Kunashir Japan. Where is the edge of geography or the greatness of the island of Kunashir. Volcanoes - great and different

If you look at the Kuril Islands, Kunashir Island is considered the southernmost. Translated from the Ainu language means "Black Island". It received this name because natural features: its territory is covered with dark coniferous forests.

Who is the owner?

The Ainu were considered the indigenous inhabitants of the Kuriles and Kunashir. The first visitors never found out if they were subordinate to Japan or not. But the Japanese still came here to fish. Trade relations were also with the Russians. In 1875, Russia and Japan concluded an agreement: Kunashir remained under the rule of Japan, and in return Russia received the island of Sakhalin. However, after the Great Patriotic War in 1945 Russia became the mistress of the island.

Geography of the island

If you look at Kunashir on the map, you can see that the neighbors are Japan and about. Iturup. total area islands - 1490 square kilometers, length - 123 km, width from 7 km to 30 km. Kunashir is a border zone, so military units are located here.

On physical map it is clearly seen that the island consists of mountain ranges. There are four active volcanoes here: Tyatya, Rurui, Mendeleev, Golovnin.

The island is located South Kuril urban district of the Sakhalin region. The population is 7518 according to 2018 data. The national composition of the island's population: the main part - Russians (80.3%), the rest - Ukrainians (8.2%), Tatars (1.2%), Belarusians (1.1%), Kazakhs (1%) and other peoples, in including the diaspora of the peoples of the Caucasus. The largest settlement on the map is the city of Yuzhno-Kurilsk.

Describing Kunashir, Wikipedia mentions six residential settlements and four non-residential ones.

Life in Kunashir

Thanks to a large number rivers and lakes, the soil is suitable for growing crops such as vegetables. Primary activity for the processing of seafood. There are farms where cows, sheep, pigs, poultry are bred.

The island of Kunashir is supplied with electricity and heat by the Mendeleev Geothermal Power Plant.

You can get to Kunashir by water and by air. Sea passenger and cargo traffic is carried out on the ship "Igor Farkhutdinov". He goes to Sakhalin and neighboring islands Shikotan and Iturup. Air communication is carried out by flights from the Mendeleev airport. Flights are often delayed due to weather conditions.

Medical care on the island is not the best level. There is not enough equipment and medicines, so local residents go to Sakhalin for help.

Kunashir for tourists

Tourists who wish to visit Kunashir, must issue a pass at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk border department. Those who wish to visit protected areas apply for a pass at the administration of the reserve.

Four mighty volcanoes are the first thing visitors see when they swim up to the island. The Mendeleev Volcano is famous for its hot springs. They are organized into sanatoriums, where those who wish to improve their health or recuperate can take baths with a mineral composition.

Another volcano, Golovina, known for its unique lakes Hot and Boiling. They are unique in their active fumaroles, which are located very close to each other. Because of this location, the water in the lake becomes hot, in some places up to 80 degrees.

Volcano Rurui is inaccessible to tourists or even researchers due to impenetrable thickets.

In Yuzhno-Kurilsk you can visit the Museum of Local Lore. There is a lot of material about the history of Kunashir and its indigenous population.

Kunashir, the southernmost of the Kuril Islands, is experiencing an investment boom

text: Danil Litvintsev

A layer of dead, half-decayed fish covers the rocky bottom of Andreevka - one of the many rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the mountains of Kunashir. A heavy stench spreads over the shady, overgrown with undersized bamboo river valley. In a natural dam, on top of dead fish, side by side are thousands of still living salmon - hefty half-meter fish. They are gathering strength to overcome the Andreevsky waterfall.

two dozen Japanese tourists, emitting enthusiastic exclamations, click the shutters of cameras. Tsutomu Otsuka, a 43-year-old sound engineer from Tokyo, winces involuntarily. Before that, he had only seen so many fish in the Tsukiji market, but it smelled nicer there. And the history of his family is directly connected with the Pacific salmon and the island of Kunashir.

A hundred years ago, his grandfather had a small cannery here, in the very south of the island, in the village of Tomari, which today is called Golovnino. Grandpa's nephews helped him buy fish and manage production. But in the 1930s, young people moved to neighboring Hokkaido - there were more jobs and better living conditions. After World War II, the last Japanese left the island.

“Japan is not a country of the rising, but of the setting sun,” the residents of Kunashir say for a reason. In the evenings, the luminary descends behind the mountainous tip of Hokkaido, looming to the west of their island. In the morning, the sun appears from the opposite side - from the haze hanging over the Pacific Ocean, through which Shikotan darkens on the horizon - the eastern neighbor of Kunashir and the only inhabited island of the Lesser Kuril Range. Behind him to America itself - only thousands of kilometers of stormy ocean waters.

From early morning, the streets of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the island's capital, are buzzing with cars dusting in all directions. There are 2,500 cars per 10,600 inhabitants of the district, including the elderly and children. In terms of the number of cars per capita, Kunashir is catching up with Moscow.

All cars are Japanese. “I came here in 1980 for a couple of years, I wanted to make money on the Zhiguli. Thirty years have passed, I’m still here, but I still haven’t bought a Zhiguli!” - laughs 56-year-old Gennady Diyashkin, storming on a powerful Japanese pickup Sandy shore Lagoon lake.

There really are no Zhiguli in Kunashir - local residents drive old Japanese off-road vehicles or army trucks. Because, despite the abundance of cars, there is not a kilometer of paved roads on the island.

Gennady Diyashkin - foreman of the fishermen of one of the processing enterprises of Kunashir. At 7.30 in the morning he took two fishermen from the village, threw a box of food into the back of the truck and went to west coast islands washed by the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. It is called the Okhotsk side.

The road goes along slopes overgrown with cedar elfin and spruces twisted from the winds. After a dozen kilometers, the path is blocked by a barrier, at which a border guard is on duty. Gennady greets him by the hand, he goes into the house - by phone to the outpost: "The fishermen want to drive to the Sail rock and go out to sea to check the seine."

Border guards and fishermen have known each other for a long time, but the ritual with data transfer is repeated every time. In the evenings, from the barrier you can see the lights of the coastal towns in Hokkaido and even the light of car headlights. Japan is 36 kilometers from here, and half as much as the sea border. Therefore, any movement along the coast, and even more so going out to sea, must be coordinated with the coast guard. “They make sure that we don’t drive motor boats with a catch to Hokkaido and drink the money we earn here, and not in Japan,” the fishermen giggle from the back seat.

The fishing camp of the brigade - two trailers, one of which has bunks and a warehouse of equipment, the other - a kitchen with a Japanese gas stove and a kettle. “Our TV only shows Japanese channels. We use it to look at the local weather forecast - it is more accurate, ”says Andrey Diyashkin, Gennady's 36-year-old nephew. Andrey came to Kunashir from the Amur region - on a salmon fishing season. Short, short-haired, with the build of a professional gymnast, Andrei stands in an apron in front of a frying pan and prepares breakfast. Pink pieces of pink salmon sizzle in a frying pan. A mountain of fried fish rises on the table, next to it is a bowl of red caviar, from which a spoon sticks out. Fishermen pour themselves a mug of tea, scoop up caviar with spoons, eat it with boiled potatoes. Sandwiches, accepted in the European part of Russia, are considered a stupid delicacy here.

At 11:00 am. Without waiting for the weather forecast on a Japanese TV channel, Gennady calls Yuzhno-Kurilsk on his mobile. The call is considered international because there is a Japanese SIM card in his phone - none of the Russian operators provides communication on the Okhotsk side of Kunashir. Forecasters promise good weather. The fishermen quickly change into rubber overalls, launch a ten-meter wooden boat and the four of them go out to sea.

From the side of the boat, through the purest sea surface, lush underwater vegetation is visible. The water area of ​​the Kuril Islands is one of the richest and most ecologically clean areas of the World Ocean. A billion dollars a year, according to experts from the Federal Fisheries Agency, can bring fish resources of the local waters. Meanwhile, fishermen have been complaining for more than a year: there are fewer and fewer fish.

“August was very hot, the sea warmed up, and the fish went to areas with cold water,” explains Gennady, steering the boat along the coast to the north. We need a cyclone. It will get cooler and the fish will return. But they can announce a storm, then we will have to remove the seine, and again we will be left without a catch.

The 350-meter seine, stretching from the shore into the sea, is visible from afar thanks to the white floats swaying on the waves. As soon as the boat crosses the first line of floats, in the cage - parts of the seine where fish accumulate, the water seems to boil: hundreds fish tails churning sea waves, showering fishermen with spray. Gennady is not impressed by this sight: “Two hundred kilograms are here, is this really a catch? That's when three tons beat in the cage, then another thing is to pull, although difficult, but pleasant!

In the Sea of ​​Okhotsk they catch saury, halibut, flounder, and cod. But by "fish" locals usually mean salmon - pink salmon and chum salmon. It is most profitable to get them - because of their caviar.

Salmon fishing season starts in mid-July and ends by mid-October. At this time, hundreds of seasonal workers from Siberia and the Far East come to the Kuriles: some go to sea to fish, others process the catch on the shore, but both of them count on high wages.

The extraction and processing of fish and seafood is the basis of the economy of the Kuriles, in fact, this is the only profitable business. In a few minutes, Gennady's brigade reloads the catch into the boat and turns back. About 100 kilograms of shimmering blue mackerel and bright silver pink salmon are beating at the bottom of the boat. In fact, 3.5 tons of cargo is placed in the boat, and the days when it is filled with fish “to the eyeballs” are considered successful by fishermen.

For each ton of pink salmon, the brigade receives 4,000 rubles. As Gennady says, when there is really a lot of salmon, the team can deliver ten tons a day. But there were no such catches either in the past or the year before.

