Marcus Island. Or is it Minami Torishima?

Minami-Tori-shima (南鳥島, “Southern Bird Island”), also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese triangular shaped coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Though very small (around 300 acres) and without a civilian population, it is of strategic importance to Japan, as it enables them to claim a 165,589.6 square mile Exclusive Economic Zone in the surrounding waters. It is also the easternmost territory of Tokyo, being administratively part of Ogasawara village. It is 1,148 miles southeast of Tokyo. It is nearly in a straight line between mainland Tokyo and the American Wake Island, which is 880 miles east of Marcus Island.

Geography

Minami-Tori-shima is triangular in shape, and unusual in that it has a saucer-like profile, with a raised outer rim of between 16 and 30 ft above sea level. The central area of the island is 3 ft below sea level and is thought to be the remains of an ancient lagoon. It takes about 45 minutes to walk around the island. Minami-Tori-shima is surrounded by a fringing reef which ranges from 164–984 ft in width, enclosing a shallow lagoon, which is connected with the open ocean by narrow passages on the southern and northeastern sides. Outside the reef, the ocean depths quickly plunge to over 3,300 ft.

History

The first discovery and mention of an island in this area was made by a Spanish Manila Galleon captain, Andrés de Arriola in 1694. It was charted in Spanish maps as Sebastian López, after the Spanish Admiral Sebastian López. Its exact location was left unrecorded until further sightings in the early 19th century.

Before 1860: Some reports of Pacific whalers give some information on the island, but with much confusion about its name and location (Bryan).

1864: The island was mentioned again in 1864 by the ship MORNING STAR, belonging either to the United States or the Kingdom of Hawaii, and was given the name “Marcus Island”.

May 1868: Captain Kilton, aboard the DAVID HOADLEY, visited in May and described the place as a low sandy island covered with trees and bushes (Bryan). Discovered in this year by an American, and thereafter visited
occasionally by French and British ships (Shiga) .

1874: The US survey ship TUSCARORA, visit and recorded its position.nd first landed on by a Japanese national, Kiozaemon Saito in 1879.

November 1883: Tsunetaro Shinzaki landed on the island as the first Japanese, coming as a passenger onboard the British ship “Eta” of the Yokohama Konshiro Company.

30 June 1886 a Japanese named Shinroku Mizutani led a group of 46 colonists from Haha-jima in the Ogasawara Islands to settle on Marcus Island. The settlement was named “Mizutani” after the leader of the expedition.

1889: Captain Rosehill of the United States landed in June while
engaged in trading in the Pacific. He recognized the island’s value as a source of coconuts. At least 3 acres of coconut trees were located there at the time. Marcus Island at the time had thousands of seabirds nesting on the island. Its ensuing deposit of guano also made it valuable for the guano deposits, as a coaling station, as a cable station, and lastly, as a source of bird feathers for the European millinery industry which was in demand. Believing himself to be the discoverer, he claimed it for the United States. Captain Rosehill failed to push through his application of claim to the island by not posting a bond required with the US Treasury.

Of Bird Poop and Feathers . . .

1896 : A stone lantern (Ishi-doro ), with an inscription of February 12, 1896, written in Japanese, existed on the island until its destruction by U. S. bombers during World War II (Matsubara) . Shinroku Mizutani, Chief of the South Sea Section, Tokyo Animal Company (Tokyo Kinju Gaisha ) , while he was a sailor aboard the “Tenyfi-rnaru,” was cast ashore in a storm
(Yoshida, Matsubara )

Marcus Island’s remoteness created a bird paradise, with minimal human interaction. However, that was about to change. Today fertilizers are commonplace, but 200 years ago commercial fertilizers were rarely used. Farmers relied on manure, bones, and ash to supplement the soil, but it wasn’t fully understood why such materials were beneficial. By the beginning of the 19th century, due to extensive use of American farmlands, soil nutrients were exhausted. Farmers started searching for better fertilizers. Then, in the 1840s, bird guano made its appearance in the United States. Bird guano usually refers to the desiccated droppings of seabirds. By the 1830s, the first American ships mined guano from a group of islands off the coast of Peru called the Chincha Islands. Thanks to the large population of boobies, pelicans, and guanay cormorants, these islands were covered in guano nearly 200 feet deep. Thanks to the fish diet of these birds, their guano is a highly effective fertilizer. In 1856, the U.S. government passed the Guano Islands Act which allowed any unclaimed or unoccupied islands containing guano to be annexed. This act was originally intended for Americans to acquire their own guano islands and was one of the founding acts of American imperialism. Other guano islands were found in the Caribbean, such as Navassa Island, and some in the Pacific, including Baker and Jarvis islands, although none compared to the Peruvian guano. (https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/what-load-guano-5-facts-you-didnt-know-about-bird-poop )

