日本の島々

Island Diversity

From windswept to subtropical

D The Okinawa archipelago is made up of 160 small islands.

With close to 7,000 islands in total—both large and small, inhabited and deserted—Japan is undoubtedly an island nation. The area known as mainland Japan is actually comprised of five large islands—Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa—while around these are small island groups like the Oki, Izu, Ogasawara, and Yaeyama islands. Take a trip to these outer reaches and you will be rewarded with a broader and deeper experience of Japan.

Islands of Exile

Looking north to the Sea of Japan, Sado Island off the coast of Niigata and the four Oki Islands off Shimane are all rugged and windswept northern isles that were once places of exile—the monk Nichiren was a famous exile on Sado in the 1270s, and the Emperor Go-Toba died in exile on Oki in 1239. Far off many visitors’ radars, they are wonderful, undervisited destinations, with fishing and agriculture as their mainstays. Sado hosts the annual Earth Celebration music festival in August, while the Oki Islands offer a taste of slow island life amid stunning nature—a patchwork of rocky shores, pretty beaches, and highlands where cows and horses graze.

D Sado Island was once the home of political exiles.

Tokyo Side Trips

The easiest island chain to visit is the Izu Islands, just off the southern coast of Tokyo and administratively part of the capital. The largest of them, Oshima—which has the volcanic Mount Mihara at its center—is only 1 hour 45 minutes by jetfoil from Tokyo Bay and is especially pretty when camellias are in bloom in early spring. In the same chain, Niijima is good for surfers, while Miyakejima—an overnight ferry away—has great hiking, diving, and hot-spring baths.

Sun-kissed Retreats

Technically still in Tokyo Prefecture, the 30 small Ogasawara Islands 600 miles (1,000 km) south of mainland Tokyo are well worth the 24-hour ferry trip. In 2011, they received UNESCO designation for their natural beauty and diversity, which encompasses coral reefs, indigenous wildlife, and rare flora and fauna. The islands of Okinawa are similarly stunning, with the subtropical Yaeyamas in particular standing out for their incredible diversity. Highlights in the archipelago include the preserved villages on Taketomi, where water buffalo taxi carts are still a common sight; the dense jungle and mangrove groves of Iriomote; and the pristine beaches and diving sites of Ishigaki.

D Wildlife found off the Ogasawara Islands includes Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.

Be More Japan Island Diversity