Tsushima, Island municipality in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Tsushima is an island city in Nagasaki Prefecture lying roughly halfway between mainland Japan and the Korean Peninsula. The terrain rises sharply from coastal fishing ports to forested ridges, with villages and shrines tucked into narrow valleys throughout the archipelago.
The island served for centuries as a key trading and diplomatic post between Japan and Korea under the rule of the Sō clan. The six former municipalities merged in 2004 to form the current administrative unit.
The Tsushima Museum, inaugurated in April 2022, presents extensive collections documenting the island's connection between Japanese and Korean maritime traditions.
Flights from Fukuoka and Nagasaki land daily at the island airport, while ferries connect Izuhara Port with the mainland several times per week. The winding mountain roads require steady driving, and petrol stations are limited outside the larger settlements.
The island protects the Tsushima leopard cat within dedicated reserves, a threatened species found nowhere else in the wild. Road signs remind drivers to watch for these nocturnal animals, which occasionally cross highways after dark.
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