"I'm here for the second year in a row, last year I earned 150 thousand," says Andrey Diyashkin after the brigade returned to the shore. Listening to the salary story

Born and raised in Kunashir, Konstantin Petrenko, 26, smirks. Personally, he considers worthy a salary of at least 250,000 rubles per Putin. Five minutes ago, he compared several models of Japanese cars with colleagues, one of which he intends to buy. For this, however, the proceeds from one, even a rich Putin, will not be enough. “You can always make money with us when you know what to do and who to contact,” Konstantin says.

Andrey has his own position: “Even if they pay this year, as in the past, I won’t be upset - you can’t earn this in the Amur Region - there is complete collapse in the village. And you come to Yuzhno-Kurilsk - and life is in full swing, and there is money, and you can live like a human being!

Until 1946, Yuzhno-Kurilsk was called Furukamappu. Its current inhabitants are sure that this name in Japanese means "rotten place". The Japanese assure: the old name is untranslatable. “They are out of courtesy,” the people of Kuril do not let up. “We always have fog and drizzle, and if you drive a dozen kilometers, the weather is beautiful!”

From the beach on the opposite shore of the South Kuril Bay, the capital of Kunashir does not look “rotten” at all: although old, but neat two-story houses lined with bright blue and white plastic panels are scattered along a high green cape separating the bay from the ocean. In a haze of clouds, the cone of the Tyatya volcano seems to be floating - a formidable symbol of Kunashir, last time woke up in 1973. At the foot of a closer active volcano - Mendeleev, there is a "suburb" - a village Hot Beach with a base of border guards.

The military has always been able to choose good places: their houses are buried in flowers - hydrangeas, primroses, local orchids; Athletes in shorts and T-shirts walk along the paths under the canopy of yews - contract border guards whose working day has ended. Only a couple of combat helicopters on the lawn in front of the barracks reminds that the territory is “regime”. And the rest - a spitting image of a subtropical resort, because it is not without reason that it is located at the latitude of Sochi!

The reason for the fertile microclimate in Goryachiy Plyazh is hidden underground: hot water pours out of the bowels of the Mendeleev volcano, in which almost the entire periodic system of the same name is dissolved. The local hot springs of strongly acidic, sodium, boron and other sulfate-chloride waters are recognized as curative: in the evenings, dozens of Kunashir residents warm themselves in open-air pools, getting rid of musculoskeletal, skin, and cardiovascular diseases.

In 1992, geologists drilled a well on the slope of the volcano, through which a steam-water mixture began to escape to the surface. A power unit with a turbine was placed above the well. This was the beginning of the Mendeleev geothermal thermal power plant.

Today, the station's four turbine generators fully provide electricity for the village of Goryachiy Plyazh and half of the needs of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. After the “fire” of the turbines, the steam-water mixture is sent through pipes to boiler houses - in both villages, buildings connected to the central heating system are heated using a natural underground boiler. So the village on the southernmost island of the Kuril chain can be considered a role model for the "clean electricity" of the future.

From the heavenly bushes of the Hot Beach to the windswept Yuzhno-Kurilsk, a five-kilometer strip of gray volcanic sand stretches, on which foamy waves roll. The idyllic landscape is broken by the rusty masts of half-flooded ships sticking out from under the water - the remnants of the once powerful Soviet fishing fleet.

But local authorities actively clean coastal waters from scrap metal. From the port to the sea for one and a half hundred meters, a giant pier, sparkling with new concrete, leaves. In February, a new 125-meter pier was put into operation, and now ocean-class ships can moor in Yuzhno-Kurilsk.

The construction of a deep-water pier and the modernization of a geothermal power plant are the points of the government program for the development of the Kuril Islands, adopted in 2007. Until 2015, the Russian government will spend 18 billion rubles on the construction and repair of roads, piers, an airport, new fish processing plants, schools, hospitals, kindergartens and residential buildings.

It is assumed that as a result, the permanent population of the Kurils will grow from the current 19 to 30 thousand people, and modern enterprises will begin to generate income.

In the meantime, the Kuril Islands, in the waters of which alone biological resources float and crawl for 2.5 trillion dollars, are the most subsidized region of Russia. Everything - from food to heavy equipment - is brought here either from Vladivostok or from neighboring Hokkaido.

“These islands were not the end of the world for the Japanese, until 1945 not only canning factories worked here, but also enterprises for the production of iodine, brick, gold and sulfur were mined here,” says Kunashir old-timer Mikhail Lukyanov, who arrived on the island back in 1959 .

From his windows wooden house almost the entire village is visible on the slope of the hill. And as soon as they start to dig something on the streets - whether to lay a ditch or repair a sewer - Lukyanov immediately hurries there. Because the land in Yuzhno-Kurilsk is stuffed with the most valuable items of Japanese antiquity.

For example, seven years ago, Lukyanov found a figurine of the Shinto god of fertility: workers dug a trench in the village and poked a shovel into the clay figurine of a bald fat man. On the head of the figurine was the imprint of the thumb of a Japanese sculptor - as a sign of superior craftsmanship.

Mikhail's passion for Japanese cultural heritage began in the 1970s, when the surf carried painted shards ashore. Lukyanov tried to restore the ornaments, and he developed an interest in Japanese art. Lukyanov, an employee of the South Kuril port, spent his holidays at the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow and the Hermitage in Leningrad, he sat in libraries, bought rare books on Japanese traditional culture, having learned over time to distinguish between the styles of the Meiji era from the Edo era.

But the main thing - he realized that in the Kunashir land there are hundreds, if not thousands of unique antiquities, brought here once from the main Japanese islands. “For example, I have a vase from the famous Japanese school of ceramics Kutani. There is nothing like it in any museum in Russia! Lukyanov boasts. “I don’t know how long she lay in the volcanic earth, washed by caustic sea water, but the material, the enamel, and the drawing are perfectly preserved!”

In Soviet times, the prosecutor's office was interested in him. “They listened to me and said: “Dig at least to New York! Former Japanese villages are not cultural monuments!” Michael recalls.

Mikhail glued the figurine of the god Daikoku and photographed it. To his request to help determine the age, Russian museums responded in the same way: "Send the original, in exchange we will send information." Then he wrote to local history museum in Hokkaido, in response, he was offered to sell Daikoku. “But why sell a masterpiece on which the imprint of the hand of the master! I just want to know when and by whom the figurine was made! - an amateur archaeologist is indignant.

According to him, back in the 1960s, Shinto temples stood all over Kunashir, Soviet fishermen lived in old Japanese houses, and roads paved with wooden planks were preserved in places. But later all this was destroyed: "The Soviet government erased the traces of the Japanese stay on the island."

Mikhail Lukyanov is sure that the situation with the study of Japanese heritage in Kunashir today is no different from what it was in the Soviet Union. Monuments are still considered only cultural objects of the Ainu - the indigenous population of the islands who lived here before the arrival of the Russians and Japanese. Works of Japanese art, the foundations of Japanese houses, Shinto shrines- just "traces of liquidated villages", which are not dealt with by professional archaeologists. For almost 40 years of amateur excavations on the island, Mikhail did not come across Russian pre-revolutionary artifacts.

“Everything here is rotten,” a carpenter, a short peasant in a blue robe, mutters under his breath, changing boards on the porch of the church of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. He nods in the direction of the Vainakh grocery store: “If these ... merchants had chipped in, we would have corrected the church then!” And if these businessmen are not Orthodox? “And if they are not Orthodox, then there is nothing for them to do on our islands!” - cuts the carpenter and drives a large nail into the board.

A young priest serving in the church, Alexander, holds more liberal views. He came to Kunashir quite recently and has already developed a vigorous educational activity: on Sundays he talks with teenagers about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, arranges special services for alcoholics in the church.

But the strongest impression on the Kunashir people was made by another initiative of the priest. “Father let the Japanese into the temple!” - shoppers of local shops are whispering.

For 46 years, Japanese citizens have been denied access to the Kuril Islands. Only in 1992 did the first Japanese come here - within the framework of an agreement on visa-free exchanges between residents of the South Kuriles and Japan. Since then, more than 18,000 Japanese have visited the Kuriles, many of whom are elderly former residents of the "northern territories", as the South Kuriles are called in Japan.

During this time, thousands of Kuril people went to Japan. And not only in Hokkaido, but also in Tokyo, Kyoto and even tropical Okinawa. Today, to the question “Who was in Japan?” all high school students of the South Kuril school raise their hands.

In addition to the surviving two Japanese cemeteries, guests from Japan are taken to the main local natural curiosity - Cape Stolbchaty; brag about a new kindergarten with a swimming pool and an airport under construction; they show how salmon spawn in the rivers and how they dig for shellfish at low tide.

The Orthodox church remained the only place in Yuzhno-Kurilsk where the Japanese were not allowed to enter. With the arrival of Father Alexander, this bastion also fell before the guests - Japanese girls are even allowed to attend church without headscarves. In response, the Orthodox priest was immediately invited to Japan.

“And right! When we go to Japan, we visit Shinto and Buddhist temples!” - supported by Tamara Potapova. At 75, she has been to Japan 18 times, traveling all over the country. She admits that most of all she likes to visit Japanese families - only in this way, according to her, one can understand the culture and way of life. Therefore, when another group of Japanese comes to Kunashir, Tamara Vasilievna will definitely invite one of the guests to her place for dinner.

So it is today. A long table is laid in the room, the hostess rushes with plates from the kitchen to the room and back. Ten years ago, she started learning Japanese. Every summer teachers from Japan come to Kunashir and organize short-term language courses. The brightest Russian students are invited to a one-month internship in Hokkaido.

“I decided to learn Japanese when one of my guests, eating a herring under a fur coat, asked what it was. I showed him the herring, and then dragged a fur coat from the pantry. But he didn't understand anything! laughs Tamara Vasilievna.

Six Japanese guests, including Tsutomu Otsuka from Tokyo, arrive at seven in the evening. The hostess greets you in Japanese. With 65-year-old Yano Shoki from Sapporo, Tamara Vasilievna hugs like with an old friend: he is visiting her not for the first time.

Director of the Institute of Space and Field Medicine, Yano Shoki is the only Japanese who speaks Russian. “When I was young, I read The Quiet Flows the Don in Japanese. And I decided to learn the language of the country in which such wonderful people live, ”says the doctor of medicine at the table.

In the early 1990s, when he was first offered to go to Kunashir, he instantly agreed. No, he never had relatives on this island. He just wanted to touch Russian culture.

On a table covered with a white tablecloth, a mixture of West and East: pancakes with meat next to scallops in soy sauce, fish cakes and salted burdock stalks, boiled shrimp and potatoes with onions. Tamara Vasilievna pours a stack of her signature moonshine for the guests. The first toast, of course, is to Russian-Japanese friendship.

In the midst of dinner, Tsutomu Otsuka from Tokyo points to a plate of herring under a fur coat and asks, "What's that?" - “Iwashi, which means “herring” in Japanese,” Tamara Vasilievna lists with knowledge of the matter and suddenly stumbles, forgetting how it will be in Japanese “beetroot”!

The hostess pulls a thick Russian-Japanese dictionary from the shelf, standing among the albums with reproductions of Hokusai and novels by Haruki Murakami. Meanwhile, one of the guests - a local hospital surgeon - runs out of the house into the garden. And a minute later he presents to the public a beet pulled out from the garden, from which earth is poured onto the tablecloth. Both the Japanese and the Kuril people laugh.

The next morning, Japanese guests get wet in the rain on the pier, waiting for their ship. A piercing wind blows from the ocean. Workers at the pier say that the plane from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk will not arrive today, which means that they cannot fly to Sakhalin either. The Japanese are also discussing something vigorously. Tsutomu Otsuka admits that he did not expect to see such open and friendly people in Kunashir.

Tatyana Potapova cleans up the mountain of dishes left after the guests and lights the stove. Yes, she heard that many houses in the village are heated by a volcano, but central heating pipes are not connected to her house. She also heard about the construction of modern housing as part of some kind of program there. But in her house in the corridor since 1994, a beam that has jumped out of the groove has been hanging down - the consequences of a nine-magnitude earthquake. Will her wooden house survive another cataclysm? The hostess shrugs.

Gennady Diyashkin early in the morning, in the fog, again went to the shore of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. He also visited Japan many times, but not under the visa-free exchange program, but with a sailor's passport and for completely different purposes. Then, as now, the weather was a concern. On which his catch depends, and hence his salary. And not only him. The whole island of Kunashir depends on the oceans and phases of the moon, on the tides, on the winds and currents - sea and political.

08/16/2013 (beginning)

Tickets are bought.
Under the march “Farewell of the Slav”, the ship “Igor Farkhutdinov” departed from the berth of the seaport of the city of Korsakov and took us to new adventures and discoveries - we plan to spend two weeks on the island of Kunashir, exploring its sights.

08/17/2013 (first day - arrival)

Eighteen hours at sea and here it is - Kunashir! Yuzhno-Kurilsk met us with fog and lightly drizzling rain.
Even on the ship they figured out an approximate route. It turned out (according to the availability of roads shown on the map of the two-kilometer road) that we would have to return to Yuzhno-Kurilsk 3-4 times. The idea immediately appeared to leave part of the load in the village, so as not to carry it all the time in backpacks on the back. According to the principle: “an acquaintance of an acquaintance of my acquaintance”, a person was quickly found who was ready to allocate a corner in the working room near the port. While we were trying to quickly sort through the contents of our backpacks (allocating the essentials for 3-4 days of hiking), two other workers became interested in us. Our intention to explore the island without any guides caused them a little shock. They began to discuss our plans, criticized them to the nines (after all, we were guided only by the map, not knowing many of the features of the island) and gave us a lot of valuable advice. Now it turned out that we might not return to the village in the near future, and therefore there was no need to leave things - they might come in handy. We went outside with the intention of finding a car ready to take us towards Lake Lagunnoe (we considered it as a starting point for a trip along the southwestern coast). We turned to one, another, third ... And now good luck! The person we had already approached with a request came up to us and offered to help us at a very low price. Of course we jumped at this offer!
Along the way we met and talked. The driver made his own adjustments to our plans, in particular: we do not need to go to Lagunnoye, but it is advisable to stop at the “13th kilometer” (he explained the reasons with which we could not disagree). Moreover, Alexander (that was the name of our new acquaintance) offered us to stay in his small house on suburban area! In the evening, under the sound of pouring rain, we gratefully remembered the hospitable owner of the dacha.


Since the second half of the day was freed up for us, we decided to walk to Cape Stolbchaty, which was located 4 kilometers from the house. we walked along the seashore and enjoyed:






We liked the cape, but did not make the proper impression. Probably because it was raining and a rather thick fog was creeping in. Or maybe because the day was already filled with events and impressions - new ones no longer fit in us.

08/18/2013 (second day - "Ecological trail")

It's been raining since morning. We plan to visit hot springs (baths), and for this we need to get to the so-called "17th kilometer". In one backpack they threw off the things necessary for the day for all three, and hit the road. It was worth a little move away from the house, as the rain started up in full! But we, already taught by the previous trip, stocked up on light raincoats. At first, the rain pleased us a little - the dust arrived. But, soon, large and small cars flying past us doused us not with dust, but with mud. We didn’t like it very much, but we walked briskly along the road, looking at the magnificent vegetation and mountains surrounding us.





What was indicated to us as "Kilometer 17" by road signs was between 15 and 16 (as a result of the reconstruction of the road, the main route of the island has decreased by about 2 km). And, if it weren’t for the family of Muscovite tourists, we would definitely have slipped through the right turn behind which the “Ecological Trail” was located.
For more than two kilometers, we walked through the fairy-tale forest, enchanted, looking at both already familiar (but reaching unrealistically large sizes) plants, and known only by name.






And so, the forest parted, we found ourselves in a large clearing through which two streams flowed: an ordinary one and a hot one. Of course, we were interested in an unusual stream - hot water with a sulfuric smell. Caring hands cleared several holes and overlaid them with stones so that they could lie in the water, enjoying the warmth and peace.





But, one lake-bath turned out to be too tough for us - not only was the water very hot, but also the legs above the ankles drowned in mud, even hotter than water. We, in turn, tried to cross it (I really wanted to read the information on the shield), but everyone jumped out of the lake, barely taking 3-4 steps.
The rain that started up again did not let us bask any further. Cheerfully gathered, packed into raincoats and left the magical meadow. They decided not to go the same way, but across the sea, to which they had to go only about a kilometer. Along the path, which snaked now in tall grass, now in bamboo, now along the stream, we went out to the sea.


For the first two kilometers we moved calmly along the sea until we reached Cape Stolbchaty. Here we were waiting for a great "impass" as we got to the rocks in an almost full and "big" tide. The rain, fortunately for us, stopped, but rose strong wind.









We stubbornly climbed up the rocks, hugging the smooth stones and trying to find at least some kind of support for our legs and arms. The most impregnable areas were bypassed by the sea (sometimes, plunging into the water up to the chest), also clinging to the wet stones with their whole body. For our labors and efforts, we were more than rewarded with the views that opened up to us at every step, at every turn of the head ...









The walk, contrary to expectations, was not easy. But in the evening, a "bonus" was waiting for us - we were taken to a mountain by the sea, similar to the head of a spaniel, which the islanders call "Doggy". Here we were waiting for a clearing with a redberry and a magnificent sunset.

08/19/2013 (third day - Pervukhin Bay)

The sun is shining in the morning! Hooray! We decided to dedicate the day to a walk to Pervukhin Bay. We were interested in the rocks that we saw from afar, and the lakes, the existence of which the map "said". The path along the seashore, under the gentle rays of the long-awaited sun, we passed quickly. On the way, poaching gear was pulled out of the sea (most likely, it was carried away from the mouth of one of the many streams). In the tackle there were several fish of kundzha and pink salmon of different years of getting into it. Marina freed a still-living croaker from the net (it swam rather briskly). Together they pulled the heavy tackle out of the water so that it would not be dragged into the sea by the ebb tide.


Also, along the way, we made a small detour to the old (already abandoned by the border guards) coastal fortifications.




And now, in less than 5 km, we are there. Beautiful cliffs merging with the coastline and standing separately, with many grottoes and bizarre outlines ...



There are three large and beautiful lakes nearby: Lagunnoye, Aliger and Serebryanoye.

Unfortunately, we did not manage to bypass the entire bay - border units were located along the coast, the passage through which was, of course, prohibited. But we were not too upset and climbed the highest (of the available to us) mountain and enjoyed magnificent views of the sea, mountains, lakes, rocks for about an hour ... We returned slowly. The sea beckoned to itself and we gladly lived our bodies in warm sea ​​waves. Toward evening, a surprise awaited us: an almost tropical downpour! In a few minutes, a whole bucket was filled with water. Within an hour, the rain either turned into a furious downpour, or became gentle. And here is the finale - a huge rainbow that connected the sea and the hills!

08/20/2013 (fourth day - museum)

The day is devoted to a trip to the main village of the island - Yuzhno-Kurilsk. In the morning we were pleased with the sun, but the joy was short-lived - everything around was quickly covered with fog, which became thicker and thicker. We walked along the road, looking at the lush vegetation.

The fog did not give us a good look at the village.




I would like to note the friendliness and responsiveness of the people we met: they answered our questions, advised how best to do something or go somewhere, they themselves were interested in whether they could help us with something ... We found the reserve office (what to do in thick fog was not easy), in which we had to take a pass.
We walked around the village, looked into the shops (a little expensive), found out the routes and bus schedules, and accidentally (looking for the administration) found out that there is a local history museum in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. We couldn't miss this chance! The museum is small (consists of five halls - terrestrial nature, the underwater world, volcanoes, ancient history, modern history), but very cozy and informative. We liked the exhibits, the people and the very atmosphere of the museum.






In the evening (the fog subsided) we admired the outlines of the mountains of Hokkaido and two bright lighthouses sending signals to sailors from these mountains. All this was periodically illuminated by bright flashes and zigzags of lightning - a thunderstorm was raging over Japan.

08/21/2013 (fifth day - Golovnin volcano)

Cool, windy morning. Today, according to the plan, the caldera of the Golovnin volcano. Breakfast, quick packing and we go to the "fork" to wait for the car that will take us to the reserve.






About two hours by car and we are standing at a billboard with information about the reserve. The wind completely dispersed the fog and clouds - the sun is shining, it's warm!
From the road to the volcano, about 6 km along the road, which at times resembles an abandoned path. Let's go and enjoy the view. No matter which way you turn - beauty!




About two hours of travel (mostly climbing) and we are at the observation deck - the whole caldera is in front of our eyes: two beautiful mineralized lakes Hot (larger, depth up to 62 m) and Boiling (smaller, depth 16 m), two high pyramidal domes in the center and three small ones a little to the side.
We turn onto a path overgrown with bamboo and move on (now down and rather steeply). Another 20 minutes of the move and here it is - Hot Lake - large and bright blue, smooth, like a mirror in which the sky is reflected. Nearby and a little to the side is Boiling Lake - an explosion crater - a small white-blue lake surrounded by golden sulfur spots and smoking fumaroles. The lakes are connected by a man-made canal (dug by the Japanese, who mined sulfur here) through which a small stream of blue-white water from Boiling enters Hot, forming intricate patterns in it, until the water of the two lakes mixes completely.




I didn’t want to leave, but downstairs, at a certain time, a car was supposed to be waiting, and we were already late. On the way, they broke already ripe cones, ate berries and constantly looked back, not wanting to part with the beautiful ones.

08/22/2013 (sixth day - Golovnino village)

Today we decided to visit the village of Golovnino, which is located on the very southern point islands. Rather, almost on the southernmost - behind the village is the Veslovsky Peninsula in the form of a spit (local name - Lopatka), at the end of the spit - a lighthouse. On Thursdays there is a free bus from Yuzhno-Kurilsk to Golovnino. Everything in Kunashir bus routes free. We decided to use the gift. Having already gone out onto the track, we realized that yesterday's sun was yesterday, and today it has another day off - we got into such a thick fog that the headlights of cars became visible only a few meters from us. Almost missed the bus. An hour and a half ride by bus, and now, after checking into a very small village of Dubki, we drove into Golovnino. It is even difficult to call it a village - with a dozen houses, 3 (!) shops, a pier with a bunch of rusty ships ... Nearby are two two-story buildings of a military unit.



We looked around, asked the locals for directions, and hit the road. On the way, we met a trinity of dogs who at first wanted to eat us, but then (having treated themselves to pieces of sugar from us) changed their minds and let us go further. The weather was not good - fog and drizzle. The drizzle very quickly turned into rain and fog, at the same time, it did not want to disperse. In general, we were surrounded by water from all sides, and visibility was very limited.



They rounded Lake Veslovsky and went to the Pacific Ocean. For more than two hours we walked along the road along the Pacific Ocean in the intensifying rain, until we realized that we no longer wanted to go to the lighthouse or to the honeysuckle thickets surrounding it. Yes, and in time, it was already time to return to the village in order to catch the bus. We looked at the vague outline of the lighthouse, peering through the fog, and turned back. The path to the village took much less time, but our failures for this day did not end: the bus did not come on time, it did not come in an hour or two. It turned out that on the way it broke down and it was not possible to cope with the breakdown. We were waiting for another bus, which they promised to start up in return - a shift car arrived, but we were already so wet and cold that it didn’t matter what we were on, just to go home.

08/23/2013 (seventh day - Sour Creek)

It rained all night. I didn't want to go anywhere in the morning. But, by 10 o'clock it began to clear up and we decided not to relax - to go to the "Sour" river. It comes close to the road at the “9th kilometer”, which means: in addition to 3 km to the highway, you need to walk 4 km along the road itself, and then go upstream along the mineral river. What are we 7 km?! Let's go! Clearing up, of course, was not in a hurry, and we walk along the track like three "hedgehogs in the fog." A good person catches up with us and offers to help. Great! I had to walk 3 km less. We approach the place where the Sour River flows into another river (if I'm not mistaken - the Lesnaya River).
We are again offered help - to transport a small excavator across the river closer to the trail on a turntable. A little smeared with grease, but everyone is happy: we (the new adventure) and the excavator driver.
We did not climb ashore to the trail, we did not know about it at all. The water is quite warm (temperature above room temperature) and it is a pleasure to walk on it. We pass only 150-200 meters and here it is - a cascade of small but beautiful waterfalls! We are approaching the miraculous steps, ledges and platforms along which water falls and flows with noise. We stop spellbound!



It makes you want to get under the jets and enjoy in this natural spa and water park. But, we decide to leave this pleasure for “later” and move on. Here the cascade was left behind, but we never cease to be surprised and delighted!







As if in a fairy tale, we walked about two kilometers and got to a new wonderful place - natural sulfur springs. The water, which is close to boiling water in temperature, flows over the stones to the river and mixes with cold water, forming small depressions filled with mineral water. A little touched up by people, the recesses become “baths” in which you can enjoy a hot natural bath while lying or sitting and, at the same time, admire the river, forest, mountain slopes ...




Ignoring the drizzling rain, we take off our clothes and plunge into the water of the baths, which envelops the whole body so pleasantly. Time has stopped! It was a little sad to go back - I did not want to part with such beauty.
And here again, three "hedgehogs in the fog" walk, wander along the road and discuss one or the other of the miracles they have seen.

08/24/2013 (eight day - library)

It rained all night again. No, we get up early - today there is a bus to Yuzhno-Kurilsk, and we have accumulated business and want to see the village (we found ourselves in it sometimes in the rain, sometimes in thick fog) and wander around its environs. Some of the work was completed quickly. But it is almost impossible to wander around the village and its environs - it rains incessantly, sometimes turning into a downpour. What to do? The bus to the dachas will be only in the evening. Wandering for more than seven hours in the pouring rain is unrealistic, and taxis are already expensive for us.


A brilliant idea comes to Marina: “Let's find a library! Let's spend time in the warmth and with benefit. And now we are already shaking off water from raincoats and jackets in the hallway of a small one-story house, which, it turns out, fits everything: a separate subscriber room for children and teenagers, a separate room for adults, a reading room, a computer room, a conference room with a piano and a good acoustic system… We are warmly welcomed. We ask for books on the Sakhalin Region and, in particular, about the Kuril Islands. Very quickly, our table was filled with large and small books on the topic of interest. We are shown drawings and handicrafts from shells from local craftsmen.



We leaf through, read and look at the photos and find out the places we have already visited. We also find those that we only plan to visit. Time flew by unnoticed. Probably, it is worth saying “thank you” to the rain, thanks to which we learned so many new and interesting things.

08/25/2013 (ninth day - rain)

In the morning fog, drizzle, rain, downpour, rain ... We don’t go anywhere and look longingly at the street. By lunchtime, the weather changes a little: drizzle + wind. We go to Stolbchaty - there, next to the hills, a clean mountain stream descends, it is necessary to replenish the supply of drinking water.

08/26/2013 (tenth day - rain again)

Still the same cyclone! Outside, wind and rain turning into a downpour. By three o'clock it calms down a bit - we go towards Lake Lagunnoye. We climb the hill and see the sun in the distance. It never came to us, but we wanted to! The Kuril residents themselves say that this year's summer is unusual: as a rule, warm weather sets in from mid-August. sunny weather. And where did she go?

08/27/2013 (day eleven - "Hot Beach")

Pouring-drip stopped, but pretty cool. We decide not to waste the day and spend it on the Hot Beach. Although, it would be more correct to say: "in the village of Hot Beach, in a hydropathic clinic." We were helped to take a referral to the Yuzhno-Kurilsk hospital. We drive up to the village - it turns out - this is a military village and the entrance to it is strictly by passes or direction "to the waters." Passport is required. We walk through the village and are surprised at the name of the main street, and the abundance of new houses, and the number of children and mothers with strollers, and many other things are surprised.


But finally, the purpose of our visit is a hydropathic clinic!







Nearby are two more baths and large swimming pool- the property of the military, but available to everyone.

There are almost no people. And with those who appear, there are no problems either - there are enough baths and baths for everyone. While splashing, the sky turned blue and the sun came out. Finally! And then we have already begun to forget what it looks like. Hot mineral water for baths and baths is provided by the Mendeleev volcano. And its heat is also used to heat houses both in Goryachie Klyuchy and in Yuzhno-Kurilsk. We bask in hot water, swim in the pool, move from one bath to another, enjoy the water, communication and beautiful views - more than 4 hours flew by unnoticed. reluctantly ends water procedures and go to the village. There is still time before the bus and we go down to the sea.




