Dolphins are teaching us!

These are some of the basic priciples they teach:

- Supporting each other.
- Cooperating, no competition.
- Taking care of Nature and it takes care of us.
- We are more than our physical bodies, we are able to communicate.
- Use your telepathic abilities.
- Sound (vibrations) can heal us. Use them, study them.
- Live Simply.
- Breathe deeply all the time and avoid going places where you can't.
- Sleep on your own schedule.
- Eat what's in your environment.
- Always smile it makes you more beautiful.
- Eye contact is a communication between souls.
- You have control over your emotions – express the good ones, analyze the bad ones.
- Don't blame others.
- Keep active.
- Enjoy making love.
- Be curious.
- Teach the young people.
- Play more than anything else, no matter where you are!
- Respect your family.
- Share your feelings of love with everyone. Don't be stingy.
- Be fearless and face the things that worry you with Faith.
- Use your 6th sense and beyond.
- Have integrity.
- Love yourself.
- Keep your sense of humor.

作百合 "Sakuyuri" (Lilium platyphyllum)

Lilium platyphyllum belongs to the group of Lilies (Lilium) in the Oriental Section.

Lilium platyphyllum is a perennial herbaceous plant with a height up to 200 cm.
The up to 5 cm big bulbs have white scales.

In spring the plant builds a caulis which is soft-red on its bottom.
From July to September the Lilium platyphyllum blooms with up to 30 green-white, brown-red or yellow spotted, intensive and well-smelling blossoms which have diameters from 25 to 30 centimeters.

The leaves are wide-lanceolate, 22 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide.

Lilium platyphyllum is endemic on the Izu-Islands and known as "Sakuyuri" (作百合)

Mikurajima 2nd May 2009

Contact

If you have more questions about Mikura, just send me an email! (German or English language)
Bokochan@gmx.de



If you would like to make a reservation for Jiromaru and Dolphin swimming please contact Tama! (Japanese or English language)
Phone: +81 (0) 4994-8-2605
Email: tamaruto@ceres.ocn.ne.jp

Access

There is a ship which leaves to Mikura Island every evening on 10:20 pm from Tokyo Takeshiba Sanbashi Pier (JR-Hamamatsucho-station).
It arrives in Mikura around 06:00 am of the next day after a brief stopover at Miyake Island.
The stop after Mikura is Hachijou Island.
Please make sure to get off at the right stop! (Mikurajima)

The ship returns from Mikura to Tokyo every day around 01:25 pm.

To make a reservation for the tickets, please call the Toukaikisen company (Tel:03-5472-9999) or make an online-reservation through internet http://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/ (Japanese language only)

Price

Price (in case you stay one night in Mikura)
26'640 JPY

For repeater it's 23'640 JPY


What's included?
- Accommodation
- Three times meal (first day: lunch and dinner / second day: breakfast)
- Dolphin swimming with filming (one time)
- Skin diving lesson (optional)
- Walking around the village with explanation

What's not included?
- Travel expenses to Mikura island
- Breakfast of the first day
- Your travel insurance
- Rental fee for snorkel kit


Options
Staying another night -----------> 6'500 JPY / per night
Additional dolphin swimming ---> 8'900 JPY / per swim
Trekking -------------------------> 4'000 JPY


Rental fees
Wetsuit ----> 2'000 JPY
Mask --------> 500 JPY
Snorkel -----> 500 JPY
Fins ---------> 500 JPY
Boots -------> 500 JPY


*About payment
Please pay the fee in Japanese yen in cash only.

*Agreement
Please understand that they might have to cancel a part of the program if the weather is bad.
In that case they will pay back the dolphin swimming fee (8'900 JPY) but they can't refund you the total cost.

Staff

Tamami Hashimoto 珠美 橋本


- Tokyo certified tour guide
- Scuba diving instructor (CMAS)
- Dolphin swimming instructor

Tama fell in love with dolphins more than ten years ago and it became her dream to guide own guests to the dolphins!
She worked hard for it and around six years ago her dream came true in Mikura!
Now she runs the small guest house Jiromaru and takes care of her guests on land and in the sea!
She is a very good cook and her special delicacy is "Ashitaba-Gyouza" which tastes really delicious! ;-)

Tama designs pictures for her own Mikura-souvenirs and her "trademark" is a very cute ball-like looking dolphin!




