Niijima Travel Report – Part 2

On the second full day, I embarked on car adventures again and had a very good car day! I went to Habushiura beach first of all, where I ran into a very nice guy from Venezuela who was camping on the island for two weeks and doing some surfing. We had a very interesting chat before I went off again with the little Daihatsu Move.

My goal was the southern tip of the island. That’s about ten km serpentines through the southern mountain(s). At the end of the road you get rewarded by a nice view of a lonely rock and also a small Japanese self defense forces base.



That successfully accomplished I dared, on the way back, to drive into a one lane road with occasional berths left or right where you have to wait to let oncoming cars pass and made my way to the so called Ishiyama. Unfortunately the view was not overwhelming on this very hot and humid day. Niijima hung inside clouds and visibility was rather poor. After these, for my level, daring car adventures, I curved down to the main harbor for lunch and chill.

Next I rode a different road to Habushiura beach. The beach is as mentioned around seven km long. There is a central spot which is equipped with toilet and shower facilities as well as lifeguards on duty, but the real cool surfers apparently go with their four wheel drives down the beach and down south. I found the car access spot, but it’s a dirt path only for four wheel drive cars and no way I would try to get down there with my beginner driving skills and a little Daihatsu Move. I walked down and admired the crazy surfers who plunge down the dirt path in their cars



On I went to an abandoned looking harbor at the northern end of Habushiura beach, from where you have an excellent view of it if the weather were fine. On the way to the harbor I discovered the other end of the closed road around the mountain that was used before the 3 km tunnel was finished.



That done, I went back through that tunnel and once more to the “secret” beach north of the mountain, then back to the hotel.

Driving went very well supported by generally sparse traffic and by the low speed limits. The highest official speed limit on the island is 40 km/h.

The “problem” is that I had to do more or less the same tour on Thursday again, since the island is small and since that’s all that there is! Lol.

So, on Thursday I did the same tour in the morning, via Habushiura beach to the most southern tip and then again to the Ishiyama lookout. During the ride to the souther tip I had a tail, probably an army guy going to work, who wrung his hands that I rode 30 km/h as required

On Ishiyama lookout a little happening forced me to stay there for a while. A cloud decided to dump its contents onto the mountain and visibility shrank to some 30 meters or so.



I think it was my first time inside a dense cloud. Even after the rain stopped, the cloud remained and I left the shelter of the car and walked around in water vapor. Then the wind blew the cloud away and revealed this stunning view at the islands of Shikine and Kozu. The day before the view had been much more limited, so it had been worthwhile to come up there again.



While I had been alone in the cloud, several cars arrived after it was gone, which resulted in yet another tail who probably wanted me to curve down the mountain faster, but I kept the speed limit ;-). I am still a bit unnerved, when I have someome sticking to my rear bumper…

I had lunch again at the ferry terminal and then went to the only place I had not yet been to, up the bathing beach Maehama until the mountain, cul de sac, end of line, but very pretty and lonely too.



On the way back, I visited a glass factory which seems to be sort of modestly famous. They have quite some modern designs and all pieces are one of a kind and I bought a one-of-a-kind glass mug. I especially like its handle. You can still imagine how they attached it in semi-liquid form.

I passed Habushiura beach one last time, drove again to the defunct harbor and then back through the tunnel to a last visit of “my beach”, where one lonely surfer was tackling the waves. Quite some guts to go into the waters without any company. I watched him for a bit, but he did not manage to get onto the board. It was too hot for watching long and I drove back to the hotel. After a bit of a rest I went down to the Wakago beach and tested the beach barefoot and whew… your feet get almost burned in the hot gravel. The water was astonishingly cold. Back at the hotel and after a shower, the guests were called down for dinner and the landlady pulled me aside and into the mini living room for the landlord and landlady = their private room. There they had prepped a seat for me with a backrest because of my bad back. The landlady had seem me awkwardly kneeling the day before. Jeez, what a service. The landlord was there and talked me up and even gave me a little lucky charm. In return I had to talk about Germany

Dinner done, we all went to the obon matsuri (festival) of Wakago, there the service continued with the landlord buying me cotton candy (well, it cost only 50 yen…). He knows everyone in the village of course and at the beer stall they gave him free beer and me a free soft drink. On to the yakitori stall (fried chicken) and we got free yakitori even though we had just eaten a big dinner. Then the landlord and lady left me, because they wanted to visit the graves of their ancestors. I stayed and watched the hula dancers and more obon dancers including a cute, at least 90 year old guy and even some surfing kids.



It was interesting to see the workings of the village. When we arrived, the landlady gave the organizers of the festival an envelope with money, their contribution to it. They all know in advance who will give how much and at the entrance to the festival is the obligatory billboard with print outs showing which family gave what. Peer pressure, ladies and gentlemen. Then, punctually at nine in the evening an announcement blares – party over! Go home! lol… So party’s over and everyone goes home. Some people presumably go for a second round in an izakaya or someone’s home, but officially the party was over.

I used the opportunity to go to the nightly Wakago beach, the sky was clear for a change and despite some light pollution many more stars visible than ever in Tokyo. Very beautiful.

The next morning was already time to leave. My neighbors woke me up with talking at 6:30 in the morning… sigh… I went for a last walk at the Wakago beach, then waited for the landlord to drive a surfer couple and myself to the ferry terminal and witnessed another village-life event. A woman dropped by, called the landlady and gave her a bunch of fish that her husband had caught and that they can’t possibly eat. So the landlady will serve those fish for dinner to her guests. The smoothness and speed of this interaction said – this is happening all the time. The villagers sort of feed each other

There is still some very traditional roles going on too, at dinner with the landlord the night before, he said to his wife “warui kedo, biru chodai”. “Sorry, but get me a beer”.

He is polite, he said “warui kedo”, but also here, there was a smoothness and naturalness. It’s her job to get him his beer. No questions asked on either side, no discussion needed. Work share: He does the fishing and the driving around of guests and repairing things, she takes care of the hotel and the massive cooking every day for the guests (and her husband).

Finally, it was time to pay. I asked about the car and found out that they usually charge their guests 1000 yen per day for car-borrowing. I tried to pay for the car, but the landlady refused, since I had skipped breakfast and had refilled the tank the day before… incredible. I don’t know if it’s possible to send beer, but I’ll try to find out and will send the two some German beer for him (he drinks nothing but beer, he told me, no harder stuff) and some chocolate for her.

I don’t know if they would have been so nice to me were I not able to speak Japanese, but this is the most generous and caring place I ever stayed at. If you go to Niijima – Uechomaru in Wakago ;-).

The landlord drove a surfer couple and me to the ferry terminal and the seven hour boat ride began in fine (if hot – too hot) weather with fantastic cloud formations above especially Toshima and also Oshima.



The wounds from the big landslide in Oshima last year are still visible.



The slow boat takes of course more than twice as long as the jet ferry, but the jet ferry just has no “ocean going” flair. You gotta feel the wind in your hair and taste the salt on your lips when going to sea.

Apart from the back pain it was a perfect trip. Niijima is a very beautiful place, and I am very proud of my car adventures. This is what I relearned driving for and yes, if I want to live in a place like this after retirement, hell yes, I do need a car ;-)! What’s my next target? Maybe Miyakejima next year? The one that has an active volcano to deal with? Let’s see