The best way to discover little-known sights and make even familiar places feel brand new,

is to go exploring by bicycle.

Did you know that inside Tokyo's city limits is an entire chain of volcanic islands?

It's hard to imagine scenery more unlike the skyscrapers and bustling streets of Japan's capital.

On this trip we'll be meeting island artists, who use unique local materials in their work.

And discover some of the long and surprisingly complex history of these tiny, remote islands.

For 90 years, our paper was a record of island life.

Small islands, but lots to see!

Let's go!

The ocean's beautiful. Look at that color!

Our cyclist is on a small propeller plane headed for her first stop: Niijima Island.

Janni, from Sweden, has been living in Japan since 2015.

She loves the outdoors, and often goes bikepacking.

I have never ridden a bike around islands before, so this is going to be super fun.

I can't wait to see what sights I will see here, and what people I will meet.

I will see you guys later.

From the city, it's a 40-minute flight south to Niijima, a small island just 42 kilometers around.

Safely on the ground again, Janni gets her bike ready for the road.

Okay, let's get this journey started.

The wind is cold, but the weather is great.

We're still in Tokyo, but this water does not look quite like the water you see in Tokyo.

Wow, that's magical.

Just ten minutes from the airport, and Janni has found a long, white-sand beach.

What is this?

Let's check it out.

That turquoise water is really unbelievable.

Look at this!

Habushiura Beach is one of Japan's top surfing spots, and often hosts international competitions.

Look at that, guys!

I've never seen anything like this before.

Niijima was formed by volcanic activity.

The erosion of its deep deposits of volcanic ash produced these spectacular cliffs.

We have the island village over here.

About 2,500 people live on Niijima.

There's a lot of stone walls inside of this vicinity.

Look, here we have all these stone houses again.

The walls and roofs are made from a solidified lava, called Koga stone.

This durable stone is also used in one of Niijima's local crafts.

Yes, that's definitely glass. It's like green... really thick green glass.

This place is a museum, showcasing artworks created using glass made here on Niijima.

- Hello!
- Hello! Pleased to meet you.

You're welcome.

- Is all this glass made on the island?
- That's right.

We melt Koga stone to produce this green colored glass.

- You can make glass from volcanic rock?
- Yes.

Microscopic amounts of iron make it green.

The iron melts together with other natural elements
to give this nice olive green shade.

Niijima glass is extremely transparent.

And this is my husband, Osamu.

Hello!

Noda Osamu met Yumiko at university, where they were studying glass art.

The couple would then go to the US to continue their studies.

After mastering the art, they returned to Niijima with the aim of creating a new glass industry on the island.

That was 35 years ago.

Thanks to their efforts, Niijima has become one of Japan's foremost centers for glass art.

Niijima glass is very durable, but it's difficult to work with, as it hardens very quickly.

Osamu takes advantage of this characteristic to create some unique designs.

He's making a really nice round shape and then,

I guess in half a second he went and made this form.

Wow!

Niijima glass hardens the moment it cools.

It resists the heat well,
so you can easily make sharp angles like this.

The sharp projections on this piece are inspired by the spikes of the turban shell.

Osamu says it took ten-years practice

before he could achieve the results he wanted with glass made from Koga stone.

This kind of volcanic rock is especially hard to work with.

But it's interesting to work around the limits,
and find new ways to use it.

He's extremely tenacious. That's what
allowed him to create that turban shell glass.

I grew up on this island,
so I guess I just work to a slower rhythm.

He refuses to compromise.

- I guess I am pretty stubborn.
- That's for sure.

She should know...

This whole island is just like a kind of a picture book.

Wherever you look, you have these amazing views.

Next, Janni will visit Hachijojima.

This island is much further south, about 300 kilometers from Tokyo city.

Janni has left the airport, and is off to explore the island.

OK, let's go!

Windy, but let's go to the ocean.

The sun! The ocean!

Look at this!

What are all these old stones here?

It kind of looks like an egg pack, lined up with a lot of eggs here.

Known as "tamaishigaki," this style of wall is a feature of Hachijojima.

These stones, made round by the action of the waves,

are found everywhere along the island's coastline.

Today, about 7,000 people live on Hachijojima.

Inhabited for thousands of years, this island developed its own unique culture.

What's that?

It says Kihachijo...

There's a lot of sound coming indoor so...

Let's see what they're making.

Look at that!

This workshop makes a traditional island textile called Kihachijo silk.

It's a craft with a history going back over 1,000 years.

Garments of Kihachijo silk were luxury items,

worn by the ruling classes in the Shogun's capital of Edo.

Yamashita Fumiko is the workshop's 4th generation owner.

She's been working in textiles since she was 18.

We use three colors of yarn: yellow, black,
and this dark red.

Looks like it's shining like gold or something like that, like an old metal; it's beautiful.

Yamashita only works with pigments made from plants native to Hachijojima.

This plant, called "kobunagusa," produces the yellow dye.

Even though she uses just three colors of yarn, the results are subtle and complex.

In chemical dyes, only yellow pigments are
used to produce the yellow color.

But yellow from plant dyes also includes
green, gray and other color pigments.

The undertones make it flattering to the skin.

Beautiful!

This green, and a little...

It looks green, but we don't use green yarn.

By weaving the three colors of yarn together in various combinations,

the artisan creates the effect of many different hues.

Yellow for the warp and gray for the weft.

Woven together they look green.

The result is unique—no two patterns are ever identical.

I enjoy thinking about how many more patterns I can create.

Using only three colors doesn't really limit us.

Half the fun is figuring out how to get the effects
I want with just three colors of yarn.

Each one unique, a Kihachijo kimono expresses the creativity of its weaver.

That's a great view.

After circling the island, Janni has now come to its main town.

Good morning!

It should be just around here. Let's see... wait.

This is a local newspaper office.

- Hello!
- Hello.

I was told this is a newspaper office,
but it doesn't feel like it.

Yes. Just a moment.

I'll call Mari.

Karita Yoshiyuki and his wife Mari are newspaper reporters.

The Nankai Times was started in 1931.

Mari's grandfather helped found the paper, and the family worked on it for three generations.

The Nankai Times was published twice a month as a four-page tabloid, selling about 2,000 copies.

The paper covered items of local interest, from politics and economics, to events on Hachijojima.

Back issues record aspects of island life that have now vanished.

We used to have bull sumo on the island.

It was a custom for hundreds of years.

The thoughts and feelings of past islanders live on in these articles.

These are thank-you notes from the bereaved
to people who came to funerals and wakes.

This family had just lost their mother.

"She was always laughing and telling us
'You have to enjoy yourself while you're alive'."

Telling people what their mother was like.

Our readers always enjoyed this section.

We all like finding out about other people's lives.

The Nankai Times temporarily shut down in 2020.

During the pandemic it lost too much business to remain viable.

But Yoshiyuki and Mari still find ways to use the newspaper's 90-year archive.

Hello!

Thanks for letting me interview you.

How did it feel to see yourself in the paper?

My children were thrilled.

Asanuma Miwako cultivates a variety of ornamental plant that's long been grown on this island.

Commissioned by the town to produce an issue commemorating 100 years of cultivating these plants on Hachijojima,

the Karitas interviewed young famers like Asanuma.

The issue paints a picture of the island's history,

including old photos and articles from the Nankai Times.

What did the Nankai Times mean for the town?

I'd read it every day at work when I took a break.
It was a sad day when they stopped.

- Would you like them to start up again?
- Oh, absolutely!

A newspaper keeps people connected
with everything that goes on in society.

It's a record of the island we can always refer to.

That helps us stay on the right track
and hopefully do things better in future.

Janni is now making her way to a spot where she can look out over the whole island.

Ah, yeah, look at that view.

Getting closer!

Ah, I think we're here.

There's that little island over there, and then we have all of Hachijojima going out over here.

This is it, the end of Janni's trip.

Yeah, so even in this really limited space there have been so many things to see

and so many people to talk with about their different culture, that is quite different from over there, from the mainland.

So it was fascinating seeing that sometimes having a lot of options isn't the best thing, actually.

But working with what you have, and staying positive, and just working with that,

and then enjoying what you have to create something good was really inspiring to see.

So yeah, really fascinating travel.

It was a super small island, but there's so many stories to be told here.

Life on a small island may seem to be limiting,

but for those with imagination, the possibilities can be boundless.