Most of the administrative towns of Tokunoshima and Amagi are covered in mountains and rolling hills, with Mount Inokawadake at 645 meters (2,116 ft) above sea level as the island's highest peak.

The administrative town of Isen along the southwestern slope of the island is more flat, with fertile soil suitable for agriculture.

[2] Much of the island remains covered in laurel forests, although many areas have been extensively cleared for agriculture.

There are many caves on the island, the longest of which measures 2,052 meters (6,732 ft) and is located in the area of Isen.

The Amami rabbit is sometimes called a living fossil because it represents an ancient Asian lineage that has elsewhere disappeared.

The presence of habu has kept the forests on the island largely unvisited and more rugged areas relatively untouched.

Starting in the 11th century, Tokunoshima was the primary producer of a grey stoneware called Kamui ware that has been found in hundreds of archaeological sites throughout the Ryukyu Islands and southern Kyūshū.

Satsuma rule was harsh, with the inhabitants of the island reduced to serfdom and forced to raise sugar cane to meet high taxation, which often resulted in famine.

Following World War II, with the other Amami Islands, it was occupied by the United States until 1953, at which time it reverted to the control of Japan.

In 2006, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama offered the use of Tokunoshima to the United States as a relocation site for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, leading to widespread protests and opposition from local officials.

The local cuisine of the island combines standard Japanese fare with Okinawan dishes such as goya chanpurū.

Tokunoshima is known for tōgyū, a Japanese style of bullfighting in which human coaches encourage bulls with locked horns to push each other out of a ring.

Sweet potatoes, rice, ginger, and tropical fruit such as mangoes, papaya, and bananas are also grown.

The area is named for the way the flat stone slabs resemble mushiro, a Japanese term for woven straw mats.

Cape Inutabu, the westernmost point of the island, features a stunning ocean view and a memorial, built in April 1968, to the Japanese battleship Yamato and her escorts, which were sunk near Tokunoshima during the final stages of World War II.

Another notable seaside attraction is Innojofuta, an area of jagged, eroded coral rock with dramatic ocean vistas.