What you can see on the Nakanoshima cam
Otake is green almost to its broad summit, covered in grass and low scrub, and cloud often catches on the top: this is an island in open ocean at the edge of the subtropics, and the weather comes through fast. The interest is less in eruptions than in seeing a place this remote at all, and in how quickly the light and the cloud change. Winter and early spring bring the clearest days.
Green slopes up to the top of Otake
The cone of Otake fills the lower half of the frame, green almost all the way to the summit, with grassy slopes and patches of low scrub. The top is broad and slightly rounded, with a small rise on its right shoulder, and the flanks run down to both edges of the picture. Above it is open sky.
At 979 m, Otake is the highest point in the Tokara Islands. This is an island in open ocean, so cloud often catches on the summit and the light changes quickly.
Seven islands and a long ferry
The Tokara Islands are seven inhabited islands with a few hundred people between them, administered as a single village. Nakanoshima is the largest and has the most people, around 160. The only way in is a ferry from Kagoshima that takes the best part of a day and calls a couple of times a week, and it is cancelled whenever the sea is rough. The island keeps a small herd of Tokara horses, a native breed, and in 2009 it was one of the best places on earth to watch a total solar eclipse, which briefly brought it more visitors than it had ever had.
When to watch Nakanoshima
Japan is nine hours ahead of UTC all year. The clearest weather comes in winter and early spring; summer is humid and cloudy and the typhoon season runs from July to October, when the ferry often does not run at all. Mornings are generally clearer than afternoons.
Around Nakanoshima
The other Tokara islands — Kuchinoshima, Suwanosejima, Akusekijima, Tairajima, Kodakarajima and Takarajima — are strung north and south of it. Suwanosejima, two islands south, is one of the most continuously active volcanoes in Japan and has its own page on this site.
Visiting Nakanoshima
The ferry Toshima from Kagoshima is the only scheduled route, and the crossing takes around seven hours. There are hot springs, a small museum and one road; accommodation is limited to a handful of guesthouses, and booking ahead is not optional.
