Qualla: Tsushima Island

Tsushima Island: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit LERK, Public domain. Look at a map of the Korea Strait and Tsushima appears as a stepping stone, the obvious waypoint between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula. For centuries, that is exactly what it was. Diplomats, traders, invaders, and refugees all passed through this mountainous, forested island, and the people of Tsushima built a culture defined by the tension between two great civilizations pressing from either side. Today, with a population of about 28,500 and forests covering ninety percent of its surface, the island feels remote from both nations it once connected.

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Image: LERK | Public domain

Tsushima Island: The Wildcat's Island

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pontafon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Tsushima's ecology reads like a crossroads of Asian wildlife. The Tsushima leopard cat, a critically endangered subspecies, stalks the island's forests alongside Japanese martens and Siberian weasels. Otters, thought to have vanished from the island entirely, were rediscovered li...

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Image: Pontafon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Tsushima Island: Bridge Between Empires

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Tsushima's strategic position made it impossible to ignore. The So clan governed the island for centuries, maintaining careful diplomatic relations with both Japan and Korea. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched his invasions of Korea in 1592, his armies staged through Tsushima, and ...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Tsushima Island: Ninety Percent Forest

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit self, CC BY 3.0. Stand anywhere on Tsushima and you are likely surrounded by trees. The island's terrain is almost entirely mountainous, with peaks reaching up to 649 meters at Mount Yatate, and the few plains that exist are narrow strips along river valleys. Forests of broad-leafed evergreens, c...

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Image: self | CC BY 3.0

Tsushima Island: Between Two Shores

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Immanuelle, CC BY 4.0. Tsushima sits closer to South Korea than to mainland Japan: roughly 50 kilometers from Busan versus 132 kilometers from Fukuoka. This proximity shaped the island's modern identity in unexpected ways. Korean tourists, drawn by the short ferry ride from Busan, once outnumbered Japa...

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Image: Immanuelle | CC BY 4.0