We return to ourselves on the 13th in a roundabout way: first by bus to Yuzhno-Kurilsk (For the first time we see a village without fog. From the bus stop a wonderful view of the sea opens, Mendeleev fumaroles soar), with the same bus we go to the village of Otrada (We saw “Devil's finger”, which we couldn't go to on Saturday because of the downpour) and back, and only then we go to Lake Lagunnoye. More precisely, we are not going to the lake, but to the village with the same name, and we still have to walk to the lake itself. The bus does not go further, we go. An hour and a half walk along the forest road, along the bank of a large and beautiful lake lagoon,


along the sea...
There are so many beautiful things around!

08/28/2013 (twelfth day - storm)

The morning is cool (you can feel the approach of autumn), but without rain - this is already pleasing. We hope that the weather will be good during the day and we are going to the fumaroles of the Mendeleev volcano. Alas! Our hopes were not destined to come true - while we were having breakfast and getting ready, it was raining heavily! We are sitting at home, waiting for "weather by the sea." As it happened more than once, by 15 o'clock the wind rose and the rain gradually began to subside and died down altogether. We decide, after all, not to waste the day and take a walk to Stolbchaty. Although it has been more than once, it still attracts and fascinates. We leave. We looked at the sea - everything to the horizon is covered with white lambs, but it looks quite calm. It looked like this until we went down to the shore itself - the roll was quite strong! We moved forward against the ever-increasing wind. There was already a clear storm on the sea, which, it seemed, was only gaining strength: the waves were getting bigger and hitting the shore and stones more and more.

Seagulls, sitting on the shore, from time to time rose into the air and floated across the sky against the wind, as if in a slow motion movie. We walk along the edge of the surf, wet from foam splashes. Sometimes, a particularly nimble wave takes me by surprise and douses my legs with water.


Today we did not reach our goal - Cape Stolbchaty - a storm and a rock that got in the way prevented us. In normal weather, this rock, which protrudes slightly into the sea, can be easily bypassed along the lower stone ledges. But today, waves are beating against the rock, throwing up fountains of foam and water! In order to pass the rock, one has to climb up the wet stone, but a very strong and gusty wind tries to tear the body off the rock and throw it down. We decided not to risk it.

In the evening we again admire the lights of the Japanese coast. Yesterday they were pillars of light (of different brightness and size) reflecting off the clouds. Today, they look more like searchlights that have directed a beam of light into the sky. During the entire stay here, "Japanese Lights" has never been the same - it is always a beautiful and bewitching vision. And two beacons flashing at different intervals only reinforce this impression.

08/29/2013 (day thirteen - Mendeleev volcano)

During the night the wind died down a bit and the sea calmed down. The Japanese mountains are partially illuminated by the sun and covered with clouds - very beautiful!

The day promises to be sunny. Hooray! We still go to the Mendeleev volcano.

We pass 7 km along the road and turn onto the forest road. We go, carefully peering into the roadside bamboo - somewhere here the path should begin, which will lead us to the fumaroles of the volcano. Found! Modest by the road, the trail quickly turns into an "elephant". We reach the "equipped" resting place and ... we lose the path. But, today, in truth, a good day - while looking for a path, an organized group of people came to the clearing, pointed to the right path and allowed them to go with them.

Part of the way passes along the old Japanese horse-drawn road. It is fairly overgrown, but walking is more or less convenient. It is much harder when they "straightened" the path and when the "horse" was over. But, even on steep climbs, wading through the bamboo managed to see a lot of interesting things. Old fir trees in 2-3 girths are especially striking.





An hour and a half later we approach the goal of our trip - the fumarole field of the Mendeleev volcano.









The leader of the organized group offers those who wish to climb to the top of the volcano, adding that the road is very difficult and should take about an hour and a half. The ascent is indeed very difficult: part of the trail passes through high thick bamboo, part almost vertically upwards, and part vertically and through bamboo. The situation is aggravated by slippery, limp after frequent heavy rains priming. You have to spend a lot of effort just to stay on a steep slope, but you still have to move forward and up! The result was worth the effort, the view from the top of the volcano is amazing and amazing!





At the top of the volcano, someone recently installed an Orthodox cross. We decide to do our bit - we surrounded the mound with stones and put aside the remaining "construction" and "rest" debris.

The descent takes an hour and is no less difficult than the ascent. Once again we go around the fumarole field and set off on the way back.






Moving along the route, we admire the outlines of the Tyatya volcano, which "opened" to us for the first time.

Sunset over Japan completes this wonderful day.

08/30/2013 (fourteenth day - a come true sign)

Rain! Rain again! It drizzles, then it intensifies. It calms down for a while and starts watering again. The excitement at sea is increasing. And here is the “good” news - due to weather conditions, the arrival of the ship is delayed for at least a day. Stuck?

08/31/2013 (fifteenth day - "additional")

During the night the rain stopped, the clouds dispersed, and the storm intensified. It was impossible to sleep because of the roar of the surf.
We are going to go to Yuzhno-Kurilsk, because. food ran out, and the departure date was pushed back. In the village, we observe the work of an artist who paints the second part of the panorama near central square.
Things were done quickly. Our new friends Alexander and Lyubov helped us get to the natural attraction of Fr. Kunashir - Devil's finger (the islanders call this place "Devil"). Actually two fingers. They are separated by a large rock that extends far into the sea.





At the Devil's finger I realize the opportunity to "swim" in the Pacific Ocean. Good news: a ship is expected tomorrow. Pleasant? On the one hand, I already want to go home, where relatives and friends are waiting. On the other hand, it is a pity to part with this beautiful island, its beauties and people.

09/01/2013 (day sixteen - farewell)

Cloudy morning, but we no longer pay attention to drizzle and fog - we pack our backpacks and rush to the bus. We look around - how everything has become familiar and close. It seems like we've been living here for a long time. Longing squeezes the heart - we will leave now, and nothing will change around: the sea will beat against the shore and rocks, the "Dog" will rest by the sea, Japanese lights and beacons will shine and blink, the sun will rise over the Lagoon Lake, the Fish Owl will hoot along at night in the forest, foxes yelp in the ravine ...


All. Bus. We sit down. We are greeted by people who have already become familiar. They smile at us and, seeing the big backpacks, wish us a good journey and good luck. We go to Tretyakovo. Everyone, except for the three of us, goes to the village, and we examine the surrounding vegetation. Oh, Kunashir, you surprised us every day! Even on this day, the day of farewell to the island, he managed to surprise. What is this tree? We have not seen such trees so far.


We are going to Yuzhno-Kurilsk and understand how many familiar places have become! How much, despite the fogs and rains, we were able to visit-see-pass ... We are happy! The ship is delayed until the evening and we are again taken under guardianship by Alexander and Lyubov, who during these two weeks have become not just friends, but very dear people. Having abandoned their business and forgotten about the rest, they take care of us all day long - they feed us, tell interesting stories, drive around the surrounding beautiful places. They wanted to get to the Vinay River, which is in the north of the island, but they didn’t succeed, because. the road was washed out and muddy. It's a pity! It's a pity! Northern part The islands have remained a mystery to us. On the way, we are told so many interesting things, moreover, such that you will not find in reference books and guidebooks, which is based on your own experience and is adorned with personal impressions and emotions.








This day has come to an end. The last day of our two-week trip to the island of Kunashir. Marine Station. Farewell to friends. Motor ship. March "Farewell of the Slav". Shore hospitable island, which has become native, is deleted. The sea is a little rough.

The coast is no longer visible. Black-and-white backs of curious dolphins flicker near the side of the ship.

kunashir island kunashir
Kunashir(Ain. Kunashiri - Black Island, Jap. 国後島 Kunashiri-to:) - the southernmost island of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands. According to the administrative-territorial division of Russia, it is included in the Yuzhno-Kurilsky urban district of the Sakhalin region; Russia's ownership of the island is disputed by Japan, which considers it as part of its Nemuro district of the governorate of Hokkaido.

The Ainu name Kunashiri, meaning "black island", indicates the nature of the island - dark coniferous forests, dark soils and the gloomy appearance of the cinder cone of the Tyatya volcano, in addition to which there are three more active volcanoes on the island.

• 1. History
  • 1.1 Kunashir during World War II
  • 1.2 After the end of World War II
• 2 Geography
  • 2.1 Rivers and lakes
  • 2.2 Reserve
  • 2.3 Climate
  • 2.4 Flora
  • 2.5 Fauna
• 3 Population
  • 3.1 Settlements
• 4 Transport
• 5 visit
• 6 Economy
• 7 Territorial disputes
• 8 Notes
• 9 Topographic maps
• 10 Links

Story

The original inhabitants of Kunashir were the Ainu. The question of who appeared in the South Kuriles and, in particular, in Kunashir, before - Russians or Japanese - is still quite acute and is a stumbling block in relations between the two countries. According to Japanese sources, the Russians arrived on the island later than on other islands. There is evidence that the Japanese, who belonged to the principality of Matsumae, in the process of exploring Hokkaido also looked at the South Kuriles. The first maps of Kunashir, Iturup and other islands appeared in their hands in 1635. The Ainu who lived on these islands from 1731 began to pay tribute to the principality of Matsumae. In 1754, the merchant Hidaya Kyubei established the first Japanese trading post in the extreme south of Kunashir. In the same year, the daimyo of the Matsumae principality sent officials to Kunashir to exercise administrative control and oversight of trade and fishing.

