Change of Name for Iwo Jima

The Japanese island of Iwo Jima has been renamed, 62 years after it became the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the second world war.

The Japanese Geographical Survey Institute agreed to requests by disgruntled former residents who objected to the name and wanted it changed back to the original, Iwo To.

Iwo To is written using the same kanji characters as Iwo Jima and has the same meaning - sulphur island - but is pronounced differently. It was used by the island's 1,000 civilians until they were evacuated in 1944. The newer version was reportedly used in error by Japanese naval officers when they arrived on the island ahead of the expected US invasion and has stuck ever since.

Demands to reinstate the original name grew this year after the release of Clint Eastwood's film about Japanese soldiers who fought in the battle, Letters From Iwo Jima. His other Iwo Jima film, Flags of Our Fathers, told the story from an American perspective.

"Though we are happy for Iwo To, which has been forgotten by history, the islanders are extremely aggrieved every time they hear [it] referred to as Iwo Jima," a local newspaper reported.

Iwo To lies about 700 miles south of Tokyo but, as part of the Ogasawara chain, falls under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo metropolitan government. Ogasawara authorities adopted a resolution recognizing the old name, and residents called on the central government to follow suit.

"These people are now scattered nationwide and are not able to go back to Iwo To," Mitsugu Aizawa of the survey institute told the Associated Press. "[They] said that the place is originally called Iwo To and their claim led to this revision."

Younger male residents were kept on the island to help fight the advancing US forces, who landed on February 19 1945, sparking a fierce battle that lasted five weeks. The Americans had estimated it would be over in four days. About 6,800 US soldiers died and 17,000 were injured; only 1,080 of the 22,000 Japanese troops defending the island survived. The remains of about 13,000 of them lie where they fell.

The civilian population was not allowed to return after the war, and the island was used by the US military. It reverted to Japanese control in 1968 and now acts as a base for Japanese soldiers and visiting US navy airmen.

The island still has thousands of tunnels and foxholes dug by the Japanese in anticipation of the US invasion. The volcanic Mount Suribachi, where the photographer Joe Rosenthal captured his image of six US soldiers raising the Stars and Stripes, has shown signs of activity in recent months.