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?!