According to Russian information, at the time of the appearance of the Russian Cossacks, Kunashir most likely was not official territory Japan, free local tribes lived here - "shaggy" (as the Ainu were called). Ivan Kozyrevsky, who sailed near the island in 1713 on the instructions of the Kamchatka clerk Kolesov "to explore the sea of ​​islands, new lands, every nation and the Japanese state against the Kamchatka (Southern) Cape for crossings", noted that on the 14th island (so the Russians called Kunashir) "the inhabitants are very rich and do not differ from the inhabitants of other islands, but whether they are a free people or dependent on the city of Matmai (Matsumae), which is on the island of Matmai (Hokkaido), is unknown." In 1755, according to Toyon Watchman, the Ainu paid yasak, that is, in this way they recognized the dominion of Russia. However, in 1769, the centurion Ivan Cherny reported from the words of the Ainu that there was a Japanese fortress on Kunashir. In 1811, Captain Golovnin became convinced of the serious intentions of the Japanese regarding the colonization of the island from his personal experience: wanting to describe the southern Kuril Islands, his ship entered the bay on about. Kunashiri, where he was promptly met with cannon fire from a nearby Japanese fortress. After that, the island remained for a long time outside of Russian influence. exchange for ownership southern Sakhalin Russia handed over to Japan in 1875 all the Kuril Islands. Following the results of World War II, in 1945 Kunashir became part of the USSR (RSFSR).

Kunashir during World War II

At 6 am on September 1, 1945, during the Kuril operation, Soviet troops landed on the island. After 6 hours, the Soviet Information Bureau announced the occupation of Kunashir Island by Soviet troops and ships of the fleet and the liberation of all the Kuril Islands from Japanese troops.

After the end of World War II

Since the annexation of the Kuril Islands to the USSR in 1945, the first persons of the USSR, and then Russia, have not visited this region. However, in recent years the situation has begun to change. On November 1, 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev was the first Russian leader to pay a working visit to Kunashir Island, which provoked protests from the Japanese government, which temporarily recalled its ambassador from Moscow for consultations. February 2011 South Kuril Islands Iturup and Kunashir were visited by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who announced the “re-equipment of the 18th machine-gun and artillery division - “Relevant decisions will be made in the near future, taking into account the fact that from 2011 we are starting to implement the State Armaments Program until 2020. We will plan to replace the equipment and weapons of the division.” The 46th machine gun and artillery regiment of this division is stationed on the island. On July 3, 2012, D. A. Medvedev, already in the rank of prime minister, revisited the island of Kunashir.

Geography

The island is stretched from the northeast to the southwest for 123 km, the width is from 7 to 30 km. Area - 1490 km². The structure of Kunashir resembles neighboring Iturup and consists of three mountain ranges. Three low isthmuses divide the island into 4 parts, quite heterogeneous in their relief and climate. At the same time, relatively flat areas occupy a small area and are located mainly in the southern part of the island. The highest peak is Tyatya volcano (1819 m) with a regular truncated cone crowned with a wide crater. This beautiful high volcano located in the northeastern part of the island.

Kunashir is separated by the Ekaterina Strait from Iturup Island, located 22 km northeast; the Kunashir Strait (Nemuro) from the Shiretoko Peninsula (Hokkaido Island), located 25 km to the west; Strait of Treason from the Notsuke Peninsula (Hokkaido Island), located 16 km to the south-west. To the southeast of the island is the Lesser Kuril Ridge, separated from it by the South Kuril Strait.

In the northern half of the island - the Dokuchaev Ridge. There are 4 active volcanoes on Kunashir:

• Tyatya (1819 m), the symbol of the island;
• Rurui (1485 m);
• Mendeleev (886 m);
• Golovnin (541 m).

In the caldera of the Golovnin volcano, there are lakes Boiling and Goryacheye. There are numerous fumaroles on the shores of Lake Boiling and in the lake itself. The island has many hot springs of volcanic origin. they are mainly concentrated on the slopes of the Mendeleev volcano, where most of them serve as equipped (Hot Beach) or "wild" (Kisly Ruchey, Rosinka) resting places. There is also a fumarole field, as well as a geothermal thermal power plant. Separate sources are found on the Okhotsk (Alyokhino, Tretyakovo, 17th kilometer, Rudnoye) and Pacific (Seagull) coasts. Monument of nature - basalt rocks of Cape Stolbchaty. Seeing the Shiretoko Peninsula from the island Japanese island Hokkaido.

Rivers and lakes

The rivers of Kunashir, as elsewhere in the Kuriles, are rather short. However, due to abundant rainfall, the river network is dense, local rivers never dry up and the island does not lack fresh water. The most long river- Tyatina, originating from Tyatya volcano. There are also rivers: Rikorda, Belozerskaya, Bogaevsky, Tyurina, Vlasova, Seredinka, Tretyakov, Andreevka, Lesnaya, Saratovskaya and many others. The lakes are predominantly lagoonal (Peschanoe) and caldera (Hot). In the south of Lake Kunashir, there is also the boiling lake Ponto (Boiling), connected to the Hot artificial channel.

Reserve

On February 10, 1984, the Kurilsky State Nature Reserve was established. 84 species of animals included in the Red Book of Russia live on its territory.

Climate

The climate of the island as a whole can be characterized as moderate humid maritime, with a strong influence of the surrounding waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, which form the East Asian monsoons. The Sea of ​​Okhotsk coast of Kunashir Island (the so-called Okhotsk side) is heated by a branch of the Kuroshio-Soya current, so summer and winter are warmer here than on the Pacific coast, which is cooled by the cold Kuril-Kamchatka Current, or Oyashio. The island is located at the same latitudes with the resorts South Shore Crimea, however, the climate of Kunashir is much colder than the Crimean one, but somewhat warmer than the Sakhalin one. The island as a whole is characterized by a cold, prolonged spring; humid and cool summers with fogs (the latter are more typical for Pacific coast); long, relatively warm and dry autumn; quite mild and snowy winter. Negative average monthly temperatures last from December to April, and night frosts are possible until the end of May. The average temperature in February in Yuzhno-Kurilsk is -5.6°С, in August +15.5°С. The average annual temperature (+5.2°C) approximately corresponds to Moscow, although autumn and winter are warmer here, and spring and summer are colder than in Moscow. On southwest coast, partially protected from sea winds by the ridge of the Shiretoko Peninsula, the climate is warmer: the average temperature in August reaches +17°С, and the average annual temperature exceeds +6°С. The warmest place in Kunashir is the valley of the river. Lake, which flows from the lake. hot. Only here is the only large area of ​​broad-leaved forest. Among the unusual natural climatic phenomena on the Kuril Islands in summer (usually from the second half of August) and autumn, powerful tropical cyclones (typhoons) are noted, accompanied by heavy rains (sometimes two-monthly precipitation falls in 2-3 days) and storm winds (gusts up to 38 m / With). The area of ​​the Southern Kuriles is characterized by a high annual rainfall, in Yuzhno-Kurilsk an average of 1269 mm falls per year. A large proportion of precipitation falls in the warm half of the year and less in the cold. The maximum precipitation occurs in September, the minimum - in February. The onset of the real seasons of the year is shifted by 15-30 days compared to the calendar dates. Spring and summer come almost a month later, autumn and winter are late for 15-20 days. The most favorable for visiting the island is the first half of August.

Flora

The flora of Kunashir is much richer and more diverse than on other islands of the archipelago. Coniferous forests of Sakhalin fir, Ayan spruce and Glen spruce are widespread on the island, in the south there are broad-leaved forests of fine-curly oak, maples, elm lobed, calopanax with a large participation of woody vines: acute actinidia and kolomikta, Chinese magnolia vine, vineyard, toxicodendron, petiole hydrangea , Kempfer grapes, Prince of Okhotsk, and others. Kuril bamboo, cedar dwarf, Sakhalin apple tree, bird cherry ssyori, Kuril cherry, spiky yew, euonymus, viburnum, hollies, rhododendrons grow in the undergrowth. Only in Kunashir in Russia, obovate magnolia is found in the wild. The abundance of southern species of plants and vines gives the forests of the island a subtropical look. The island also grows the oldest tree in the Far East - the yew "Sage". Its age is more than a thousand years, and its diameter exceeds 130 centimeters. forests are full of mushrooms.

Fauna

The fauna of Kunashir is also noticeably richer than on the other islands of the chain. Of the mammals, brown bear, sable, chipmunk, weasel, European mink, Shikotan vole, clawed shrew, Japanese mouse, red-gray vole, etc. live here. There are especially many birds - woodcocks, pygmy woodpeckers, red sparrows (extremely rare) , mandarin duck (presumably), kingfishers, Japanese snipe, yew tit, etc. A large island population of fish owl lives in Kunashir. Since the 1960s, the large piebald kingfisher has also started nesting on the island, the Japanese white-eye and the Japanese green dove are rare. Many sea birds nest on the rocks. Amphibian 3 species - Far Eastern tree frog, Far Eastern frog and Siberian salamander. Kunashir is the only island of the Kuril ridge where reptiles live: 3 species of snakes and the Far Eastern skink lizard. The waters of Kunashir are inhabited by seals - spotted seals and anturs, as well as sea lions and sea otters. Of the cetaceans, there are killer whales, minke whales, the Pacific white-sided dolphin, and the harbor porpoise.

Population

Population - about 8000 people. (2007).

Settlements

In the central part of the island, on the shores of the South Kuril Strait, there is the urban-type settlement of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the administrative center of the South Kuril urban district. Other settlements with approximate distances from Yuzhno-Kurilsk:

• Otrada - 4 km, earlier - the central estate of the state farm "Dalniy";
• Lagunnoye - 7 km, military unit (46th pool of the 18th machine gun and artillery division);
• Hot Beach - 8 km, border detachment, entry is limited, geothermal hydropathic;
• Mendeleevo - 24 km, airport;
• Oak - 50 km;
• Golovnino - 54 km.

