archipelago, Kagoshima ken (prefecture), Japan, lying south of the Ōsumi Peninsula of Kyushu. It consists of Tanega Island and Yaku Island and several smaller isles, with a combined area of about 475 square miles (1,230 square km). The chief town is Nishinoomote on the northwest coast of Tanega. In 1543 the Portuguese landed on Tanega and introduced the first sugarcane and guns into Japan. Pop. (1990) 53,033.