Wildlife of Toshima Island

The southern end of Toshima Island is the breeding ground of a wild bird called the streaked shearwater. The streaked shearwater's nesting period lasts from March to November. Females lay their eggs around July, and the female and male take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. These summer-breeding birds are known as matori on the island. Although these birds appear agile when then are flying or gliding above the ocean, they are clumsy on land. At night, drivers on the island's mountain roads risk running over matori, which sit on the road at night. The birds have a very distinctive voice.

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In the ocean around Toshima Island, you can witness wonderful sights such as swimming green turtles, sharks, swarms of Takabe (Yellowstriped butterfish) and Isaki (striped pigfish) swimming with dolphines or scuba diving. Unlike dolphins, green turtles swim underwater, so it is difficult to find and if you can see one, you are lucky. Unlike other turtles, it is a herbivorous that eats seaweed to lives.

Because 80% of the land on the island is covered with evergreen camellia trees, visitors can enjoy lush, green scenery all year round. Although camellias bloom in the winter, the trees bear their oil-filled fruit from early summer to autumn. When the camellia trees drop their fruit in the autumn, farmers gather them carefully and dry them under the eaves of their homes. The dried fruit is then taken to factories for processing in various steps that yield camellia oil in the spring. The creation of a great landscape of terraced camellia forests was the idea of farmers from generations ago as a way to prevent the camellia fruit from being washed away by the rain.
(C)Toshima Mura Yakuba

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Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum, which is said to be the largest lily in the world, blooms in many areas of the island in the rainy season from around June to July. Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum is one of the parent species of the hybrid Casablanca lily. The large plants grow to a height of over 2 meters (6.5 feet), and the flowers become as large as 30 centimeters (almost 1 foot) in diameter. Most of the Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum originate in a lily species that grows wild on Toshima Island. The wild-growing lily was then turned into a garden species and bred multiple times to create a new breed named Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum shin toshima. Fields of Lilium auratum var. platyphyllum and camellias stretch to the east and west from a community above Toshima Port. The walking path around this area is called the Sakuyuri & Tsubaki Observation Road. The elegant aroma of the flowers fills the mountain air.
(C)Toshima Mura Yakuba

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