Japanese islands in the Pacific, N of the Marianas and 1,300 km/800 mi E of the Ryukyu Islands. They were under US control 1945–68. The Bonin Islands (Japanese Ogasawara Gunto) number 27 (in three groups), the largest being Chichijima: area 104 sq km/40 sq mi, The Volcano Islands (Japanese Kazan Retto) number three, including Iwo Jima, scene of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II; total area 28 sq km/11 sq mi. They have no civilian population, but a 200-strong maritime self-defense force and a 100-strong air self-defense force are stationed there.