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is a volcanic Japanese island in the Philippine Sea.〔Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). ("''Izu Shotō''," ) ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 412.〕 The island is administered by Tōkyō Metropolis and located approximately south of Tokyo and south-southeast of Miyake-jima. It is one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago. Mikurajima is administratively part of Mikurajima Village under Miyake Subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis. As of 2009, the island's population was 351. Mikura-jima is also within the boundaries of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. ==History== The island has apparently been inhabited for thousands of years, but existing records only extend to the Edo period. Mikura, along with the rest of the Izu Islands, was designated as a place of exile during the Tokugawa shogunate, and up to 10% of current island residents are descendents of political exiles.〔Otake, Tomoko, "(A place of refuge for exiles and foreign wayfarers )", ''Japan Times'', 24 April 2011, p. 8; retrieved 2013-3-4.〕 In 1714, an important official from the shogunate, physician Kochikuin Okuyama, arrived on the island. Okuyama was able to use his connections with the shogunate to retrieve Mikura's official seal from officials on Miyake Island, who were using it to skim profits from Mikura's exports of lumber.〔 In 1863, a ship with a crew of 460 Chinese laborers and 23 American sailors, bound for the United States from China, was shipwrecked on the island. Although at that time the Japanese populace had been ordered by the shogunate to kill or imprison any foreigners who entered Japan without authorization, Mikura's inhabitants treated the shipwrecked crew with hospitality and kindness.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mikura-jima」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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