July 29, 2025

What kind of island is Kuroshima?

As we have also announced
on our website "Kuroshima Research Institute Report" ( Kuroshima Research Institute Report - Kinkai Yusen Co., Ltd. ) All the participating employees will be asked to submit training reports after the event is completed.
There were many great works, but this time I would like to introduce one of them.

　

Introduction What kind of island is Kuroshima?

Kuroshima is an island located in the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The Yaeyama Islands are a general term for islands located about 400 km southwest of Okinawa's main island, and are composed of 32 islands, large and small, with Ishigaki Island in mind. Kuroshima is one of the Yaeyama Islands, and is famous as an island with more cows than people, and because the island is heart-shaped, it is also known as the "heart island." It is an island rich in nature, with black cows grazing everywhere. Tourists travel by bike or rental bicycle. A small and quiet island.

Kuroshima Research Institute

Kuroshima Research Institute was founded in 1975 and is a marine life research institute that has a long history in Okinawa Prefecture. It is a small aquarium and museum, and the creatures on display include fish, palm crabs, hubs, sea turtles, peacocks, chickens, sharks, and more. This is an interesting research institute that also features a wide range of exhibits, including animal specimens from Kuroshima, corals, and floating objects from space. Although it is a facility that mainly researches sea turtles, it is a tourist spot on Kuroshima that is open to the public.

Coast cleaning

We conducted an hour-long cleaning activity on Nishinohama. Many trash has fallen on the coast, which looks beautiful in the photo, and there are a variety of waste that has flown, including plastic bottles, bottles, cans, styrofoam, and floating. Some plastic bottle labels are written in Chinese and Korean, and many of them seem to have been streamed from overseas. Although it was a hot task, I was able to experience the importance of coastal cleaning in order to create an environment for sea turtles to lay eggs on the coast. I have also cleaned the beach in Tomakomai, but Nishinohama had a much larger amount of garbage, and 10 people, including staff, worked on it, and placed it on the back of a light truck and collected enough garbage to three round trips.

Night Walk to search for sea turtle spawning

We investigated the western beach from 8:00pm after dinner to be present at sea turtles' egg laying.

Sea turtle release

On the last day of Kuroshima, I was present at the laboratory to release green sea turtles for research. Sea turtles, which are feared to be extinct, are essential to keep track of and observe the number of people they are reported and the accompanying individuals. The research institute is also conducting a "market release survey." Signs (tags) are attached to sea turtles that have landed to spawn and sea turtles caught in the fishing industry. This allows you to investigate the trends and growth of the turtle the next time you find a tagged sea turtle. So far, Kuroshima Research Institute has used 5,000 signs.

　

Kuroshima Options Training

Farm experience

Kuroshima, where there are more cows than people, over 3,000 cows are raised. We also had a food experience and a tour of population fertilization in the cowshed. All artificial insemination of cows is done by hand. Touch the uterus of a female in heat, check the tension, and inject sperm. Those obtained from brand beef with good sperm are said to cost 10,000 yen. Once every two months, dairy farmers from all over the country visit them, and are raised in their respective regions, and become Yamagata beef, Kobe beef, and Matsuzaka beef. As many as 150 cows are poured over the parlor at each session. Every cow was living a life of a beast and was raised with the love of others.

Aboard the marine research vessel AKARI

Aboard the AKARI on a snorkeling tour. The area around Kuroshima is very clear, and although I have visited the sea in Okinawa several times, this was my first time seeing the sea so clear. You can also observe the fish that live on Kuroshima, and you will never forget the view of Kuroshima as you cruise on the donated AKARI ship.

The fish on display at Kuroshima Research Institute are often caught by boarding AKARI or diving from the Nishinohama, which is a great help in research and research.

Visiting the Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum

On the final day of the training, we visited the Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum. We also had the opportunity to talk to Teruya (85 years old), who was actually boarded the Tsushima Maru and was in an accident, but was rescued and is now giving a lecture as a storyteller.

The Tsushima Maru was a cargo ship of its parent company, Nippon Yusen, and was boarded to evacuate evacuators from Naha to Nagasaki during the Pacific War. The Tsushima Maru sank 11 minutes later, when a torpedo from the American Bofin was hit at 10:21 PM on August 22, 1944.
Teruya was rescued at the time, and was 4 years old. She was on a boat with her mother and sister, and was attacked and jumped into the sea to leave the boat. After that, Teruya's mother went to look for her older sister, and Teruya grabbed her by the soy sauce cover and was rescued 16 hours later. That was the last time I would never meet again with my mother. Even though he was young, Teruya clearly explained his feelings at the time and the situation he was able to see.
During the war, an order was issued to not speak out about the accident, and despite more than half the deaths, the evacuees who were saved were unable to even mourn their grief.
The Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum displays photos of the times and the people who died, and listening to the voices of their families and the words of those rescued, I once again felt that war should never occur.

Conclusion

This time, I participated in a training session for Kuroshima, and was able to learn a lot about the side of Kuroshima that is hard to know about sightseeing, including the ecology of sea turtles that I have only seen at aquariums before, and the creatures that live on the island. The island residents were also very kind and I am truly grateful to the people at Kuroshima Research Institute for creating such an opportunity.
The views of the climate, clouds and the sea are completely different from Hokkaido where I live, and everything is fresh and very stimulating, making it a very lovely island that I love Kuroshima. As part of environmental protection, I strongly hope to continue to contribute to activities to protect sea turtles. This training was a very valuable opportunity to dramatically change the way you view and values of Okinawa and Kuroshima.

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