Chichijima: The Remote Pacific Island That Once Served as a Secret Nuclear Depot

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Known as Father Island, this remote Japanese outpost has a history as complex as its geography. From its 1830 settlement by an international group of whalers to its role as a strategic World War II fortress and a clandestine Cold War nuclear storage site, Chichijima remains a unique Pacific crossroads.

Located about 240 kilometers north of Iwo Jima, Chichijima is the largest of the Bonin Islands. While early myths suggested discovery by Spanish explorers, the island remained uninhabited until 1830, when a diverse group including Hawaiians, Americans, and Europeans established a settlement. By the mid-19th century, the island became a strategic interest for the United States, with Commodore Matthew C. Perry formally claiming it for a coaling station in 1853. However, Japanese sovereignty was firmly established by 1862, and the island was later incorporated into the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

During World War II, the island served as a critical communication and supply hub for the Japanese military, housing a heavy garrison and long-range radio stations. It was never captured by Allied forces, though it endured frequent air attacks. The postwar period brought two decades of United States occupation, during which the military destroyed Japanese infrastructure and restricted resettlement. Notably, research published in 2000 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists revealed that the United States used Chichijima to store nuclear weapons during the 1950s, a fact that stood in stark contrast to Japan's subsequent non-nuclear principles.

Today, Chichijima is home to about 2,000 people and serves as a center for scientific research, hosting a radio telescope for deep space study and a downrange station for tracking rocket trajectories. The island's unique cultural heritage persists through the Obeikei, descendants of the original 19th-century settlers who maintain a blend of Western and Japanese identities. Conservation efforts also define modern life on the island; while green turtles were once a staple food source, their harvest is now strictly limited to a single licensed fisherman, with the local government operating a facility to protect and release hatchlings to stabilize the population.

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