December 1896: With its large seabird population, Marcus Island attracted Japanese feather poachers. The global demand for feathers and plumage was driven by the millinery industry and popular European fashion designs for hats, while other demand came for pillows and bedspread manufacturers. Japanese poachers set up camps to harvest feathers on many other remote islands in the Central Pacific, to include Wake Island. Mizutani, the chief of the South Pacific section of the Tokyo Bird and Mammal Company, explored the island, followed by Haruzo Kobayashi, a former navy officer. They brought nomadic poachers from the Bonin and Hachijo Islands to Marcus, to engage in collecting feathers of the albatross which was then very abundant. This trade was assisted by Shichigoro Kamitaki, a trader merchant of Yokohama, and the trade patent for bird-feather collecting, fishing, and salt production was given to Mizutani by the Tokyo Prefectural Government.

24 July 1898: .Japan officially annexed the island, ignoring the US claim from 1889 according to the Guano Islands Act being not officially acknowledged. The Tokyo Prefectural Office claimed the island as a Japanese dependency, named it Minami-Torishima (South Bird Island ) , and incorporated it into the Ogasawara Section (the Bonins ) of Tokyo Prefecture. In 1898, a Japanese citizen named Mijutane applied to lease Marcus Island and thus placed it under the local government of Tokyo. Who was Mijutane? In late 1800s Japanese citizens based in Yokahama were involved in the wholesale massacre of sea birds all across the North Pacific. These rogue poachers sailed to many of the outlying islands of the Pacific, including America’s Hawaiian Islands group, Midway Island, Laskiansky Island and others. Hundreds of thousands of sea fowl were slaughtered for their feathers and the carcasses often left to rot. The center of this illegal killing was a “firm” called Kametoki & Mijutane in Yokahama. These poachers were of course Mijutane’s aforementioned crew of bird hunters used for the basis of Japan’s claim to Marcus Island in 1898. (read original records below) In 1898, a Japanese citizen named Mijutane applied to lease Marcus Island and thus placed it under the local government of Tokyo. Who was Mijutane? In late 1800s Japanese citizens based in Yokahama were involved in the wholesale massacre of sea birds all across the North Pacific. These rogue poachers sailed to many of the outlying islands of the Pacific, including America’s Hawaiian Islands group, Midway Island, Laskiansky Island and others. Hundreds of thousands of sea fowl were slaughtered for their feathers and the carcasses often left to rot. The center of this illegal killing was a “firm” called Kametoki & Mijutane in Yokahama. These poachers were of course Mijutane’s crew of bird hunters used for the basis of Japan’s claim to Marcus Island in 1898.

1898 : In July, the Tokyo Prefectural Office claimed the island as a Japanese dependency, named it Minami-Torishima (South Bird Island ) , and incorporated it into the Ogasawara Section (the Bonins ) of Tokyo Prefecture (Yoshida). In September, tenanting the island from the Tokyo Prefectural Office, Shinroku Mizutani began the skinning of sea birds, aided by the investment of Shichigor6 Karniraki, a trader in Yokohama (Yoshida) . Haruzo Ogawa, a lieutenant in the second reserve of the Japanese Navy, called the inhabitants of Hachij6zima and of the Bonins to Marcus Island for help in skinning the sea birds (Matsubara) .

The Empire of Japan officially annexed the island July 24, 1898 (Ignoring a previous United States claim from 1889 according to the Guano Islands Act) The island was officially named “Minami-Tori-shima” and placed administratively under the Ogasawara Subprefecture of Tokyo.

1899-1902 : According to grave posts (now missing ), three Japanese died in the island during these years.

