Tebajima is a small island located a few kilometres from Mugi Port in Tokushima Prefecture. It’s the second largest of three small islands off the east side of Shikoku at the root of the Muroto Peninsula.

The island has a small village around a port, a lighthouse on a hill, and a pond where a type of prehistoric plant grows – one of only four such places in the world. In the village, time appears to have stopped in the Showa period, with no development since the 1960s. The island is so small that there’s no point in having a car.

On clear days, the base of Tebajima Lighthouse affords views of Wakayama, Muroto, the Shikoku Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean. The forested hill on which the lighthouse stands has the atmosphere of a tropical rainforest, or one of the remote islands off southern Japan.

A ferry makes six round trips a day, and the ride takes about fifteen minutes. There’s nowhere to eat on the island, so bring your own refreshments.