The Sakishima Islands were first documented in the
Shoku Nihongi (797), which says that in 714 paid tribute to
Dazaifu with 52 islanders from , , and other islands.
Shigaki is believed to be the current ,
Kumi to be the current or settlement of
Iriomote. The
History of Yuan (1370) documented a castaway from
Mìyágǔ (密牙古) arrived to
Wenzhou in 1317. This is believed to be the first documentation of . Twenty-five US
escort carriers, five larger
fleet carriers with their air groups consisting of fighters and torpedo bombers along with heavy naval patrol bombers and an assortment of
destroyers and
destroyer escorts along with the
British Pacific Fleet bombed, rocketed and fired their guns at runways and other targets daily while the land battle raged
on Okinawa 175 miles away. This was the least publicized battle for its size that took place involving the Americans and British during the war. The thirty-two thousand seasoned
Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and
Naval (IJN) troops on Miyako did not surrender until 27 days after Japan formally surrendered. The amount of ordnance expended against the Sakishima Islands may have exceeded the ordnance spent on the island of Iwo Jima. The Sakishima Islands did not suffer a ground invasion during World War II, although a great deal of anti-submarine warfare and convoy battles took place in the waters immediately surrounding the archipelago in the years leading up to the Okinawa campaign. A number of American and Japanese submarines were lost on the approaches to these islands as they formed a vital outlying defense to the Empire's shipping bottlenecks in the Formosa (Taiwan) and Luzon Straits. In June 1945, the Japanese government ordered locals to evacuate to northern Ishigaki and Iriomote, where 3,647 of them lost their lives to
malaria. In contrast, air raids killed much fewer: 174. After the
Imperial Japanese Army was defeated on Okinawa later that month, there was a vacuum of military and government control in the Sakishima Islands. Some garrison troops robbed crops from farms or engaged in violence against locals. To counter them, the residents of Ishigaki formed the . Since it acted as a temporary local government, some historians later described the association as the .
American control United States Occupation authorities declared the establishment of military rule in December 1945, restoring
Miyako Subprefecture and
Yaeyama Subprefecture. The local association ceased operation. In 1952, the
Treaty of San Francisco confirmed these islands to be under American control. Malaria was eradicated from the island in 1961. The islands were returned to Japan in 1972, along with the rest of Okinawa Prefecture.
Today Today the Sakishima Islands enjoy a thriving tourist industry. As part of the Sakishima Islands are the
Senkaku Islands, which fall under Okinawa Prefecture and Ishigaki City politically. The
Japanese Self Defense Force and
Japan Coast Guard maintain a large presence in the Sakishima Islands. ==Culture==