5 Villages 6 Islands

Overview

5 Villages 6 Islands is a domestic submarine cable system serving Japan, connecting nine island communities within Japanese territory. At 355 km in total length, it links a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean south of the Japanese mainland, providing connectivity across a geographically dispersed island corridor entirely within Japan.

Route and Landings

All landing points are located in Japan. The cable serves nine island destinations: Aogashima, Hachijo, Kozushima, Mikurashima, Miyake, Niijima, Oshima, Shikinejima, and Toshima. These islands form an arc extending southward from the Tokyo metropolitan area into the Pacific Ocean, collectively known as the Izu and Ogasawara island chains.

Ownership and Operators

The cable is owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, making it a publicly administered infrastructure asset. As the governing body responsible for the Tokyo metropolitan region, which includes these remote island communities, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government directly finances and manages this connection to ensure the islands receive reliable telecommunications access.

Status and Timeline

The cable entered service in 2019, linking all nine island landing points under a single domestic system.

Regional Context

Japan is one of the most heavily connected countries in the Asia-Pacific region, served by numerous long-distance international submarine cables. Systems such as EAC-C2C, APCN-2, Trans-Pacific Express, JUPITER, New Cross Pacific, and the Australia-Japan Cable collectively extend tens of thousands of kilometres across the Pacific and into broader Asian networks. The 5 Villages 6 Islands cable occupies an entirely different role within this landscape: at 355 km, it is a short-haul domestic system focused on island connectivity rather than international capacity, serving communities that would otherwise lack a direct undersea link to the mainland network.

Strategic Role

By connecting nine island communities across a 355 km route, the 5 Villages 6 Islands cable extends telecommunications reach to remote populated islands under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The concentration of all landing points within a single administrative region reflects the cable's purpose as a community connectivity project rather than a commercial or international transit system. Its presence ensures that residents across these scattered Pacific islands can access the wider national network through a dedicated undersea connection.