Mikurajima in Tokyo: Island of Miracles - Wild Dolphin and Primeval Forests

Just picture Tokyo in your map and trace 200 kilometres (120 mi) down south, and you will find an island with an area of 20.58 km2 (7.95 sq mi). one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago - MIkura-Jima.

This is an island of miracles where hundreds of dolphins live wild and primeval forests extend all over - a virtually untouched island with a population of 300 inhabitants under the jurisdiction of Tokyo metropolis.

The Kuroshio current flows around the island; the island has experienced no volcanic activities over 5,000 years, so the entire island has served a preservative of rich forests. Fully nutritious water flows down into the sea to provide an environment most suitable for marine life - dolphins and all. Mikura-Jima is home to a variety of gigantic trees, over 350 including chinquapin, about five times as many as in the island of Yakushima known for Yakushima cedar. That makes Mikura-Jima Japan's largest treasure island of gigantic trees.

The island is full of steep cliffs. Huge trees root deep into the soil gripping the earth firm to make the island a natural disaster prevention fortress.

As you stroll in the forests you find the nests of Calonectris leucomelas, locally known as gannets, a seabird that spreads wings 1.3 meters wide. Some 100,000 of them inhabit in the island - though just too many to count them correctly.

The islanders have their way of living with nature and the dolphins are members of their families. According to the Mikura-Jima Individual Identification Survey 2011, over 110 dolphins live wild around the island. They are friendly and never show signs of fear in the presence of man. The islanders swim and play with them, even naming some intimate playmates.

It's a relief to know that a modern city like Tokyo has such an island within its administrative map.