Some of the islands have been inhabited since at least the
Jōmon period. The islands were mentioned in the
Shoku Nihongi and the
Heike Monogatari, and local legend states that at least some of the islands were a refuge for the defeated
Heike clan following the
Genpei War. During the
Edo period, the islands came under the control of the
Shimazu clan of the
Satsuma Domain. After the
Meiji Restoration, these islands were allotted to Kawanabe District of
Satsuma Province, and then transferred to Ōshima District of
Ōsumi Province in 1897. In 1908, the islands were grouped together with the Tokara Islands into , of which seven were inhabited. At that time, the ten islands included , , , , , , , , and . After
World War II, from 2 February 1946 all of the Japanese islands south of the 30th latitude, including the Tokara Islands, were placed under United States military administration as part of the Provisional Government of the Northern Ryukyu Islands. However, the three northern inhabited islands in the archipelago, known as the Iōjima, Kuroshima and Takeshimaremained under the control of Japan, and were placed under the administration of the village of
Mishima. The remaining Tokara Islands were returned to Japan on 10 February 1952 and are now administered as the village of Toshima. In 1973, the two villages were transferred to
Kagoshima District. ==References==