A 360º view of the island from its highest peak Mt. Chuo (332 mt, 1089 ft) on a cloudy day... great for a mountain hike.

Spinner-Dolphins at Chichijima

Sea Snakes

Former president George Herbert Walker Bush tells the harrowing details of how he narrowly survived getting shot down near Chichi Jima in the Pacific during WWII. Pilot Bush bailed out after his fighter plane catches on fire and fortunately gets picked up by a U.S. submarine. Bush recollects the story with a tinge of humility because he doesn't understand how he survived when two of his friends in the plane were killed.

This is a panorama shot of Jinny Beach on Chichijima in Ogasawara, Japan. As you crest the steep ridge coming from Johnny Beach, all of you hard work - 2 hours of jungle hiking - is rewarded with this view!

A breathtaking sunset as we approached our only port of call on our way to Chichijima: the isle of Hachijojima, part of the Izu Islands. Una impresionante puesta de sol según nos aproximábamos a Hachijojima, nuestra única parada de camino a Chichijima.

I hate sharks. The Japanese here make fun of me for being jittery around them, but blame it on Peter Benchly and Jaws, I hate sharks. I like spearfishing though, and unfortunately, the waters around Chichijima are chock full of sharks. This is one of the many encounters I have had.

PACIFIC ISLAND PARADISE

My first fight of the Aki Matsuri. I go head to head with a Japanese Self Defense Force dude stationed on Iwo Jima. He's a member of their Sumo Club, and I am school teacher. Who will win!!?

Against all odds, the Jokes Team has made it to the third round of the Team Tournament. This is the semi-final round, with only the top 4 teams remaining. But now all of the minor teams have been eliminated, and the Jokes face off against Iwo Jima's finest Sumo Team. Can the Jokes continue their winning streak?

Heart Rock - a long barefooted walk through the jungle to this incredible spot on the island's eastern side.

This is the first round of the Team Tournament for the Jokes. We take on the Japanese Self Defense Force Air Force. Abe sensei and Alan fight in the second and third positions of this best of five round.

Japanese style

Cannibalism Many written reports and testimonies collected by the Australian War Crimes Section of the Tokyo tribunal, and investigated by prosecutor William Webb (the future Judge-in-Chief), indicate that Japanese personnel in many parts of Asia and the Pacific committed acts of cannibalism against Allied prisoners of war. In many cases this was inspired by ever-increasing Allied attacks on Japanese supply lines, and the death and illness of Japanese personnel as a result of hunger. However, according to historian Yuki Tanaka: "cannibalism was often a systematic activity conducted by whole squads and under the command of officers". This frequently involved murder for the purpose of securing bodies. For example, an Indian POW, Havildar Changdi Ram, testified that: "[on November 12, 1944] the Kempeitai beheaded [an Allied] pilot. I saw this from behind a tree and watched some of the Japanese cut flesh from his arms, legs, hips, buttocks and carry it off to their quarters... They cut it small pieces and fried it." November 9, 1945. Jemadar (junior commissioned officer) Chint Singh of the Indian Army at an identification parade in New Guinea, indicating a Japanese soldier whom he claimed mistreated him while he was a prisoner of war. Japanese forces used many Indian Army personnel captured in Malaya and Singapore as forced labour in the South West Pacific. November 9, 1945. Jemadar (junior commissioned officer) Chint Singh of the Indian Army at an identification parade in New Guinea, indicating a Japanese soldier whom he claimed mistreated him while he was a prisoner of war. Japanese forces used many Indian Army personnel captured in Malaya and Singapore as forced labour in the South West Pacific. In some cases, flesh was cut from living people: another Indian POW, Lance Naik Hatam Ali (later a citizen of Pakistan), testified that in New Guinea: -the Japanese started selecting prisoners and every day one prisoner was taken out and killed and eaten by the soldiers. I personally saw this happen and about 100 prisoners were eaten at this place by the Japanese. The remainder of us were taken to another spot 50 miles [80 km] away where 10 prisoners died of sickness. At this place, the Japanese again started selecting prisoners to eat. Those selected were taken to a hut where their flesh was cut from their bodies while they were alive and they were thrown into a ditch where they later died. Perhaps the most senior officer convicted of cannibalism was Lt Gen. Yoshio Tachibana, who with 11 other Japanese personnel was tried in relation to the execution of U.S. Navy airmen, and the cannibalism of at least one of them, in August 1944, on Chichi Jima, in the Bonin Islands. They were beheaded on Tachibana's orders. As military and international law did not specifically deal with cannibalism, they were tried for murder and "prevention of honorable burial". Tachibana was sentenced to death. Forced labor -The Japanese military's use of forced labor, by Asian civilians and POWs also caused many deaths. According to a joint study by historians including Zhifen Ju, Mitsuyoshi Himeta, Toru Kubo and Mark Peattie, more than 10 million Chinese civilians were mobilized by the Kōa-in (Japanese Asia Development Board) for forced labour. More than 100,000 civilians and POWs died in the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway. The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between four and 10 million romusha (Japanese: "manual laborer"), were forced to work by the Japanese military.About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there was a death rate of 80%. According to historian Akira Fujiwara, Emperor Hirohito personally ratified the decision to remove the constraints of international law (Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)) on the treatment of Chinese prisoners of war in the directive of 5 August 1937. This notification also advised staff officers to stop using the term "prisoners of war". The Geneva Convention exempted POWs of sergeant rank or higher from manual labour, and stipulated that prisoners performing work should be provided with extra rations and other essentials. However, Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention at the time, and Japanese forces did not follow the convention. During World War II, such rules were largely respected in German POW camps, except in the case of Soviet POWs. After the war the Allies proceeded to for years use millions of Germans for forced labor, see Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union and Eisenhower and German POWs.

My first sighting of the Ogasawara islands from the Ogasawara-maru. Mi primer avistamiento de las islas Ogasawara desde el Ogasawara-maru.

Alan's first match in the individual tournament finds him pitted against a guy from the Kankokyokai.

父島宮之浜にて撮影。 この熱帯魚について名前など判る方がいらっしゃいましたら、コメントをお願いします。

10/24 父島半日ツアーで遭遇したハシナガイルカ。 英名の「Spinner Dolphin」の通り、何度も錐揉みジャンプを見せてくれました。

父島半日ツアーにてハシナガイルカと遭遇

父島宮之浜にて撮影

父島半日ツアーでハシナガイルカと遭遇

父島宮之浜にて撮影

父島宮之浜にて撮影

父島宮之浜にて撮影

父島宮之浜にて