1901 : In October a violent typhoon hammered the island for 10 days, sending the sea as far as 22ft. above the normal level

10 July 1902 Four years after Japan laid claim to Marcus Island, Captain Rosehill, attempted to reclaim the island for the United States. The Marcus Island Guano Company had been organized with an investment of $1,000,000 by a Col Thomas Fitch and a W.G. Peacock. The stated purpose of the voyage was to make a survey of the amount of guano deposits on the island. For this purpose, TF Sedgwick of the US Agricultural accompanied the group. Also, to give it some legitimacy, a taxidermist W.A. Bryan of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu accompanied the expedition to “examine bird and fish life”. They set sail on 10 July 1902 from Honolulu to Marcus Island on the schooner Julia E. Whalern with the intention of claiming it for the United States. The schooner had a crew of nine plus a cook. The dispute that followed almost lead to a military showdown between the two nations.

July 1902: Hearing of Captain Rosehill ‘s expedition , the Japanese Government sent the Japanese cruiser “Kasagi” commanded by Lt. Akimoto, to the island to receive the Americans.

27 July 1902: Akiyuki Toyoguchi, a sub-lieutenant, landed with 15 men on Marcus Island. An estimated two dozen Japanese bird poachers were also on the island at the time. With no protected anchorage available, the cruiser left Marcus Island a few days later, before the arrival of the Americans.

30 July 1902:. The schooner Julia E. Whalern with Captain Rosehill aboard arrived at the island on July 30, accompanied by Dr. Bryan and Mr. Sedgwick, in order to claim it as a U. S. territory. They left on August 5 because of its occupation by the Japanese Navy . Bryan and Sedgwick made a scientific survey of the island during the 5 days.

Both Bryan and Yoshida reported on the history, geology, climate, fauna, and flora, and the more scientific and detailed report by Bryan is of particular importance in ornithology. As curator of ornithology at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, he gives valuable data 87 on the bird life of the island, reporting many species which are not found on the island now, including Micranous marcusi, which he described as a new species. Yoshida, a eologist, only reports some birds in vernacular names used on the island. According to him, there were 29 colonists (including four women) making their living by catching the birds which ‘they stuffed for exportation. The birds, about 20 species in all, were all sea birds crowding all over the island and were exceedingly tame. They were caught with a bamboo pole with a round net at the end and were stuffed in fast procedure. This regrettable slaughter, chiefly of Sterna fuscata, which was the most numerous species, is further described in detail in Bryan’s report. Most regrettable is the fact that the albatrosses, Diomedea immutabi/is and D. nigripes, for whose feathers the colonists first settled on this island, were already all gone by that time. The sad history of their disappearance is also recorded in detail in his report.

28 August 1902: Another Japanese cruiser, “Takachiho,” with Dr. Shinpo, Mr. Yoshida, newspapermen, a lawyer, and others on board, visited Marcus On a around-trip cruise from Yokosuka-TorishimaMarcus-Bonin Islands. S. Kamitaki (a trader mentioned above), S. Shiga, M. P., and O. Yoshida,
a geologist, landed. Two Japanese shrines, Kotohira and Obtori, were built there.

13 September 1902: The Japan Weekly Mail reported: “The TAKACKIHO returned this morning to Yokosuka from Marcus Island. She reports that , on the 31st of July (1902), Captain Rosehill reached Marcus Island, but that everything had been satisfactory arranged.

When the U.S. Government confronted the Japanese Foreign Affairs Office about the rampant destruction of sea fowl on American islands Komura Jutaro’s reply is somewhat shocking. Komura promised to issue instructions to all Japanese captains demanding an end to bird killing on American territory. However, he added that he could not promise they would obey the ban as “these men were largely composed of lawless adventurers..” Komura also admitted this slaughtering was committed by Mijutane of Yokohama. (link 1) (link2)

Guano and phosphate ore was added to the aims of the Japanese, along with the bird trapping, from around 1905. The area in which hunting such birds as albatross had expanded as far as the Pacific. However, bird resources including the albatross, which was initially Japan’s reason for advancing into the Pacific, were being depleted rapidly. With the advent of World War 1, the feather industry collapsed and Guano/phosphate ore became another reason for their activities. Unlike plumage, which is light and easy to transport, the extraction of guano/phosphate ore required a multitude of laborers for mining and various types of machinery, along with an infrastructure for transportation and large steamships for shipping. Here the agents of these activities shifted from speculators to commercial capital and then to monopolistic capital. As for phosphate ore, an increase in its importance for military purposes led to advancement by the Japanese military into the South Sea Islands. Eventually many companies were involved in heated competition for access to mining right on those islands.

