IZU-NO-SHICHI-TO, the seven (shichi) islands (to) of Izu, included in the empire of Japan. They stretch in a southerly direction from a point near the mouth of Tokyo bay, and lie between 33° and 48' N. and between 139° and 14o° E. Their names, beginning from the north, are Izu-no-Oshima, To-shima, Nii-shima, Kozu-shima, Miyake-shima and Hachijo-shima. There are some islets in their immediate vicinity. Izu-no-Oshima, an island io m. long and 51 m. wide, is 15 m. from the nearest point
of the Izu promontory. It is known to western cartographers as Vries island, a name derived from that of Captain Martin Ger ritsz de Vries, a Dutch navigator, who is supposed to have discovered the island in 1643. But the group was known to the Japanese from a remote period, and was used as a convict settle ment from the 12th century. Izu-no-Oshima is remarkable for its smoking volcano, Mihara-yama (2,461 ft.).