Tsunoshima first appears in the written record in the
Nara period (710 – 794). The name of the island appears on a
mokkan wooden slip excavated at the site of the
Heijō Palace in
Nara. The
mokkan is dated March 29, 746, and was attached to a tribute of seaweed to the imperial court. A reference to the island also appears in a poem in the sixteenth part of the ''
Man'yōshū, the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, completed in 759. The Engishiki'', a Japanese book of laws and regulations compiled in 927, refers to a ranch on the island, which was then part of
Nagato Province. Over time the island was developed for agriculture, as well as supporting a fishing village. In the
Edo period (1603 – 1868) the island became part of the
Chōfu Domain, but was transferred to the
Chōshū Domain in 1718. After five years the island returned to the Chōfu Domain. The island was noted for the production of materials to make
tatami matting,
sesame seeds, and
beef. As a local administrative unit, under the 1889 municipal system Tsunoshima Village was a part of the
Toyoura district and under a 1955 unification it became part of
Hōhoku Town. In 2005, as the four towns which made up the Toyoura district (
Hōhoku,
Kikugawa,
Toyoura and
Toyota) merged with the city of
Shimonoseki, Tsunoshima became a part of the city. ==Sightseeing areas==