Non-residential settlements: Sergeevka, Urvitovo, Dokuchaevo, Sernovodsk.

Transport

“To be honest, we really wanted the president to see how life is going on the islands, there is something to show there today. Airports are being developed there, berths, helipads are being built, and landscaping work is being carried out. The roads are starting to get better. On the islands and Kunashir and Iturup, two asphalt plants were purchased. A few more years will pass, and they will be completely transformed.”

Air communication is carried out through the Mendeleevo airport by the SAT airline with Sakhalin - Khomutovo airport (flights are often postponed due to weather conditions). Sea passenger and cargo transportation is carried out on the ship "Igor Farkhutdinov", which runs to the port in Korsakov on Sakhalin, as well as to the islands of Iturup and Shikotan.

visit

The entire territory of the island is a border zone. For entry, non-residents must obtain a pass at the Sakhalin Border Administration (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). In addition to this, the southern (from the Sernovodka river) and northern (from the Tyatinka river) parts of the island are the territory of the reserve; For tourist trips you need to get a pass at the administration of the reserve in Yuzhno-Kurilsk.

Economy

“In order for the social standards on the islands to correspond to Russian ones, of course, it is necessary that the services that citizens receive in this remote corner of our country approach the opportunities that exist both in the Sakhalin Region, in particular, and in the country as a whole.” .

The main industry is the extraction and processing of fish. The Mendeleev Geothermal Power Plant operates on the island, which provides heat and electricity to the island. Until 2016, about 150 military facilities will also be built on the islands of Iturup and Kunashir, including autonomous military camps with a developed social infrastructure.

Territorial disputes

The island of Kunashir is claimed by Japan, which considers the islands as original Japanese territories. According to the government website of Nemuro District of Japan, in the administrative division of Japan, the island is part of the Nemuro District of the Governorate of Hokkaido.

The problem of belonging to the southern Kuril Islands escalated in September 2010, when D. A. Medvedev intended to visit the islands, but due to weather conditions, the trip could not be made.

On November 1, 2010, President D. A. Medvedev was the first of the Soviet and Russian leaders to visit the island of Kunashir. In this regard, Japan responded with a diplomatic demarche - Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara recalled the Japanese ambassador from Russia "for consultations". Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan described the visit extremely negatively: “We continue to insist that these four 'northern islands' are Japanese territory. I think the decision of the President of Russia to visit this area is deplorable.” Japan's harsh reaction to the visit of the Russian leader, Moscow called unacceptable. "This is our land, the Russian president has visited Russian lands," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
On July 3, 2012, D. A. Medvedev, already in the rank of prime minister, revisited the island of Kunashir. The Japanese government expressed another protest about this. In particular, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said that "Medvedev's visit to Kunashir is a cold water for our relationship." To which D. A. Medvedev replied that “Regarding the reaction of our Japanese partners. I don't care about her. So indifferent that I don’t even want to waste time answering this question. ”

Notes

1. Nemuro County Map (Japanese)
2. 1 2 Administrative map of Japan (As of April 1, 2009)
3. Office of Northern Territories General Department of Hokkaido Governorate
4. Pyzhyanov F.I. Kunashir Island and Lesser Kuriles. Toponymic Dictionary. - M., 1994. Braslavets K. M. History in the names on the map of the Sakhalin region. - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 1983
5. 1 2 Seekwoo Lee Towards a Framework for the Resolution of the Territorial Dispute over the Kurile Islands // Boundary and Territory Briefing / Shelagh Furness and Clive Schofield. - International Boundaries Research Unit, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK, 2001. - Vol. 3, no. 6. - ISBN 1-897643-44-6.
6. Ann B. Irish. Hokkaido: A History of Ethnic Transition and Development on Japan's Northern Island. - McFarland, 2009. - S. 51. - 378 p. - ISBN 9780786454655.
7. 1 2 Kurile Islands. OOO "Kurily Tour"
8. Mikhail Tsiporukha. Martin Spanberg. Along the Kuril Ridge // Pioneers. Russian names on the map of Eurasia. - Enas-book, 2012. - ISBN 978-5-91921-130-3.
9. Kuril landing operation
10. Experts: recall of the Japanese ambassador from Russia is connected with the conflict between Tokyo and Beijing | world | RIA Novosti news feed
11. It was decided to rearm the Southern Kuriles
12. 1 2 Medvedev visited the place where the country begins
13. Kunashir | Sakhalin guide
14. Kunashir Island - Good morning favorite island! Author Perevalova Natalya Vasilievna, graduate of 1988 (teacher of Russian language and literature, MBOU secondary school No. 26, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
15. Russia, Sakhalin Region, Yuzhno-Kurilsky District, Andreevka River - Yandex. Cards
16. 1 2 3 10 features of the Kuril Islands - Victoria Chernysheva - Rossiyskaya Gazeta
17. Protected Areas of the Russian Federation - State Natural Reserve "Kurilsky"
18. Reserve "Kurilsky" - List of species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation
19. The Red Book of Russia
20. Protected areas EN - Kuril Reserve
21. Russian island with Japanese soul | GEO
22. Kunashir Island: forest belt
23. Specially protected natural territories of the Russian Federation
24. Magnolia blossomed in Kunashir | ASTV news
25. DisCollection.ru:: Small mammals of the southern Kuril Islands
26. RIZh - Tangerine (Aix galericulata)
27. RIZh - Yew Tit (Parus varius)
28. RIZH - Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonica)
29. RIZH - Green pigeon (Sphenurus sieboldii)
30. Reptiles, amphibians and natural beauties of the Russian Far East
31. Kunashir Island | Kuril Travel Company
32. News NEWSru.com:: 150 Russian military installations to be built on several islands of the South Kuriles claimed by Japan
33. Japan will reconsider the direction of solving the territorial problem
34. Map of Nemuro County
35. The Hokkaido government's views on the Northern Territories issue
36. Medvedev first arrived in the Kuril Islands, which Tokyo claims
37. Japan recalls ambassador from Russia for consultations
38. Sergey Lavrov commented on the reaction Japanese side for Dmitry Medvedev's trip to the Kuriles
39. "Tub of cold water." Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuril Islands for the second time in two years
40. Medvedev is indifferent to Japan's reaction to his visit to the Kuriles

Topographic maps

• Map sheet L-55-XXXII Yuzhno-Kurilsk
• Map sheet L-55-XXXIII Volk. Aunt. Scale: 1:200,000. Indicate the date of issue/state of the area.
• Map sheet K-55-II Golovnino. Scale: 1:200,000. State of the area for 1974-81. Edition 1984

Links

• Ebb and flow schedule for the Sakhalin region
• Documentary film "Kunashir - the island of volcanoes"

kunashir, kunashir and iturup, kunashir iturup, kunashir strait, kunashir island

Kunashir Information About

/ Kunashir Island

Kunashir Island

Kunashir Island is the southernmost island in the Great Kuril Ridge. Its length from northeast to southwest is about 122 km, its maximum width is up to 30 km, and its minimum width is about 4 km. The area is 1490 km 2. The island is widened at the northern end and stretched in a narrow strip to the southwest. Unlike o. Etorofu, the coastline of this island is not so sharply dissected. Capes protrude far into the sea only in the northeast (Cape Ataia) and in the southeast (Cape Keramoi). There are no bays deeply protruding into the island. The shores of the island are mostly steep, elevated and rocky, although along with them there are low-lying shores.

According to Japanese sources, Fr. Kunasiri became known to Russians later than other islands of the Kuril chain. However, at the time the Russians appeared on the island, it was not an official possession of Japan. Ivan Kozyravsky, who sailed in 1713 on the instructions of the Kamchatka clerk Kolesov “to explore the sea of ​​islands, new lands, all people and the Japanese state against the Kamchatka (Southern) Cape for crossings,” reported that on about. 14 (Kunashiri) “the inhabitants are very rich and do not differ from the inhabitants of other islands, but whether they are a free people or dependent on the city of Matmai, which is on the island of Matmai (Hokkaido), is unknown” (Polonsky, p. 392). In 1744, foreman M. Novorablenny received information that a "noble Japanese from Matmai" wanted the Russians to bring their goods directly to Kunashiri. Taen Watchmen, having visited Kunasiri, reported in 1755 that some of the shaggy ones were persuaded here to pay tribute, that is, they recognized the dominion of Russia.

Only at the end of the XVIII century. on Kunashiri, along with the settlements of the "shaggy" Kurilians, Japanese trading posts and fortified points with military garrisons were founded. In 1769, the centurion Cherny received news that the Japanese were living on about. Kunashiri, where they have a city with a fortress and a permanent garrison on their far shoulder blade. But even at that time, the "furry" actually lived still completely freely on the 19th, 20th and 21st islands. With Japan, they "did not have any other relations than trade" (Polonsky, p. 418).

By the beginning of the XIX century. Japanese colonized southern part islands. In 1811, Captain Golovnin was met with cannon fire from a fortified village when, wanting to describe the southern Kuril Islands, he went into the bay on about. Kuyaasiri. With the formal delimitation of the possessions of Fr. Kunashiri was beyond the borders of Russia. To get acquainted with the nature of the island, at first, the Russians did, however, no less than the Japanese.

In geological terms, the island is a continuation of about. Etorof. It is composed of a complex of predominantly volcanic rocks and partly dislocated crystalline schists. Ancient sedimentary rocks, more or less metamorphosed, come to the surface on the southeastern side of the island and in its extreme northeast.

