Aogashima Island is administrated by Tokyo and located approximately 360 kilometers South of Tokyo. Its area is only around 6 square km with the population of only 170 people, making it the smallest village in Japan. The island is known for having a volcanic caldera within a larger caldera and being surrounded by very steep rugged cliffs. It resembles a scene from the set of “Jurassic Park” or “Lost”. It is also said that the volcanic crater in the movie “Kiminonawa or Your name” was modeled after the scenery from Ootonbu, the highest point in the island.
There are several catch phrases to describe Aogashima Island such as “The Island where only chosen people can enter”, “A deserted island” and “Japan’s last unexplored land”. This is because people can only access this island by boat or a helicopter from Hachijojima Island. People can end up trapped here pretty easily if the sea gets rough or the weather is bad.
There are three things I recommend you to do in Aogashima. First, visit Ootonbu, the highest point in the island. You will be able to see the small inner caldera and big outer caldera, and Pacific Ocean at the same time. At sunset, you will be able to experience the same scene in the movie “Kiminonawa or Your name”, when the main character Taki and Mitsuha meet each other in the twilight. Next, visit Jyuman, a joint ranch located at the Northern part of the island. It’s the perfect place for watching the stars at night because it is less affected by the village light. Last, please enjoy specialty food of the island, “Shimazushi or island sushi”, which is one of the local dish of the Izu island chain. The differences between normal sushi and island sushi is that for island sushi, slices of fish are pickled in soy sauce, vinegared rice is sweetened with sugar, and mustard is used instead of wasabi. Also enjoy “Aochu”, distilled spirit made from sweet potatoes. It has sweet taste with alcohol proof of 30 degrees. It is called a rare distilled spirit as it is hard to buy other than in Aogashima.