The Amami Islands (奄美群島, Amami-guntō?) are a group of islands that is part of the Satsunan Islands, a group of islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago. They are part of Kagoshima Prefecture, in the Kyūshū region of Japan. They consist of:
- Amami Ōshima (奄美大島)
- Kikai-jima (喜界島)
- Kakeromajima (加計呂麻島)
- Yoroshima (与路島)
- Ukeshima (請島)
- Tokunoshima (徳之島)
- Okinoerabu-jima (沖永良島)
- Yoronjima (AKA Yorontō unofficially) (与論島)
The name of Amami is probably cognate with Amamikiyo (アマミキヨ?) or Amamiko (アマミコ?), a goddess often featured in Okinawan legends.
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan and the Japan Coast Guard agreed on February 15, 2010, to use the name of Amami-guntō (奄美群島?) for the Amami Islands. Prior to that, Amami-shotō (奄美諸島?) was also used.
Famous quotes containing the word islands:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)