南大東島運用でさっそく欧州(スイス・スペイン)からQSLカードが送られてきた。
とりいそぎ返送しなくてはいけないのでQSLカードの送付レターを作った。
これを使って、交信ありがと!!と手書きで記載してQSL添付の予定。
レターの下部には、南大東島の歴史を記載した。
ちなみに、その歴史、添付写真じゃ見れないと思うので、下記に記載する。
== MINAMI DAITO ISLAND HISTORY ==
It is uncertain when Minamidaito island was first discovered. It is the most likely that their first sighting was by the Spanish navigator Bernardo de la Torre in 1543, in between 25 September and 2 October, during his abortive attempt to reach New Spain from the Philippines with the San Juan de Letran. It was then charted, together with Kitadaito island, as Las Dos Hermanas (The Two Sisters). There is little doubt that Minamidaito island and Kitadaito island were again sighted by the Spanish in 28 July 1587, by Pedro de Unamuno who named them Islas sin Probecho (Useless Islands). In 1788 the British captain John Meares named an island in the vicinity “Grampus Island”, but the recorded coordinates are not correct and it is not certain which of the Daito island he sighted[citation needed]. The French also reported sighting an island in 1807[citation needed]. However, on 2 July 1820 the Russian vessel Borodino surveyed the two Daito islands, and named the south as "South Borodino Island".
The island remained uninhabited until formally claimed by the Empire of Japan in 1885. In 1900, a team of pioneers from Hachijojima island, one of the Izu Islands located 287 killometers (178 mi) south of Tokyo led by Tamaoki Han'emon (1838 – 1910), became the first human inhabitants of the island, and started the cultivation of sugar cane. The population reached 4000 in 1919. During this period until World War II, Minamidaito island was owned in its entirety by Dai Nippon Sugar (now Dai Nippon Meiji Sugar), which provided community services and subsidized pricing for its employees, and of whom were seasonal workers from Okinawa and Taiwan.
The island was garrisoned by the Japanese military in 1942. As the war situation worsened for Japan, many of the civilian inhabitants were evacuated to Okinawa, Kyushu or Hachijojima in 1944. The island was repeatedly bombed and shelled by the United States Navy from February to June 1945.
After World War II, the island was occupied by the United States, at which time its civilian population was 1426. The island was returned to Japan in 1972.