There is very little tourist information on the Internet about this island, and it's not easy to get here - you need to fly from Tokyo to Hachijojima, then take a 25-minute helicopter ride to Mikurajima.

If you have time to spare, you can choose to take a cruise, which is a slow, leisurely ride from Tokyo and takes 7-8 hours to get here.

1. What to enjoy on this small island?
Swim with dolphins and turtles
This has got to be the highlight of the trip. I had been looking forward to it for a long time. I can't swim, so I felt both excited and nervous about diving with dolphins.
The next morning, I woke up to find out that the morning sea diving was canceled due to rough waves.
The silver lining to this misfortune was that I was able to see a group of dolphins leaping out of the water without needing to go out to sea.

2. Experiencing nature and animals on a hike.
Because it is sparsely populated and not over-developed, the island retains a lot of its original flora and fauna. Going on a half-day hiking trip allowed me to gain quite a bit of knowledge.

Entrance to the Miyoga Pond hiking course, which takes about 3 hours to complete. Although the guide was just a part-time tour guide and was actually a full-time postman. He was very conscientious in introducing us to all kinds of flora and fauna we encountered along the way, including insectivorous herbs, wild ganoderma lucidum, precious flower species, chess logs ...

The guide also rescued an injured seabird that lost its footing and fell onto a wire netting. Every winter, they undergo a large migration. To help them migrate smoothly, villagers also post notices asking residents to turn off their lights early in the evening because these seabirds are phototactic. If the lights are too bright, they might collide with buildings, leading to migration failures.

Ashitaba is one of the local specialties and you can see them everywhere along the hiking trail. Here, you can also eat Japanese food such as tempura made from Ashitaba.

3. Let's go fishing and make sashimi!
I tried fishing in Japan and sucessfully caught fish for the first time in my life. The chef then prepared that sea bream into sashimi for our dinner.
Believe me, you'll find that the fish you have caught yourself tastes completely different.

4. I stayed at a traditional Japanese guesthouse with communal baths for both men and women, and doors left unlocked at night.
To be honest, comparing with all the Japanese inns I had stayed at, at this one I felt most unsafe. There is no door lock, so you just have to close the door when you leave, and there's only a hook to lock the door when someone is inside. The bathroom and toilet are unisex. When a woman is using it, she would put up a sign indicating "female guest". Men are expected to be considerate (and there's only a curtain, no door lock). At first, I resisted, but seeing my interpreter, who has lived in Japan for eight years, showering and bathing comfortably in the bathroom, I decided to "go with the flow."
Here, people choose the most basic and simple form of contractual trust. At night, lulled by the sound of the waves outside the window, I had a peaceful sleep.

It was rainy on my first day on the island, but the weather cleared the next day. Because our trip out to sea was cancelled due to strong waves, my interpreter and I walked aimlessly around the island. The sea pier, the gas station, and even the drink vending machines exuded a strong sense of solitude. A solitude, long-missing in the city, brings calm.

There are countless ways of living in this world. Traveling has taught me that our way of life is just one of countless other ways. And our worry is just one tiny bit of countless other things.
"Instead of worrying over trivial matters, why not go to see the beauty of this world."