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Ogasawara NP, Tokyo
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Local tradition credits a Hahajima grandmother with island sushi: she preserved white fish in soy and mirin, using mustard instead of unavailable wasabi. The style later spread across the Bonin and Izu islands.
Hahajima’s New Year sea-opening is held on January 1. After the first swim and traditional performances, locals compete to fling gyosan—the fisherman's rubber sandals—as far as possible.
Look for Hahajima’s yellow Meguro road signs: the bird they depict lives only on Hahajima and nearby islands. Its “black eye” is a dark triangle around a bright white eye-ring.
Hahajima’s association says island life runs on a six-day ship rhythm: when Ogasawara-maru reaches Chichijima, shops restock and queues form. Supplies and passengers then continue south on the Hahajima Maru.
Hahajima and nearby Chichijima season traditional green-turtle stew differently: Hahajima’s simmer is soy-sauce based, while Chichijima’s is salted. One archipelago, two island kitchens.
The association’s summer festival lets visitors try Nanyō-odori, brought to Ogasawara by islanders returning from Micronesia in the early 20th century. Tokyo designated the dance an intangible folk cultural property in 2000.
More than 90% of Ogasawara’s native land-snail species are endemic, a key World Heritage value. The association says native snails nearly vanished on Chichijima but still occur on Hahajima’s Mt. Chibusa and Sekimon.
Hahajima’s residents were evacuated in 1944. The islands returned to Japan in 1968, but civilian families could return to Hahajima only in 1973; abandoned farmland had been swallowed by jungle.
On Hahajima, lunch break lasts 90 minutes—not the usual hour. The association says the custom grew from hot midday weather and few restaurants; some residents eat at home or slip into the sea before work resumes.
Even 1,050 kilometers south of Tokyo, Hahajima is still part of Tokyo Metropolis. Local cars carry Shinagawa plates, just like vehicles registered across the Izu Islands.
On Hahajima, aloha shirts can count as formal dress: local officials and inn staff wear them even to ceremonies, a small sign of how the island’s warm climate shapes everyday life.
The Hahajima Tourist Association sits inside Oki Port’s passenger waiting room, which islanders call “Senmachi.” The local information desk is right at the dockside gateway where ferries bring people to the island.
