Ogasawara Tropical Islands 1.000 kilometers off Tokyo

The Ogasawara Islands were known to the Edo period in the name of Bonin Islands ("The Islands without people") Claimed by Japan to England in 1875 and placed under the prefecture of Tokyo in 1880. The Japanese fishermen and sulfur miners arrived in 1887, Japan annexed the islands in 1891. Occupied by Allied forces during the Second World War, the islands were placed under the administration of the United States from 1945 until 1968 and then returned to Japan.

The Bonin - Ogasawara Islands are an archipelago of 30 tropical islands. Administratively, they are part of Ogasawara Municipality (mura) of Ogasawara Sub-prefecture, under the governance of Tokyo. The total area of the islands is 73 square kilometers with a population of 3000.

Hahajima-meguro

Covered with subtropical tall trees, these luxuriant and tranquil islands of Ogasawara are a natural treasury. Among precious species of animals there is Hahajima-meguro, a bird found only in Hahajima. The Ogasawara volcanic islands are surrounded by magic crystal blue - green waters, and there we can swim with dolphins... and THIS IS a unique blissful experience, very accessible.

Hahajima means Mother Island, it is the second-largest island of the Ogasawara Island. It is about 21 km² in area. The highest points are Mt. Chibusa (Chibusa-yama), approximately 462m, and Mt. Sakaigatake (Sakaigatake), 443m. The largest island of the group, Chichi-jima ("Father Island") is approximately 50-km to the North.

The Hahajima Maru runs between Chichijima and Hahajima, the main islands of Ogasawara.

Sources: Tokyo-Islands Inform. Library of Australia, Youtube, Yahoo, Reporter's notes.