History
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The History of Nemuro and Yururi Island
The sea of Nemuro, which embraces Yururi Island, was a “crossroads of the ages,” so to speak, which many people who made their mark on history visited from the time of the birth of modern Japan to the present day. The dreams and ambitions of these people, who were deeply involved in this northern sea, pushed open the doors of history to today’s Japan. Let’s take a look at the map of Japan from this standpoint. The Nemuro Peninsula, the easternmost tip of the mainland, and the Yururi Island, which lies quietly beside it, have a significant meaning and value.
One example is Takataya Kahee. In the late Edo period, this sea merchant is also known as the main character in Shiba Ryotaro’s novel “Nanohana no Oki.” With his inherent boldness, he succeeded in pioneering the shipping route between Kunashiri and Etorofu islands, known as shipwrecked areas of the sea. He was also captured by a Russian ship off the coast of Kunashiri during the “Goronin Incident,” which brought tensions between Japan and Russia to a critical point. However, he negotiated with the Russians, established friendly relations with them, and developed what is now called “private diplomacy” to resolve the crisis between the two countries. For Kahee, Yururi Island was a very important place. We can read in old documents that Kahee donated a bell to a shrine on the island and prayed for safe voyages. The shrine was later moved to the north side of the Nemuro Peninsula, to a hill overlooking Kunashiri Island. However, it is also believed that the first place where the fire of prayer in the shrine, which still exists today, was lit was on Yururi Island.
Matsuura Takeshiro, who has become widely known as the godfather of Hokkaido in recent years, also has close ties to Nemuro. In 1849, exactly 50 years after Takataya Kahee opened the shipping route between Kunashiri and Etorofu, Takeshiro anchored on the Yururi island to wait for the tide when he crossed over to Kunashiri and Etorofu. Based on Takeshiro’s proposal, the name “Hokkaido” was decided to be used instead of the previous name “Ezochi,” just 20 years after Takeshiro’s visit to Yururi Island. Takeshiro is said to have come up with the name “Hokkaido” during a dialogue with the Ainu people. Takeshiro’s respect for Ainu culture seems to overlap with that of Kahee, who devoted himself to realizing trade between Ainu and Japanese on an equal footing.
Looking further into the history of Nemuro, we can find the name of an unexpected person. That name is Charles Augustus Lindbergh. He was a well-known American adventure aviator. What turned Lindbergh, an unknown civilian pilot, into a world-famous aviator was his successful solo non-stop flight over the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris, which he attempted at the age of 25. The details of his incredible feat, accomplished in a small, monoplane, single-engine, single-seat aircraft, were later compiled in his autobiography by his own hand and won him a Pulitzer Prize. Four years after this transatlantic flight, which was even made into a movie, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow, boarded a double-seater seaplane, “Sirius,” and set off from New York for Japan. Though they were forced to make emergency landings in Etorofu and Kunashiri due to dense fog and engine trouble along the way, the Lindberghs finally reached Nemuro Port on August 24, 1931, as a huge crowd gathered to watch the conclusion of the great event of the century. Unlike the Atlantic flight, which took about 33 hours to reach Paris, it took a month and a half from the time of departure, making it the greatest adventure of Lindbergh’s life. The Ochiishi Wireless Telegraph Station, located in the Ochiishi area where Yururi Island is situated, played a significant role in this historic flight as a guide. Incidentally, the route between Japan and the East Coast of the U.S. still follows the route opened by the Lindberghs’ adventure.
As we saw, the sea of Nemuro and Yururi Island has been the stage for many dramas. The events that took place here have turned the wheel of history from the modern era to the present, and have paved the way to connect Japan to the rest of the world. Unlike the eloquent urban cities, the remote seas and islands are always silent. However, in these places, the memories of traces may lie, serving as guideposts for the path Japan has taken. The sea and islands of Nemuro are such precious places.
archives
Nemuro 1946-1969
Photographs: Yamamoto Masami, Kikuchi Katsumi, etc.
Chronology
1754
Kunashiri Place is established by the Matsumae domain (“Place” refers to the place of trade between the Ainu and the Japanese).
1790
Following the Battle of Kunashiri-Menashi (a large-scale Ainu uprising) the previous year, the Unjoya (the feudal domain’s branch office) was relocated. The settlement formed the origin of today’s Nemuro City.
1792
Daikokuya Kodayu, a shipwright from Ise Province, arrives in Nemuro accompanied by Adam Laxman, the Russian envoy to Japan. This is the first time he has returned to Japan in about ten years since he drifted ashore in Russian territory in a maritime accident.
1796
Takataya Kahee, a shipping agent from Awaji Island, enters the Ezo region and establishes a base in Hakodate (present-day Hakodate City).
1798
Shogun’s vassal Kondo Juzo visits Nemuro to survey the north. He and Mogami Tokunai, an explorer who joined him on Kunashiri Island, set up a marker on the island of Etorofu that reads “Dai Nihon Etorofu.”
