________________________________________________________ Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures <www.shimajournal.org> ISSN: 1834-6057 SAKURAJIMA: MAINTAINING AN ISLAND ESSENCE [Received October 16th 2014; accepted December 12th 2014 – DOI: 10.21463/shima.10.1.07] Henry Johnson University of Otago <henry.johnson@otago.ac.nz> Sueo Kuwahara Kagoshima University <kuwahara@Ieh.kagoshima-u.ac.jp> ABSTRACT: Sakurajima (Cherry Island) began its existence about 26,000 years ago as a volcanic island rising from the northern end of Kagoshima Bay in the south of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. What makes Sakurajima a topic of significance in the field of Island Studies is that it is no longer an island, yet maintains many island-like characteristics—an island essence. In 1914, there was a major volcanic eruption on Sakurajima with a massive lava flow that covered several parts of the island and beyond, and joined it to the Ōsumi Peninsula as part of Kyūshū. Sakurajima is a part of Kagoshima City, the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, but the main urban part of the city is located about 3.8 km across the water from Sakurajma on the Satsuma Peninsula. This paper examines the life of Sakurajima from island to peninsula, and argues that the former island maintains an island-like identity through such factors as toponymy, shape, travel and tourism. Even though Sakurajima is now a peninsula, which is joined to another peninsula on a much larger island, it is discussed in terms of its islandness as determined by its features, attractions and predominant mode of transport to and from the former island. KEYWORDS: Islandness, Japan, Kagoshima, peninsula, Sakurajima, toponymy, volcano. Introduction In the summer and autumn of 2012, JR Kyūshū (Japan Railways Kyūshū) ran a campaign promoting the islands of Kagoshima. In addition to Kagoshima (Fawn Island) itself, which refers to both the prefecture and its capital city, five islands were identified: Chiringashima (Chirin Island), Koshikijima (Steaming Pot Island), Nagashima (Long Island), Kirishima (Fog Island) and Sakurajima (Cherry Island). The promotion emphasized these islands in terms of ‘sea’, ‘road’ and ‘mountain’ routes (umi no shima, michi no shima and yama no shima, respectively). 3 But what sets these islands apart is that not all of them are surrounded by water, and each has distinct characteristics that either extends or challenges the notion of ‘island’. Chiringashima is surrounded by water, but only at high tide; Koshikijima is a term for an archipelago, Koshikijima-rettō, which comprises Kami- Koshikijima (Upper Koshiki Island), Naka-Koshikijima (Middle Koshiki Island) and Shimo- Koshikijima (Lower Koshiki Island) (the first two islands have a connecting bridge); Nagashima is an island connected to the mainland by a bridge; Kirishima is a mountain (it is also the name of a city); and Sakurajima is a former island that was joined to the mainland as the result of a lava flow. The JR marketing campaign shows that Kagoshima might be appealing to tourists because of these three types of shima: Nagashima,