Shinjima Island

When you see the ocean again, you will find a small island offshore. That is Shinjima. It is the only inhabited island in Kinko Bay. The island was formed when the seafloor rose by the An-ei Great Eruption. It is not a submarine volcano. At its peak, the island had a population of more than 200 people, but it became uninhabited in 2013. But in 2019, former residents moved to the island, and this became inhabited again. The ferryboat "Shinjima Maru" operates from Uranomae Port to Shinjima three times on a day on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

 

I visited the island on a school excursion when I was in the upper grades of elementary school. We chartered a ferry from Sakurajima Port and all went together. We explored, fished, and swam on the island. There is the Shinjima branch of Ohou Elementary School, which was closed down nearly 50 years ago in 1972. The school had been rebuilt in a new building four years before it was closed, and the building remains.

 

In case you are wondering, the current address is Shinjima-cho, but until 2006 it was an enclave of Sakurajima-Akamizu-cho since most of the settlers were from Sakurajima-Akamizu-cho in the past.