2 September 1902: A typhoon passed over the island. All inhabitants sought safety at the highest point. Until December 25, no food other than birds and fish was available. Sixteen died during this period (Nakada)

September 1902: The Japanese Department of Foreign Affairs again claimed the island for Japan. The following publications appeared: Plants of
Marcus (Yabe ) , Miscellaneous notes on the 103 geology and topography (Yoshida), Chronicle of a journey to the island (“Tengaisei”).

1903: Shiga published an essay describing the discovery of this island. He asserted its importance from the national standpoint. Bryan’s comprehensive monograph was published. Han-emon Tamaoki, a Japanese, went to the island to collect coconuts but left without success

1906-16: Many Japanese were landed for phosphate mining. Nineteen died during these years (Matsubara).1930: In November, all 32 inhabitants, who had been engaged in coconut collecting and fishing, left the island (Matsubara).

1914: In 1914, William D. Boyce included Marcus Island as an obviously American island in his book, The Colonies and Dependencies of the United States.

1922: The management  of Minami Torishima was taken over by the Natiopnal Fertilizer Company, and the company name was also changed to Minami Torishima Limited Partnership. The amount of guano/phosphate ore collected declined due to a sharp decrease in phosphate price and a depression in the fertilizer business. The number of workers was subsequently reduced to around 30.

1923: On 29 November 1923, the Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Simbun reported that about 30 20 workers sent to Minami Torishima died of hunger owing to a discontinuation of supplies for six months.With both birds and phosphate ore resources depleted, the companyh and workers left the island. 

1930: About 30  Japanese populated the island and were engaged in the fishing business. 

1931: Realizing the military importance of the island, the Japanese Navy took control of the island.

1933: In 1933, by orders of the Japanese government, the civilian inhabitants of Minami-Tori-shima were removed to make way for the militarization of the island. Construction began on reinforced buildings and tunnels on the island. It was reported that “A force of 300 Japanese criminals was used to build the facilities”.

1934: Juan T. Trippe, president of the American Pan American Airlines, applied for landing rights for his airline’s foray into the Pacific. Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam, and Manila were the first destinations. The first Pan Am Clippers were Martin M-130s, and later, the larger Boeing B-314s. Pan AM’s decision to cross the Pacific coincided with the US Navy’s goals and on 16 October 1935, President Roosevelt approved the request. While Japan expressed displeasure with Pan Am’s move, they did not protest formally. They were using their Nanyo Kohasta Kaisha (South Seas Development Corporation) as a front for its Imperial Navy in similiar manner.

1935:  The hydrographic Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy established a meteorological observatory on Minami Torishima. The houses and facilities such as factories were taken apart for the construction of new military facilities. A group of ground crew was there (probably a branch from Chichijima NAG in the beginning of war) The Hydrographical Department of the Japanese Navy began meteorological observations in October 1935 and the Imperial Japanese Navy began construction on the airfield. 

1936: The Japanese became focused on Marcus Island as a military post as general military facilities such as two 4,900 foot long(1500m) (1970 feet wide) runways, barracks, communication office, a weather reporting station, and a pier on the south coast was constructed. Wars began to escalate such as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. The military importance of the Minami Torishima increased and the whole island was fortified.

Coincidentally, the US began to fortify Wake Island and Pan Am attempted to increase its routes in the Pacific. They sought to use Marcus Island as their hub for their northern Pacific flights. Direct air service was possible from Honolulu to Tokyo via Marcus island. As a side benefit, their aircraft could overfly japanese defense installations in the mandated islands, in particular, the Marshall and Mariana groups. However, fearful of Tokyo requesting reciprocity landing rights in Hawaii, the Panama Canal zone, and California, the US refused the request. Japan also refused landing rights on Marcus Island for Pan Am. 

1938 : Tuyama published his book “Flora of Marcus Island“.

On 29 July 1938, Pan Am’s Hawaiian Clipper, bound from Guam to Manila, vanished. No trace was ever found of it or the crew/passengers. Speculation persisted for years that japanese agents commandeered the plane and flew it to Koror in the Japanese Palau Islands. Shortly thereafter, a japanese version of the Martin M-130 flying boat appeared, later code-named Mavis by the US.

 

25 May 1941:

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Japanese Advance into the Pacific Ocean pp 101-148

“Pan Am Gets a Pacific Partner“, Naval History Magazine, Vol 13, No 5 October 1999, by Justin Libby