, also spelled as Oki Daitō or Oki-Daitō, previously known as , is an uninhabited island in the Daitō

Daito Islands

Daitō Islands are three islands that lie about east of Okinawa. From north to south, the islands are:* Data from 2004 Nov 20, 08:55 version of Japanese Wikipedia...

 island group southeast of Okinawa, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It belongs to Kitadaitō Village

Kitadaito, Okinawa

is a village located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa, Japan. It is administers on Kitadaitō island and the deserted Okidaitō island.As of 2008, the village has an estimated population of 573 and the density of 43.7 persons per km². The total area is 13.10 km²....

. It was formally incorporated into Japan in 1900.

The island was exploited for phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 ore for a long period in the 20th century. The Rasa Island Phosphate Ore Company, now Rasa Industries, was set up for this purpose in 1911.

The island has been uninhabited since 1945. From 1956, the island was used as a shooting range

Shooting range

A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...

 of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Because of the usage, the island now lacks any trees.