Volcanic chain of the Great Kuril Ridge about. Kunashiri, as it were, wedged between two capes about. Hokkaido - Shiretoko and Nosyasha. From fossils on about. Kunashiri mined sulfur. Sulfur mines have been established in Furukampu Bay, on the eastern slope of Mount Shimanobori and elsewhere.

The surface of Kunashiri is composed of three mountain ranges, interconnected by low swampy lintels with lonely low tops and hills. The most extensive and highest northern massif with the Qiaqia peak rises to 1845 m and fills the entire northeastern part of the island with its spurs.

Mount Qiaqia (Peak of St. Anthony, Mount Cha-cha-nabori) has the shape of a magnificent (Snow) volcano, the second highest along the entire ridge after Araito, with a double cone, with the upper one rising from the crater of the lower one. This is a typical volcano that has not been active for a long time, like Vesuvius, with a well-defined somma, which from a distance seems to be a terrace on a steep mountainside. The top of the mountain is visible from afar, even in cloudy weather; only with east winds is it completely covered with clouds. Both when swimming and when flying, the top of the mountain serves as a good guide, and in autumn and winter, the appearance of clouds on the southern slope of the mountain is usually associated with the approach of a storm from the northwest. From the end of October to June the summit is covered with snow. A spur branches off from this ridge to the north, forming a massive northern ledge of the island, ending with Cape Rurui (Revausi) with a sharp peak of Rurui, 1506 m high, noticeable when approaching the island from all directions.

At the southern foot of Mount Qiaqia, the rounded peak of Maru (691 m) rises alone. From the mountain group Tsyatsya - Rurui, its winding branches stretch to the west, reaching the domed black Ebakarausi mountain (855 m), then turning to the southwest. Having dropped to 441 m at the top of the Daikey, the mountain range is interrupted by a plain that separates it from the middle mountain range. This entire northern stretch of mountains is deeply dissected by intermountain basins and narrow, deep gorges. Smooth surfaces are rare and mostly located on the outskirts of the mountains. The spurs of the mountains break off to the sea with high cliffs.

The middle ridge, narrow and steep, begins active volcano Shimanobori, located almost in the middle of the island. Of the three pointed peaks that border the crater of the volcano, the highest Rouse nobori has a height of 895 m and descends to the northwest in a series of inaccessible cliffs, separated by stone placers. From the cracks of the Shimanobori crater, sulfurous gases continuously come out and in places hot springs are knocked out, descending along the slopes, coloring them with whitish bands of sulfur deposits. To the south, the ridge drops to 8-19 m in Mount Rausu and 487 m in Mount Maru. The slopes of the ridge are sharply dissected by hollows and are stepped in places. Along the edges of the ridge is bordered by low foothills and groups of hills, turning into coastal terraces or directly breaking off to the sea.

Southern mountain range below others. Mount Tomari (Uru-chi) rises here as a regular volcanic cone up to 543 m in height. On the northern slope of the mountain, white gases are escaping from the cracks of the cliff, ashen-colored, as is the case at the foot of the mountain in the tidal zone.

River valleys in the mountains are deeply incised, narrow, and often form gorges. The hollows of many streams break off at steep banks with hanging mouths, from where spectacular waterfalls fall.

We pass the island on foot everywhere, with the exception of steep ascents and descents in the northern ridge, in the area of ​​Mount Qiaqia. There are no significant difficulties for horse and motor transport on the flat areas of the coasts and in the lowlands crossing the island.

The valleys of rivers and streams in the mountains are covered with pebbles and large boulders, on the plains - with pebbles and sand, and in the estuarine areas - with sands. Low capes in the northeast (Atoia) and south (Cape Keramoi) are composed of sand from the surface.

The rivers are short and shallow. In the mountains they are swift and swell violently during the summer rains; on the plains, they spread widely over swampy floodplains. Many small rivers and streams cascade down steep cliffs. Near villages. From a steep wooded cape, Tsihunbetsu rushes down the spectacular Sokoboi waterfall, about 6 meters wide and high. In the north of the island, only one significant stream flows out of the lake. Nishibirokuno. Onnebetsu River. The only significant river on the southeast coast of the island. It originates on the slopes of Mount Qiaqia, flows into the shallow bay of Tsinomizi near the villages. Tsinomizi. The flow of the river is fast. Furukampu river. It flows into Furukamappu Bay, flowing out of the lake of the same name. Malovodna. The flow is slow. Iwayoshinosawa river. It empties into Furukampu Bay.

In addition to these rivers, different places southeast coast small mountain streams flow, for example, near villages. Kunashiri, Nakanokotan, Tokkarimui.

There are no significant rivers on the northwestern slope of the island. But there are many mountain streams, sometimes ending at their mouths with picturesque waterfalls.

There are several lakes on the island. The largest of them are located near the coast in flat areas.

Lake Nishibirokuno. Located in the north at the eastern foot of Mount Otabetsu. Its length from north to south is about 12 km. The depth is insignificant. A shallow stream flows out of the lake.

Lake Higashibirokuno. It is located in the north, 0.2 km from Siranuco Bay. The lake is 2.6 km long, 1.3 km wide, and about 5 m deep. The water is fresh.

Lake Ichibisinai. Lies in the south, near the northern foot of Mount Tomari. Sulfur ore was mined from the bottom of the lake.

Lake Nikishioro. Coastal, located in the Bay of Nikishiioro. The lake is separated from the sea by a narrow pebble shaft.

All rivers and lakes freeze from November-December to March-April. Hot sulfur springs with a significant debit are knocked out on the shore of the Furukampu bay near the villages. Seseki. The vegetation of the island is more diverse and richer in species than on about. Etorof.

In the composition of coniferous trees, along with the Jessica spruce, Glen spruce and Sakhalin fir are widespread. In the south there are broad-leaved species - oak and maple. The flat places of the island are covered with dense thickets of sasa, which in some places form an impenetrable "jungle".

Valleys and depressions on the plains and in the mountains are swampy and overgrown with bushes of willow, alder and wild rosemary. Moss bogs of green mosses and sphagnum alternate with tussock sedge bogs.

On elevated, better-drained surfaces and on mountain slopes, mixed and coniferous timber forests grow, covering peaks up to 800-900 m. Their composition is diverse. At low levels - birch, aspen, spruce, fir; on the wind-protected and southern slopes - an admixture of oak and maple. The rich undergrowth consists of juniper, dwarf dwarf birch, cotoneaster, wild rosemary, mountain ash, viburnum and berry bushes and subshrubs - blackberries, lingonberries, blueberries, etc. In the grass cover - wild garlic, angelica, fern, hellebore, henbane, wild onion, sarana, buttercups, field carnation and others, forming flowery tall grasses in glades. There are many mushrooms in the forests.

In the extreme south of the island near the villages. Tomari oak and maple form groves with rich undergrowth. As the surface rises above sea level, the forests thin out, the trees take on an oppressed appearance, their crown often takes on a flag shape. Stone birch and cedar forest grow in higher vegetation belts. The highest peaks are treeless; along the erosion furrows they are covered with mosses, on stony placers - with lichens. On the low sandy and pebbly coasts, the vegetation is sparse, but it is not inferior in density and species composition to the vegetation of similar places on the island. Etorof.

In the sea around the island, and especially on the reefs at its northern and southern ends and at the rocky capes, extensive thickets of seaweed and other algae are developed. The fauna is very rich in the coastal waters of the island. Lots of seals and dolphins; whales are not uncommon in the straits and bays.

Rurui bay. The bay is on the north coast; it is small and shallow. Its shores are mostly steep and rocky, with a narrow pebble beach. The northern part of the bay near the low coast is deep and safe for small boats. To the south of Cape Atoia, the low sandy coast gradually rises and gives way to the steep cliffs of Cape Aka-ishi, where landing is not possible.

Siranuka bay. The bay lies to the southwest of Cape Akaishi and has an entrance from the southeast. Elevations up to 240 m in height, located on the eastern side, and Mount Qiatsya on the western side, cover the bay from all winds, except for the southeast and south. Cape Ikabanotsu, which limits Oiranuka Bay from the west, is steep; at a height of 23 m, a steep cliff turns into a flat, terraced plateau that accompanies the coast at a great distance. On the roads of Tsinomizi (Chinomizi), this terrace recedes from the coast into the interior of the island. There are villages here on a wide sandy beach. Tsinomizi.

Furukampu bay. The only convenient, non-freezing, although shallow bay on the entire southeastern coast of the island, open only to winds from the south and southeast. In the north-west of the bay, low meadow and wooded shores of the island pass into a swampy plain from the river. Furukamappu and the lake of the same name. Steep, rocky shores limit the bay from other sides.

South of Furukampu Bay, the coast is rocky and wooded; it stretches in a dark strip to Cape Keramoi and ends with a low and narrow sandy spit of this cape, protruding 8.3 km into the sea.

The southern coast of the island between capes Keramoi and Nottetto forms Tomari Bay (Treason). The village of Uennai was located on the northwestern side of Cape Uennai. The village had 20 houses, a post office, a telegraph office, and a hotel.

The village of Furukampu was located in the northeast corner of the bay of the same name. In the village, together with the adjacent villages of Okinokotan and Isoyanbetsu, there were 50 houses. There was a post office with a telegraph and shops.

Tofutsu village. It had 300 inhabitants, mostly loggers and fishermen.

There are few small islands near Kunasiri. For the most part these are small in area, high and steep rocks: Suiken, Benten and Tokkari in the north and Rebun, Ari and Seseki - near the southeastern coast. All of them are treeless and inaccessible. They descend to the sea by sheer cliffs with wave-cut niches; pebble-block beaches are narrow. Common underwater reefs and rocks, partly drying out at low tide.