Sightseeing on Hahajima Island
January 1, The first opening of the beach in Japan (Hahajima Island)
The event is held during Golden Week every year. You can purchase agricultural products and seafood on Hahajima Island to eat right away or to take home. Also, you can try Ogasawara’s local sake or Ogasawara rum produced on Hahajima Island. You can enjoy lunch with local ingredients. The residents demonstrate the local performing art. The warm handmade event provides a great opportunity to communicate with local islanders.
(C)Ogasawara Village Tourism Bureau
June Return festival (Hahajima Island)
This two-day event is held on the weekend around the date of the Return anniversary on June 26. On Hahajima Island, the local islanders celebrate the event with performances, karaoke, stalls sponsored by various groups, and fireworks. The Return anniversary original T-shirt designed by the islanders is a popular item. In June, the Return festival sports event, which is the biggest festival in the annual events on Hahajima Island, is held.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Summer festival (July-September)
The event is usually celebrated to close the Hahajima Summer Festival at the end of August. Various groups on Hahajima set up stalls, and the islanders and tourists dance the Bon festival dance together. At the end of the event, they sing the Ogasawara song (song of the island scenery and the islanders’ feelings about Ogasawara) together around the tower.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
November - Annual Tsukigaoka-jinjya Shrine Festival
This festival is held at Tsukigaoka-jinjya Shrine. A lively parade makes its way around the island, containing mikoshi (portable shrines), floats, and a children’s musical performance (Chindon-ya). Stalls offering food and entertainment are open at night, and Ogasawara-daiko (drums) and karaoke liven up the festival.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Sekimon
The Sekimon Area of Hahajima Island is home to raised karst landforms marked by the unique unevenness of limestone, as well as limestone caves. This area is especially cloudy and humid, even compared to other parts of the Ogasawara Islands, and primeval nature remains here intact. You must be accompanied by an authorized forest guide to walk through the forest. It is prohibited to enter the forest from October to February, and in March only the ridge road is accessible.
Access: 15 minutes by car from Okiko Port. It takes about six hours to walk through the forest and return to the entrance.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Mt. Chibusayama
Mt. Chibusayama, located in the center of Hahajima Island, is the highest peak on the island, with an altitude of 463 meters (1,519 feet). The summit is a treasure trove of endemic species, including the Hahajima peony (Melastoma tetramerum var. pentapetalum) and the dendrocacalia. A 360-degree panoramic view can be admired from the summit. The east view from the top of the mountain is breathtaking. On a sunny day, you can observe the entire island of Hahajima Island, the Hahajima Islands, and even Chichijima Island in the distance.
Access: It takes 10 minutes on foot from Okiko Port to the trail entrance. The walk to the summit takes approximately two hours.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Minamizaki
Minamizaki Beach offers the most spectacular views on Hahajima Island. This beautiful beach juts out into the sea from the southern part of the island, and can be viewed from Kohuji Observatory at the end of the promenade. A colorful spectacle awaits you on the underwater coral reefs, where tropical fish swim all around. The bay is home to table corals and is ideal for snorkeling. Please note, however, that caution is required because the offshore currents are fast.
Access: It takes approximately 12 minutes by car to the point known as “Todo-sainantan” (the southernmost end of the prefectural road), which marks the entrance to the promenade. From there, it takes about 45 minutes on foot to Minamizaki.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Distinctive Coastal Scenery
The beaches on Hahajima Island are dotted along the south coast, along the Minamizaki promenade, which continues to the southernmost tip of the island, passing Omotohama Beach, Houraine Beach, and Wai Beach. Every beach has its own charm, and on the weekdays, they can feel almost like private beaches. Beautiful coral reefs are located just off the coast, and are recommended for snorkeling. Horaine is the name of the rock that stands off the coast in the middle of the sea between Karanasu Beach, on the west coast of the south of Hahajima Island, and Wai Beach. The sandy beach in front of this rock is the most beautiful on Hahajima Island.
(C)Ogasawara Village Office
Agriculture
On Hahajima Island, taking advantage of the warm climate, the people grow the tropical fruits of passion fruit, mangoes, and bananas, as well as lemons, tomatoes, winged beans, and okra. Passion fruit attracts people with its fresh smell and sweet-sour taste. The mellow fragrance of the fruit is a sign of summer on the island in June. Ogasawara’s passion fruit has a first grade taste because of its sweetness. Except for eating fresh passion fruit, you can enjoy jams, juices, and passion liqueur made with the islands’ rum all year round.
http://www.soumu.metro.tokyo.jp/07ogasawara/farmfish/crops.html（外部サイト）
Processed food
On Ogasawara, Sugar cane plantations flourished before WWII, so the people have produced and consumed rum since early times. The tradition temporarily stopped because of the war. In Heisei, people tried to restore the rum culture and restarted the rum distillery on Ogasawara. Other than ordinary rum, passion liqueur made from passion fruit and “Mother”, which is rum matured at the bottom of Hahajima’s beautiful sea for one year, are popular.
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Related link
Hahajima Island
- Features of Hahajima Island
- History of Hahajima Island
- Wildlife of Hahajima Island
- Sightseeing on Hahajima Island
- Accessing Hahajima Island