Hirajima and peripheral reefs and Mukojima and peripheral reefs

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hirajima and peripheral reefs

   Hirajima belongs to the same far-flung Ogasawara chain as its neighbours, a scatter of small islands and reefs in the Pacific about a thousand kilometres south of Tokyo. Its name simply means flat island, which suits something low and unassuming compared with the sharp, forested peaks of the bigger islands nearby. There are no roads on it in any real sense, and there is no way to ride to it, so this is a sea-level look at a protected place.

   Read the complete Hirajima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hirajima and peripheral reefs is where the day begins. Next is Minamijima and peripheral reefs.

2. 2. Minamijima and peripheral reefs

   A thousand kilometres south of Tokyo, in the Pacific Ocean, the Ogasawara Islands rise from the sea, a scattered chain of volcanic islands that have never been connected to a continent. Minamijima, a small uninhabited island just off Chichijima, is one of their jewels: a ring of jagged limestone around a sheltered cove, the Ogiura, with white sand, turquoise water and a sinkhole beach that looks like something from a dream. The island and its reefs are part of the Ogasawara Islands World Heritage site, listed by UNESCO in 2011.

   Read the complete Minamijima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Minamijima and peripheral reefs comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yomejima and peripheral reefs.

3. 3. Yomejima and peripheral reefs

   This is the one place on the list you cannot ride to, and it is worth being clear about that from the start. Yomejima is a small, uninhabited island in the Mukojima group, the northernmost cluster of the Ogasawara Islands, roughly a thousand kilometres south of Tokyo in the open Pacific. There are no roads, no people, no landing stage for visitors, and the reefs around it are part of the protected area that UNESCO inscribed as the Ogasawara Islands World Heritage site in 2011.

   Read the complete Yomejima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Yomejima and peripheral reefs. Next is Mukojima and peripheral reefs.

4. 4. Mukojima and peripheral reefs

   Three little islands sit alone in the Pacific more than a hundred kilometres north of Chichijima, and the Japanese gave them a joke that has lasted. Mukōjima is the bridegroom, Nakōdojima the matchmaker and Yomejima the bride, and together they form the Mukojima group, sometimes called the Parry Islands after a British naval officer. Nobody lives here now. The islands are volcanic remnants, treeless in places and grazed down in the past by goats, and they receive almost no visitors.

   Read the complete Mukojima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mukojima and peripheral reefs, about halfway. Next is back through Yomejima and peripheral reefs.

5. 5. back through Yomejima and peripheral reefs

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Yomejima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Yomejima and peripheral reefs sits at 222 km, about halfway. Next is back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs.

6. 6. back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Minamijima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs comes up about 264 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hirajima and peripheral reefs.

7. 7. Hirajima and peripheral reefs

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hirajima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hirajima and peripheral reefs closes the day.