Amami Oshima

Amami sits halfway between Kyushu and Okinawa and belongs to neither culturally. It was an independent-minded part of the Ryukyu world, then annexed by the Satsuma domain in 1609 and worked hard for its sugar, and the result is an island with its own language, its own music and a strong sense of not being anywhere else.

UNESCO listed the island in 2021 for the forest. Interior ridges hold subtropical evergreen laurel forest of a kind that has largely vanished elsewhere, and in it lives the Amami rabbit, a short-eared, dark, nocturnal animal that has not changed much since its ancestors were widespread across Asia. You will not see one by day. Guided night drives along the Kinsakubaru forest road are the standard way, and sightings also include the endemic Amami jay, frogs and, occasionally, a habu viper. Go with a guide; the road is narrow and the speed limit exists for the rabbits.

On the coast, the mangrove forest at Sumiyo is the second largest in Japan and best seen by kayak at high tide. The beaches on the eastern side are quiet enough that you may have one to yourself, the reefs are alive, and humpback whales pass through between January and March.

Oshima tsumugi silk is the island's other export: thread dyed with sharinbai bark then buried in iron-rich mud, repeatedly, until it turns a deep black-brown. A single kimono length can take a year. Workshops around Naze will show you the process.

It rains here. A lot, all year, and typhoons come through in late summer. Bring waterproofs and do not plan a schedule that only works in sunshine. Flights from Tokyo take about two hours.