Nii Oshima

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Nii Ōshima (新居大島, or sometimes just Ōshima, 大島) is an island located roughly 1.5 kilometers northeast of the city of Niihama (which it is officially a part of) in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It has a circumference of approximately 8 kilometers and an estimated population of 400. The primary occupations on the island include raising shrimp for consumption, and growing mikan and a distinctive type of white potato.

Due to its rapidly aging population and its geographic isolation from Niihama and the main island of Shikoku, Nii Ōshima faces serious problems of depopulation. There is a ferry that runs between Nii Ōshima and Niihama approximately once every hour, taking fifteen minutes to complete a one-way journey. At one point there was the possibility that a bridge might be built to connect Ōshima and Shikoku, but these plans are now considered to be unlikely to be executed.

On the southern side of the island sit the remains of Ōshima Castle. This, along with the presence of two Shintō shrines on this small island hint at Ōshima's former importance as a regional center of trade and commerce.