The subtropical islands that are 1,000km from Tokyo but still part of the city

White sands, forest-topped islands and sapphire waters. The scene screams Hawaii, but technically I’m in Tokyo. I’m within the Ogasawara Islands, an archipelago of greater than 30 islands within the Pacific Ocean which, regardless of being sprinkled 1,000km south of the frenetic skyscraper-filled capital, are thought-about a subprefecture of it.

These oceanic islands, fashioned by undersea volcanic eruptions some 62 million years in the past, are Japan’s equal of the Galapagos – by no means linked to a continent, house to distinctive natural world, divine seashores and world-class diving. Throughout three weeks’ journey throughout Japan, not a single particular person I met had visited. Most hadn’t even heard of the Ogasawara Islands.

Regardless of being made a Unesco World Heritage website in 2011 as a consequence of its distinct ecosystems, one-of-a-kind crops and uniquely developed land snails, Ogasawara has remained off the overwhelmed monitor. To get there requires a 24-hour ferry from Tokyo, which solely departs as soon as per week; solely 300 abroad guests make the journey annually.

Within the age of on the spot journey gratification, the pull of a gradual journey to a hardly ever visited wilderness is irresistible. So, in my remaining week in Japan I board the Ogasawara-Maru, a hulking liner with an 890-berth capability, sure for Chichijima, the bigger of Ogasawara’s two inhabited islands, house to 2,000 folks. Puttering away from the Tokyo skyline, web connection trails off and the rock of the open ocean ramps up.

Lodging ranges from a roll-mat house on a communal cabin flooring to fancier non-public suites, however I go for a mid-range room with two skinny single beds. On the highest deck are Japanese retirees rocking waistcoats and solar visors in an oddly stylish ballroom-on-hols look, whereas on the promenade ranges are birdwatchers who pap brown boobies torpedoing into the water with army precision. A fellow lone traveller, Japanese trainer Noriko Eguchi, is right here for “what’s beneath the water”. She’s a scuba nut, tempted by tales of sea turtles and wild dolphins. Additionally, between January and April, humpbacks move by, whereas from June to November sperm whales arrive.

Twenty-four hours later, forested peaks with licks of blinding-white seashores become visible, and we drop anchor in Futami Bay. Chichijima’s predominant city constitutes two sleepy streets – a strip of brightly painted guesthouses and a handful of locations to eat. Displaying me round is translator Ludy Sforza, who swapped Tokyo for Chichijima seven years in the past. He factors out two dinky supermarkets, saying: “I don’t like to buy immediately. When the boat brings recent meals, it’s too hectic.” I’m charmed that grocery store rush hour means a 10-deep queue. 

Alongside a tiny parade of eating places, one is California-cool; one other has Hawaii-look surfboard stacks exterior; and a Japanese seafood joint sits near a home the place an American flag flutters. The multicultural surroundings displays the Ogasawara Islands’ complicated historical past. Found by Japan’s Ogasawara Sayadori within the 16th century, Chichijima was first settled in 1830 by a bunch of Individuals, Hawaiians and Europeans. Within the late 19th century, the islands grew to become a Japanese territory, had been later evacuated and used as army bases within the Second World Struggle, earlier than falling beneath American occupation in 1946, then handed again to the Japanese in 1968. These days, a number of cultures co-exist.

For a slow-paced place, there’s lots to do. First up, seashores. Ten minutes from the guesthouses I keep at – Pension Cabbage Seashore and Papa’s Island Resort, each easy, homely spots the place flip-flops are left on the doorways – are the white sands at Sakaiura Seashore. Simply offshore are the stays of a Second World Struggle vessel the place sea turtles outnumber snorkellers. A brief drive away is Kominato Seashore, a mixture of silvery sand and a mirror-like lagoon edged by pillow lava hills which seem like clenched large’s fists.