Minori Ikeda みのり 池田


- Tokyo certified tour guide

Minori studied a lot about natural environment in university and spent also some time as a dolphin-trainer.
She studies still about the nature in Mikura Island and assists Tama with her daily work in Jiromaru.

Minori is also very talented in drawing cute dolphins and making cute stamps!









Together they bring Jiromaru to life and keep it alive. With their spirit and heart, they give Jiromaru its warm and homey atmosphere and making every guest feeling welcome!

Island-Tours

Trekking
There are a few skilled guides who offer different tours to special places in the forests and mountains of Mikura island. Just ask the staff of Jiromaru for more information if you would like to participate such an interesting tour!



Guided strolls around Mikura village
There are some really nice places in Mikura from where you can enjoy the colorful sunsets over the sea!



Only a short walk from Jiromaru, there is the old spiritual shrine of Mikura village with his own history.



Opened in April 2009, the Public Center of Mikura informs about the culture and history of the island and of course also about the dolphins who inhabit around!

The staff of Jiromaru takes you to these interesting places to take some pictures and also explains about the flora and fauna of Mikura Island.

Dolphin swimming

To swim with wild dolphins is a great experience!
The dolphins around Mikura have lived here since a long time. They are very friendly and curious so people can swim with them if they follow a few easy rules.

- Wait for the captain's OK before you enter the water!
- Don't touch dolphins!
(Humans do not need to touch dolphins to be touched by dolphins)
- Don't feed dolphins!
- Don't chase dolphins!
- Take pictures only WITHOUT flash!

Scuba diving is forbidden in Mikura, therefore people enter the water just with wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins which you can all rent at Jiromaru.


The dolphin swimming tour of Jiromaru lasts about 2 hours and takes place twice a day! (morning and afternoon)




How to swim with dolphins?
The easiest and most relaxing way is to drift on the surface and observing the dolphins from above. If you have more experience you can use also other techniques.
However, the most important thing is a normal condition and the ability to swim. That means even kids in basic school age might participate the tour!





Between April and October the water and outside temperatures are warm enough to swim with dolphins.


If you also want to make such a wonderful experience, just visit Mikura island and take part of Jiromaru's great dolphin tour!!

Guesthouse "Jiromaru" (二郎丸)

Guesthouse
With it's cute-sounding name, Jiromaru is the oldest guesthouse in Mikura island!
Since I've spent there already a few times, I highly recommend this homey accommodation to you!!




Guestrooms
It is a traditional Japanese house with Tatami-Rooms, so guests can sleep on the floor with Futon.


Bathroom
There are two shower-rooms, a toilet and washbowls which everybody can use.
Please note: You need to bring your own towel!


Food
The food is usually Japanese such as Sashimi, Tempura or Soba with special ingredients from the island such as the spicy-well-tasting endemic plant "Ashitaba" and fresh fish from the sea around Mikura.
But if there is need, Western food can also be cooked!
The whole food indeed tastes very well and is at least worth a trial!

What is special about Mikura?

Dolphins
The number one attraction of Mikura are the wild Dolphins who live in the shallow waters so close to the land that people can see them very often from some points of the island.
In the sidebar you will find more information about Dolphin swimming tours in Mikura!



Mount Oyama
With 851 meters in high Oyama is the second highest mountain only to Mt. Hachijou-Fuji in the Tokyo Islands and the top of a Stratovolcano whose last eruption was more than 4000 years ago.
The top is often covered with fog which sprays the rich forest of Mikura since it lies in a high moorland climate.



The largest Shii Tree of Japan
There are over 590 "Giant Trees" in the forests of Mikura with trunk widths of five meters or more!
"Mikurajima no ojii" (The Great Shii Tree of Mikurajima) is 13.8 meters around which makes it the largest one in Japan!



