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The largest of the Izu Islands, Izu Oshima is one of the area’s most geographically diverse regions. Its landscape, isolation, and comparatively sparse population make it feel worlds away from the nation’s capital, but it sits around 120 kilometers south of Tokyo. Best accessed by ferry or airplane, it’s relatively easy to reach and definitely worth the trip. Sitting right in the heart of the island is Mount Mihara, a 758-meter-tall volcanic giant responsible for creating a large portion of the more unique aspects of the island’s landscape, such as the black soil and scattered hot springs. If you’re interested in really unearthing everything this is to discover about this otherworldly landscape, be sure to make the trip to Izu Oshima Geopark.
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In 2007, Izu Oshima was awarded the title of being one of Japan’s best 100 geological sites—easy to understand once you explore the island. Naturally formed rock sculptures that wouldn’t look out of place in a contemporary art museum protrude from the ground, crafted by a lifetime of erosion and nearby volcanic activity. In 2010, the island was actually the first recognized Japanese geopark in the Kanto region, thanks in large part to this moon-like display.
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What makes Izu Oshima a magnet for nature and rock lovers is the sheer variety of flora scattered across the relatively small landmass. On one corner of the island you’ll find barren, jagged, rocky cliffs dotted with rock formations, while other pockets of the islands are awash in lush, leafy, green trees and ground-crawling foliage. This island is particularly famous for its dense population of camellia flowers (known in Japanese as tsubaki), which are unmissable from January through to March. With about 450 varieties of camellia available, the locals make good use of the flowers, extracting oil from the seeds to create hair and beauty products.
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While these lighter-colored stones look like they’ve been stuck in place, molded into the earth’s surface using concrete, they were actually shot up into the air during one of Mount Mihara’s many eruptions. The ground that surrounds the area was formed by layer upon layer of volcanic ash. The sheer distance of these rocks from the mountain shows just how powerful of this (still-active) volcano is. Scattered around the area, near the rocky beach, you’ll also see spherical, almost soybean-looking rocks. These gray balls were created when volcanic ash from Mount Mihara clumped together during an eruption. After falling back to earth, the clumps mixed with the flowing magma and seawater, creating the alien landscape. The landscape is fascinating to inspect up close, but like an artistic sculpture it is incredibly fragile.
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The entire island of Izu Oshima is easy to comprehensively explore within two days, and there are a number of ways to get to the island. The quickest way by boat is to catch the high-speed ferry (jetfoil) run by Tokai Kisen, which travels between Tokyo's Takeshiba Ferry Terminal and Izu Oshima each day; it costs 7,500-8,500 yen each way and takes about two hours. There are high-speed ferry connections between Atami and Izu Oshima which take about an hour and cost around 5,000 yen each way. The Tokai Kisen also runs car ferries from the same Tokyo terminal, which take six to eight hours and cost around 5,000 yen each way.
The only way to access Izu Oshima by plane is by taking a New Central Airservice flight from Tokyo's Chofu Airport. There are several flights daily; they take about half an hour and cost 11,800 yen each way.
Tokai Kisen:https://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/
Reservations&Information：03-5472-9999 (9:30a.m.-20:00p.m)
New Central Airservice:https://www.central-air.co.jp/index.html
Reservations&Information：0422-31-4191
on the day (7:30a.m.-17:00p.m)
within a month from the next day (8:30a.m.-17:00p.m)- Izu Oshima
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- Tokyo Oshimamachi
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