Mention is made in the
Shoku Nihongi under an entry for the year 699 of an island called "Tokan", which is usually identified with Tokara, together with the islands of
Tane,
Yaku and
Amami, although Tokan is also sometimes identified with
Tokunoshima, an island approximately away. Although an entry in the earlier
Nihon Shoki, for the year 654, mentions a "Tokara Country",
Tokara no kuni, it is a reference to the
Tokhara region of
Central Asia, rather than the Tokara Islands. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the islands came under the control of the
Shimazu clan of
Satsuma Domain and the
Ryukyu Kingdom. Ryukyu ceded its territory in the Tokara Islands to Satsuma in 1611, which was confirmed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1624. In 1908, the islands were administratively organized into Jitto Village, literally "Ten Islands", of which seven were inhabited. After
World War II, from 2 February 1946, all of the Satsunan islands south of 30th parallel of latitude, including the Tokara Islands, were placed under United States military administration as part of the Provisional Government of Northern Ryukyu Islands. However, the three northern inhabited islands in the archipelago,
Iōjima,
Kuroshima and
Takeshima, remained under the control of Japan, and were placed under the administration of the village of
Mishima. The remaining Tokara Islands reverted to Japan on 10 February 1952 and are now administered as the village of
Toshima. ==Important Bird Area==