Uchiura Bay

The Uchiura Bay (内浦湾, Uchiura-wan) or Funka Bay (噴火湾, Funka-wan, Eruption Bay) is a bay southeast of the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. It has also been known as Iburi Bay and Volcano Bay.

Uchiura Bay
Uchiura Bay
Uchiura Bay
Uchiura Bay
LocationHokkaido, Japan
Coordinates42°20′N 140°35′E
Ocean/sea sourcesPacific Ocean
Basin countriesJapan
Surface area2,485 square kilometers (959 sq mi)
Average depth93 meters (305 ft) (average maximum depth)

History
A sketch of an Ainu family living near Uchiura Bay during the voyage of Commander Broughton and HMS Providence.

The shoreline of Uchiura Bay was first settled by the Jōmon people as early as 4000 BC. Trade settlements have been found along its shoreline, such as the Ōfune Site where the Jōmon people relied on the body of water for trade routes to other Jōmon settlements in northern Tōhoku.[1] In modern history, the bay was charted during the late-eighteenth century voyage of Royal Navy Commander William Robert Broughton and the crew of HMS Providence during the eruption of nearby Mount Usu. Due to the eruptive activity, they labeled the bay as "Volcano Bay" in September 1796. Commander Broughton and his crew mingled extensively with the Ainu and Japanese living around the bay while they surveyed the bay's coastline. At a dinner they exchanged maps with the Japanese and conversed using Russian.[2]

Geography

Uchiura Bay is a bay east of Oshima Peninsula that protrudes from the southwestern corner of Hokkaido south towards Honshu and to the south of western Iburi Subprefecture. It is a subdivision of the Pacific Ocean with a total area of 2,485 square kilometers (959 sq mi). Its opening to the Pacific Ocean is marked by a 30.2-square-kilometer-long (11.7 sq mi) line between Hokkaido Koma-ga-take and Cape Chikiu.[3] It has been known as "Eruption Bay" as well as "Volcano Bay" due to the eruption of Mount Usu when the bay was being documented by Western explorers in the late-eighteenth century. In addition to Mount Usu, several other volcanoes line the shore of Uchiura Bay.[4] It has also been called Iburi Bay, likely due to its proximity to Iburi Subprefecture.[5]

Animal and plant life

The bay marks a junction between the arctic sea life seen in the waters surrounding northern Hokkaido and eastern Russia and the more temperate marine ecosystem seen around the rest of Japan.[6] Arctic rainbow smelt, the Japanese lamprey, flounder, several species of shellfish, and kelp live in the waters of Uchiura Bay.[7] The practice of farming scallops was first developed in the bay by the residents of the town of Toyoura on the bay's northern shore.[8]

In Ainu mythology it is believed that a gigantic octopus kamuy lives in Uchiura Bay.[9] The Kraken-like creature is known as Atkorkamuy and Akkorokamui among the Ainu and Japanese, respectively.[9]

References
  1. "内浦湾沿岸の縄文文化遺跡群" [Jōmon cultural sites along the shoreline of Uchiura Bay]. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. Broughton, William Robert (1804). A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798. T. Cadell and W. Davies. pp. 96–114. OL 24159440M. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. "噴火湾" [Eruption Bay] (in Japanese). 1 April 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. "火山学者に聞いてみよう" [Ask a volcanologist] (in Japanese). The Volcanological Society of Japan. January 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. "Japan, Hokushu – South Coast. Uchiura Wan or Iburi Wan (Volcano Bay)". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. February 1929. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. "噴火湾" [Funka Bay] (PDF) (in Japanese). International Center for the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas. October 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. "Southern Uchiura Bay". Ministry of the Environment. September 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  8. "北海道でホタテ釣り選手権　「世界王者」に１年分贈呈" [Scallop fishing champion to be presented with a year's worth of scallops]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 14 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  9. "Akkorokamui". Yokai.com. 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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