Dense mangrove forest covers about 90% of the island, which is far away from populated areas. On that island, one can find special categories of wild cats and venomous snakes. The island is also associated with the Second World War. Iriomote Island is one of the remote, as well as largest, among the Yaeyama Islands in southwestern Japan. Administratively, the island belongs to Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture. It is a part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park and home to the Iriomote wildcat, a critically endangered species. The population of Iriomote with an area of about 289.27sqkm is quite low, as only 2,347 people used to live there in 2005.
As there is no airstrip on this island, visitors arrive there from Ishigaki Island by ferry, a 31.4km ride to Uwahara Port on Iriomote's northeast coast or to Ōhara Port on the southeast coast. According to a 2006 report, around 0.4 million tourists visited Iriomote Island in that year, mainly to enjoy kayaking in the Urauchi River.
Although the economy of Iriomote Island is largely based on tourism, some of the islanders also depend on agricultural activities. They grow high quality pineapple, mango and sugarcane. According to locals, people from other islands were forcibly taken to Iriomote during the Second World War and most of them were from Ishigaki Island who were infected with malaria. Later, Iriomote Island was completely free of malaria.
Initially, a small number of fishermen and farmers used to live in the coastal areas of Iriomote Island. The population gradually increased from 1889 to 1959 because of the development on mining operations in the coal mines on the island. The US occupied the island until 1972. It was annexed by Japan in June 1972.
Locals are of the opinion that divers searched for a submarine at a depth of 350mt in the sea near the island's coastline in 1995. The US divers conducted the search operation through a special vessel, named Scorpio, and captured some images of a large metallic object that looked like gold. However, they decided to move away from that area after considering the safety of the vessel. The divers thought that there was an opportunity to work in that area. They planned to return to Iriomote with full preparations.
However, the Scorpio capsized just after leaving the island in 1997. It was never found again! Also, the US divers never returned to the Iriomote Island after the disappearance of the vessel. They believed that the submarine was the USS Snook (SS-279), a Gato-class submarine. It was the first vessel of the US Navy to be named after the common snook, an Atlantic marine fish that is bluish-grey above and silvery below a black lateral line. However, the US divers had no concrete evidence. The mystery of the lost ship still lurks in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
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