Japonski Island

Japonski Island, or Yak'w Kashaneixí, Russian: остров Японский, Japanese: ヤポンスキー島,[1] is a small island in the city of Sitka in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It lies across the Sitka Channel from Sitka's central business district.

Japonski Island
Native name:
Yak'w Kashaneixí
Geography
LocationABC islands of Alaska
ArchipelagoAlexander Archipelago
Administration
United States
StateAlaska
Demographics
Population269 (2000)

The Russian colonists named the island Japonski (Russian for "Japanese") after some Japanese fishermen who were stranded there in 1805 (unnamed Russians returned them to Yezo (Hokkaidō) in 1806).[2][3]

Japonski Island is connected to Baranof Island and Sitka by the O'Connell Bridge. Before the bridge there was a ferry system similar to that which currently exists in Ketchikan. The shoreboats that maintained the transportation link between Japonski and the rest of Sitka were the Donna, Teddy, Dorothy, Diane, and Arrowhead.

Japonski Island is home to Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport; the Sitka branch campus of the University of Alaska Southeast; Mt. Edgecumbe High School — a state-run boarding school for rural Alaskans; the Indian Health Service regional hospital SEARHC (SouthEast Alaska Regional Healthcare Center); a United States Coast Guard air station; the port and facilities for the USCGC Maple; and the restored boathouse maintained by the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society. Besides the Coast Guard housing complex, there are very few Sitkans who live on Japonski Island. The official population was 269 persons at the 2000 census. The land area of Japonski Island, including the connected nearby much smaller islands such as Virublennoi (Rus. for "harvested" or "cut out"), Sasedni (Rus. for "Neighbour"), Kirushkin (prob. a Russian surname), Makhnati (Rus. for "shaggy") and smaller islets, was 1.467 square kilometres (363 acres).

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
194039—
U.S. Decennial Census[4]

Japonski Island appeared once separately on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It was later annexed into Sitka.

References
  1. Joseph, Charlie; Brady, I.; Makinen, E.; David, R.; Davis, V.; Johnson, A.; Lord, N. (2001). "Sheet'kwaan Aani Aya". Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  2. Brooks, Charles Wolcott (1876). "Report of Japanese Vessels Wrecked in the North Pacific Ocean". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 6.
    • Webber, Bert (1984). Wrecked Japanese Junks adrift in the North Pacific Ocean. Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington. ISBN 0-87770-290-X.
  4. "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2013.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.