Waterfall "Shirataki"
With beautiful white expanded water, Shirataki drops 80 meters deep from Mikura’s cliffs in the West of the island and cannot be approached from the mountainside. People who want to see it have to go there by boat.
Shirataki is known for its immense volume of water which continues to flow even during long periods without rain.



Miyoga-ike Pond
This pond lies in a crater which was formed in an eruption hundreds of years ago. Its circumference is 400 meters and its deep two meters.
With the Carps which had been released there during the Meiji era and the old forests around, this magical place has been selected as one of Tokyo’s best 100 views!



Ebine Park
In this park, visitors can see the Nioiebine-ran for free. These orchid originates in the Izu-Islands but became rarely due to overharvesting.
In this park there are gathered some of the few that remain, with a view to protect them for replenishment in their natural habitat.
In this park visitors can also see many of the island’s other native flowers.



Streaked Shearwaters
This seabird uses burrows to nest in and you can find quite a few of them in the forested mountains of Mikura. The birds are too heavy to fly by themselves just from the ground so they are climbing trees to depart from them. On the water they use the up winds for departure.
The Streaked Shearwaters feed mainly fish and squid and they are often following fishing boats.

General information

Miyakejima (三宅島) is located 180 km south of Tokyo and 22 km north of its neighbor island Mikurajima.
The island is approx. 11 km long and 8 km wide and its area is about 55,5 km².
Miyake is the third-largest of the Izu-Islands after Izu-Oshima and Hachijoujima.

Highest point is the Stratovolcano Oyama (雄山) with 815 m.
The volcano is very active! It’s latest eruption happened on 14th July 2000.
In February 2005 the volcano started steaming permanently.

The actual number of inhabitants is around 2300 (up to April 2009).

Even there are a lot of volcanic activities and human influence, Miyakejima is very rich in species!

General information

Mikurajima (御蔵島) is located 200 km south of Tokyo and 22 km south of its neighbor island Miyakejima.
Its average is approx. 6 km and its area 20,58 km².
The highest point is the top of the Stratovolcano Mt. Oyama (御山) with 851 m whose last eruption happened more than 4100 years ago.

Due there are living only about 300 inhabitants and the limited number of visitors per night the nature remains almost untainted.

Mikurajima is famous for its wild Dolphins which have lived there since a long time.

General information

The Izu-Islands (伊豆諸島) are a chain of islands in Japan which range from the southeast of the Izu-Peninsula of Honshu into south direction of the Pacific Ocean.
They are located 100 to 650 km south from the Japanese metropolis Tokyo but belong administratively to the prefecture of Tokyo.

The islands have volcanic elements and are located on the same ridge like the Ogasawara-Islands in the far South.

The Izu-Islands are part of the "Fuji-Hakone-Izu-National Park" and are famous for their beautiful nature and water sports sucha as swimming, diving, snorekling, fishing and surfing.

The following islands belong to the Izu-Archipelago:
- Izu-Oshima (伊豆大島)
- Toshima (利島)
- Udoneshima (鵜渡根島)
- Niijima (新島)
- Shikinejima (式根島)
- Kozushima (神津島)
- Miyakejima (三宅島)
- Mikurajima (御蔵島)
- Hachijoujima (八丈島)
- Aogashima (青ヶ島)
- Sumisujima (須美寿島)
- Izu-Torishima (伊豆鳥島)
- Sofugan (孀婦岩)

Izu-Oshima or simply Oshima is the biggest and northernmost island. Because it is the closest island to Tokyo, many tourists visit there for its active volcano "Mihara", which is 758 m high.

In the Edo-Period, escpecially Miyake and Hachijou had been used as places of exile for criminals.

The approx. 3000 residents of Miyake had been evacuated in year 2000 because of a predicable eruption of the also very active volcano "Oyama" (815 m). Most of them returned to Miyake in 2005.

Welcome to the World of Bokochan!

Ok, I started today!
I'll try to create a Blog-Info-Homepage (however you want to call it) about the Izu-Islands in Japan, especially about my beloved Mikurajima and Miyakejima
Hope you'll like it!
Just give me some time! (^_~)

Oh, and if you wonder who's Bokochan... he is the first dolphin I met in the wild!
Isn't he cute?!