Out at sea the subsequent morning, a ship from Take Nature Academy whizzes me via bumpy waves in direction of Minamijima, an uninhabited, protected island restricted to 100 guests a day. Leaving Futami Bay, pods of bottlenose dolphins skip via the waters. It kills me to not cease and swim with them, however tide ranges need to be just-so to land on Minamijima, so we press on. The scene is straight out of Jurassic Park: rapier limestone rocks carpeted with violet and inexperienced seashore cabbage the place wedge-tailed shearwaters make their nests, the encircling sea thick with white-tip reef sharks. Keiichi, my information, advises me to not look again as we scramble up some precarious rock-hewn “steps”. Up prime, the views are even higher: Ogiike lagoon has a heart-stopping fan-shaped cove with Durdle Door-like arch, islets which rise from the water like prehistoric creatures, and a seashore affected by 800-year-old semi-fossils – the stays of mandarina luhuana, a long-extinct endemic snail. 

The next day is all underwater wow, diving with Papa’s Diving Studio, north of Chichijima. At Barachin, batfish and wrought-iron butterflyfish dart via a shipwreck, and a blunt slipper lobster – seemingly a cross between gargantuan woodlouse and a creature from Stranger Issues – gallops throughout the ocean flooring. Snorkelling near the port, 10 inexperienced sea turtles cranium nonchalantly previous, unbothered by my presence. 

Mountain climbing on Chichijima is one other spotlight. Information Hiroshi Sato leads me to Higashidaira, a sanctuary for the uncommon red-headed pigeon. In a dry shrub forest full of octopus bushes which seem like mangroves-on-stilts, he factors out uniquely developed crops – ones which might be thorny on the mainland, however right here, have misplaced their thorns as a consequence of lack of predators. Amongst tangled banyan bushes at close by Mulberry mountain, gasoline masks filters lie discarded, echoes from Chichijima’s wartime previous. Our remaining cease is a nondescript patch of greenery. Hiro factors at some unremarkable-looking mushrooms on a log. I’m bemused. He cups his palms round them and out of the blue they glow neon inexperienced. Nobody’s fairly positive why these bioluminescent mushrooms, referred to as inexperienced pepe, do what they do, and I’ve by no means seen something fairly prefer it.

“One in every of my pals refers to those islands as a unique planet,” Ludy says to me afterward, over ardour fruit liqueur at a Chichijima hang-out named after the psychedelic ’shrooms. “That ship is sort of a spaceship. You get up, step exterior and it’s one other world. There may be some sort of magic right here, I believe.” 

When it’s time to depart, 150 plus locals line the dock, Auld Lang Syne booms from audio system and the Ogasawara-maru’s promenade decks are filled with waving passengers. A flotilla of dive boats fireplace up their engines and escort us out of the bay. In our personal closing ceremony, dive crews strip to their wetsuits and flip into the ocean, to raucous applause and laughter from the boat deck; a unprecedented goodbye from an otherworldy place.

Journey necessities

Getting there

Worldwide travellers ought to contact the Ogasawara Vacationer Affiliation in good time earlier than journey to assist with on-the-ground-arrangements (lodging, ferries, actions) as operators communicate restricted English.

Return flights from London Heathrow to Tokyo through Bangkok with Thai Airways value from £649pp. 

The Ogasawara-maru sails as soon as per week from Tokyo’s Takeshiba Pier (twice per week through the summer season months) to Chichijima, with costs starting from £170-515pp every approach, exterior of peak season.

Staying there

Pension Cabbage Seashore is a cheery blue-and-white clapboard fronted guesthouse fringed by palm bushes with rustic rooms and a laid-back vibe. Rooms with a shared toilet from £57pp. 

Run by the staff behind Papa’s Diving Studio, rooms at Papa’s Island Resort are spacious however easy, with loads of helpful amenities for scuba divers comparable to washer/hanging house out again for moist garments. Rooms from £118pp, half-board. 

Visiting there

Excursions to Minamijima Island and dolphin watching/swimming journeys with Take Nature Academy are from £40/80pp for half/full day. 

Guided forest walks may be organized through the Ogasawara Vacationer Affiliation, costing from £37/60pp for a half/full day.

Scuba diving with Papa’s Diving Studio prices £110pp for 2 dives, plus £88pp to hire gear.