1799
In response to a request from Kondo Juzo, Takataya Kahee establishes a shipping route between Kunashiri and Etorofu. The following year, he goes to the island himself and opens many fishing grounds. For his efforts, Kahee is allowed to bear the surname and wear the sword.
1800
Surveyor Ino Tadataka undertakes a survey of the Ezo region. He reached the present-day town of Betsukai, but did not make it to Nemuro, which he had hoped to do. However, he meets Mamiya Rinzo, who later discovers the Mamiya Strait, and passes on his surveying techniques.
1806
Takataya Kahee established the Kotohira Shrine near present-day Matsugae-Cho, Nemuro City.
1811
Vasily Golovnin, captain of the Russian warship Diana, surveying the Kurile Islands, was captured by officials of the Matsumae domain and imprisoned. The following year, Diana captures a merchant ship on which Takataya Kahee is boarding off Kunashiri (Goronin Incident). Kahee proposes a strategy for negotiation to the Russians, and as a result, Golovnin is released, and Kahee returns to Japan.
1844
Matsuura Takeshiro, who had been a Buddhist monk in Hirado, Nagasaki, returns to secular life when he becomes all alone and embarks on his first expedition to Ezochi.
1849
Matsuura Takeshiro anchors at Yururi Island during his voyage to Kunashiri and Etorofu Islands.
1855
Matsuura Takeshiro is selected by the Edo feudal government as official Ezo duty and publishes “Geographical Map of East and West Ezo Mountains and Rivers.”
1868
The Great Decree of Restoration of the Monarchy. The Edo feudal government is abolished, and the 265-year-long Edo period comes to an end.
1869
Matsuura Takeshiro, appointed by the Meiji government as general affairs official of the development of Hokkaido, gives the name “Hokkaido” to the Ezo region. He also selected the names of countries and counties based on Ainu place names. Following Takeshiro’s naming, 86 counties in 11 countries of Hokkaido were established, and Nemuro and Hanasaki counties were placed in present-day Nemuro City.
1870
Nemuro and Hanasaki counties were incorporated into Tokyo Prefecture (present-day Tokyo Metropolitan Government) in June (to be dissolved in October of the same year).
1875
Following discussions between Japan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Enomoto Takeaki, and Russia’s Foreign Minister, Aleksandr Gorchakov, Japan and Russia agreed that Sakhalin would be Russian territory and that the Kurile Islands (from Uruppu Island to Shumushu Island), in addition to the four islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Habomai, and Shikotan, would be Japanese territory. Treaty for the Exchange of Sakhalin for the Kurile Islands was concluded.
1882
The Hokkaido Kaitakushi (Hokkaido Development Commissioner) is abolished in response to the “Kaitakushi government property drop-off incident” (one of the largest prison incidents of the Meiji era) that occurred the previous year. Hokkaido is divided into three prefectures: Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro (the three prefectures are abolished with the establishment of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government in 1886).
1900
Nemuro Town, Nemuro County was established under the first-class township system of Hokkaido enacted the previous year.
1916
The breeding of silver foxes began on Yururi Island (the breeding farm was closed after about ten years). Around the same time, horses were put out to pasture on the island.
1921
Japan National Railways opened Nemuro Station.
1931
On August 24, Charles Lindbergh arrives in Nemuro with his wife Anne Morrow at the request of Pan American Airways to investigate the North Pacific route. They were scheduled to arrive the day before, but due to dense fog, the plane with the couple made an emergency landing on Kunashiri Island. After spending the night in a pasture hut, they toasted with beer brought by the islanders before departing.
1945
On July 14, a U.S. air raid destroys most of the city. On August 9, the Soviet Union unilaterally abrogates the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty and occupies the Kurile Islands, Kunashiri Island, Etorofu Island, the Habomai Islands, and Shikotan Island.
1950
Fishers and others who had been forced to leave the Northern Territories began to migrate to Yururi Island in search of a place to dry kelp. At this time, horses are introduced to the island to help pull the kelp to the drying ground.
1957
Nemuro Town and Wada Village in Nemuro County were merged to form Nemuro City.
1960
The “Yururi Island Lighthouse” was lit.
1963
Yururi Island (and adjacent Moyururi Island) is designated as a natural monument by Hokkaido.
1971
The last islanders leave the island. Thus, Yururi Island becomes uninhabited. After that, only horses remain on the island.
1976
Yururi Island is designated as a Hokkaido Natural Environment Conservation Area.
2006
Due to the aging of the former islanders, the management of the horses becomes increasingly difficult, and the stallions are withdrawn from Yururi Island. As a result, the island’s horses are destined to die out.
2017
In response to the growing interest in Yururi Island among the citizens of Nemuro, the “Association to Consider the Nemuro-Ochiishi Area and the Lost Island of Yururi” was established.