Miyakejima Island: Traces of Mt. Oyama's Lava and the Forest of Tairo Pond

This course takes you along the Volcano Experience Trail built over the 1983 lava flow in Ako on Miyakejima Island, explores the wild bird forest at Tairo Pond in Tsubota to the south, and traces the eruption marks of Mt. Oyama towering in the center of the island.

History & Local Charm

Miyakejima Island is an active volcanic island located about 180 kilometers south of Tokyo, roughly the same size as the area inside the Yamanote Line. Surrounding Mt. Oyama rising in the center, five settlements sit at the foot of the mountain. Repeated eruptions have created desolate lava fields and rugged coastal scenery. The landscape of the island, shaped by repeated eruptions, resembles a natural volcano museum. In recent years, eruptions occurred in 1962, 1983, and 2000. During the 2000 eruption, an island-wide evacuation order was issued, which was lifted about four and a half years later on February 1, 2005. At the same time, the island is known as "Bird Island," where approximately 250 species of birds have been identified. During the Edo period, it was also an island of exile, receiving over 1,000 exiles over the course of about 200 years. Traces of eruptions and the forests that revive afterward: here, you can see up close how the island has coexisted with its volcano.

Key Highlights

• ​Miyakejima Island​​: The island is designated as an Important Bird Area by the Wild Bird Society of Japan. Because the Kuroshio Current directly hits the surrounding sea, fish are abundant, drawing many visitors each year for fishing and scuba diving.
• ​Volcano Experience Trail​​: On October 3, 1983, lava from an eruption that began on the flanks of Mt. Oyama reached Ako—then the island's largest settlement—in about two hours, burning and burying the homes of 330 households, Ako Elementary and Junior High School, and other buildings overnight. Even so, there were no human casualties. On the trail completed in 2007 atop the lava flow, the school ruins remain in the state they were left in at the time of the eruption.
• ​Tairo Pond​​: This crater lake is said to have formed about 2,500 years ago from a phreatomagmatic explosion. One of the largest freshwater lakes in the Izu Islands, it is surrounded by a forest that includes giant Castanopsis sieboldii trees. Wild birds such as the Izu thrush (Akakokko), a National Natural Monument, live here, and the path around the pond is said to be "Japan's best trail of bird songs."
• ​Mt. Oyama​​: The volcano towering at the center of Miyakejima Island reaches a post-eruption maximum elevation of 775 meters. In the 2000 eruption, a caldera approximately 1.6 kilometers in diameter and roughly 500 meters deep formed at the summit. It is an academically valuable caldera whose formation process is said to have been witnessed for the first time in the world.

Suggested Itinerary & Duration

A stay of two days and one night is recommended. From Tokyo, it takes about 6 hours and 30 minutes by overnight ferry departing from Takeshiba Passenger Ship Terminal, arriving at the island early the next morning. Small planes also operate from Chofu Airport. Because Miyakejima Island has three ports used by large passenger ships, check the day's port information before heading out. On the island, you can also rent a bicycle to ride around the island. First, visit the Volcano Experience Trail in Ako. Ako is home to Sabigahama Port, one of the island's gateway ports, and serves as a base for sightseeing with many accommodations and eateries. Please refrain from taking lava fragments home. Next, head east-southeast about 5 kilometers to Tairo Pond in Tsubota. At the entrance to the pond stands the Miyakejima Nature Center Akakokko-kan, where rangers from the Wild Bird Society of Japan are stationed. It is advisable to find out where to spot wild birds here before proceeding to the pond. The Akakokko-kan is a 2-minute walk from the "Tairo-ike" bus stop. Having binoculars will make it easier to spot wild birds. On Mt. Oyama, certain zones centered around the summit are still restricted under Miyake Village ordinances. Access near the summit has become possible when accompanied by Tokyo Metropolitan Government nature guides. The Miyakejima Tourist Association offers experience tours that approach within 100 meters of the crater. However, depending on conditions, tours may turn back midway, and viewing the caldera is not guaranteed. Shichito Observatory on the mountainside of Mt. Oyama is located near where the first crater opened in the 1983 eruption. On clear days, you can overlook the islands of the Izu archipelago, from Izu Oshima in the north to Hachijojima in the south.

Experience Wrap-up

Stand at the ruins of the school swallowed by lava to sense the raw power of the eruption, then make your way to the forest around Tairo Pond filled with the chirping of birds. Finally, gaze up at Mt. Oyama, where entry restrictions still remain, and view the Izu Islands from its slopes. It is a journey that conveys the resilient strength of an island that has recovered after every eruption.