrelet, a rare seabird that breeds on Ōnohara-jima. The bombing was stopped after Jack Moyer wrote a letter to an associate of then-US President Harry S. Truman.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Map of Miyake-jima showing Ōnohara-jima to the southwest

Aerial photo of Ōnohara-jima. Made based on National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism