Meijima and peripheral reefs and Mukojima and peripheral reefs

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Meijima and peripheral reefs

   Meijima is one of those names that sounds like a joke until you learn the story: the small islands of the Ogasawara chain were given family names, a sort of island clan strung out across the Pacific. Meijima, roughly translated, is the niece. It lies far south of Tokyo, around a thousand kilometres out in the open Pacific, and there is no road to it, no bridge, and nothing resembling a petrol station.

   Read the complete Meijima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Meijima 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 71 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 140 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 225 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 267 km into the recorded legs. Next is Meijima and peripheral reefs.

7. 7. Meijima and peripheral reefs

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Meijima and peripheral reefs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Meijima and peripheral reefs closes the day.