[2] Yakushima's electricity is more than 50% hydroelectric, and surplus power has been used to produce hydrogen gas in an experiment by Kagoshima University.

In the Wilderness core area (12.19 square kilometres (3,010 acres)) of the World Heritage Site, no record of past tree cutting can be traced.

The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) separates it from the nearby island of Tanegashima, which is home to the Japanese Space Centre.

Major settlements of the island, composing Yakushima Municipality, are the port towns of Anbō and Miyanoura.

Among the localities, there are the gorges of Shiratani Unsui, Arakawa, Yakushima Airport, Kigensugi and Yakusugi.

During the Edo period, Yakushima was ruled by the Shimazu clan of the Satsuma Domain and was considered part of Ōsumi Province.

In November 2023, a United States Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Yakushima, killing 7 crewmen with 1 last crewman missing.

Traditionally, the economic mainstays of the population were forestry and the export of wood products (principally cedar roof shingles), and commercial fishing.

[citation needed] Yakushima contains one of the largest tracts of existing Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests, an endangered habitat ecoregion.

The coastal areas have coral reefs in places, although to a much lesser extent than are found farther south in the islands of Okinawa.

In addition to this secondary forest, there are some remaining areas of primary forest, composed mainly of a variety of Cryptomeria japonica, or Japanese cedar, known as yakusugi (屋久杉), the best known single example of which is named the Jōmon Sugi (縄文杉), as its age is estimated to date to at least the Jōmon period of Japanese history, 2300 years ago.

There are drier periods in autumn and winter, while the heaviest downpours occur in spring and summer, often accompanied by landslides.

It is the southernmost place in Japan where there is snow in the mountains, often for months, while the ocean temperature is never below 19 °C (66 °F) See or edit raw graph data.

According to a disputed theory, airborne pollutants from the People's Republic of China may have affected Yakushima white pine in the forest on the island.

As of 2019, the runway was in the process of extension from 1500m to 2000m, which would allow jet aircraft to operate and a wider range of destinations to be served.