Jogashima
When we moved to Japan in 2015, we noticed a tiny little island on the bottom of our peninsula, じょが島. Of course, we said, “we will go down there and see what there is to see.” It took us two and a half years, but we finally went down.
Summary and Recommendations
Windy. Wet. Stunning.
Joogashima is very close to the Miura peninsula - the bridge over is pretty short, but it is not as protected as lands facing the inside of Tokyo Bay, to the East, or Sagami Bay, to the West.
- Plan to walk around. There really isn’t much in the way of “things to do” besides walk.
- Bring a few hundred yen for tolls and parking.
- Dress warmer than you think you should.
- Don’t go if you have very little time. An equally beautiful place with less effort and less wind is Tateishi Park in Hayama - perhaps my favorite place in all of Japan so far.
Our Trip
We spent a few hours on the island: climbing over rocks, looking at waves, and seeking protection from the wind!
It took more than an hour to make the drive. Traffic just is.
We parked on the Western central part of the island, just before most of the shops. Our first target was the lighthouse, but we stopped at the lighthouse parking lot public bathrooms. Just behind the bathrooms, you can take a little path out to the best view of Fujisan from the island (my opinion). However, it was cloudy when we went. You’ll have to take my word for it that you can see Fuji.
It’s a short walk from the bathrooms up to the lighthouse. You go up some stairs that are metal and full of holes. The warning signs suggest your high heels might snap off - if you had been crazy enough to wear them for a walk. There is a garden and some structures around the lighthouse that are very odd for the location. The architecture looks Roman, and there are arabic scripts. The lighthouse itself is not open nor accessible to tourists. If you have time to waste here, be prepared to be visited by cats. We found a few scrounging for attention.
After the lighthouse, we made our way down to the coastline. There are a few marked trails, but we mostly just scrabbled over the rocks. The terrain is unbelievable. It’s as if the lava cooled so fast that there are rocks in the shape of waves. The whole length of the beach is extraordinarily windy - with exciting crashing waves (and a nearly blinding sun our our late morning trip).
The coastline ends in a dramatic rock structure. Don’t miss the caves, critters, and shells along the short sandy part of the beach just before the rock structures. You might encounter tourists here taking their picture in front of the big jagged rock hole. But, if you go inland just a little bit and climb in what looks like a cave, you can find another hole (shown here) that is like a picture window to the Bay. We spent some time in this structure and had it to ourselves while the other space was quite busy.
The trail leads up (get ready to use those quads) from the picture rock hole. When you get to the top, the planted shrubs protect you from the wind, and the walking is easier (the views harder to find). From the top, you can go back to the interior of the island through about a million paths or go to the park and other lighthouse. We went to the other lighthouse - it is tiny. Along the way, there were tons of flower plantings that might have been stunning in spring or summer but were just space in mid fall. There is more parking, bathrooms, and vending machines at the park.
After checking out the other (tiny) lighthouse and all of the raised “view” platforms in the park, we were very done being cold and blasted with wind. Because we were done, we took the easy, shrubbery lined walk back to the car, but we could have found more to explore on the East side of the island.
On the way back home, we stopped at the McDonald’s near Miurakaigan Beach. I had previously seen Ronald McDonald on a bench on the 2nd floor balcony and hoped for a cool photo op with the mountains of Chiba in the background. It wasn’t to be. Ronald is out there and all, but the doors to the balcony are locked. We still got french fries. :fries: