is a volcanic island of Japan in the Pacific Ocean. It is about south of the special wards of Tokyo. It is part of the Izu archipelago and within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Its only municipality is Hachijà Â. On 1 March 2018, its population was 7,522 people living on 63 km<sup>2</sup>. Some inhabitants speak Hachijà  language, which is considered an endangered language and the number of speakers is unknown. The island has been inhabited since the Jà Âmon period, and was used as a place of exile during the Edo period. In modern times, it has been used for farming sugarcane and housing a secret submarine base during World War II; it is now a tourist destination within Japan.
Hachijà Â-jima receives about of precipitation annually. With a humid subtropical climate, and an average high temperature of , the island and the surrounding ocean support a wide variety of sea life, birds, mammals, plants, and other life. The tallest peak within the Izu Islands, a Class-C active volcano, is located there. Transportation to the island is either by air or ferry. There are many Japanese-style inns, hot spring resorts, and hotels to accommodate tourists and visitors. The island is a popular destination for surfers, divers and hikers. It has several local variations on Japanese foods, including shimazushi and kusaya, as well as many dishes that include the local plant ashitaba.
Hachijà Â-jima is about south of the Izu PeninsulaâÂÂor about south of TokyoâÂÂin the Pacific Ocean. The smaller island of Hachijà Â-kojima is northwest of Hachijà Â-jima, and can be seen from the top of Nishiyama. Mikura-jima about to the north and Aogashima about to the south. The island is within the boundaries of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
The only municipality on the island is the town of Hachijà Â, which encompasses both Hachijà Â-jima and the neighbouring Hachijà Â-kojima, though no one lives on the latter. The town is divided into five areas: Mitsune (ä¸Âæ ¹), Nakanogo (ä¸Âä¹Âé·), Kashitate (樫ç«Â), Sueyoshi (æ«åÂÂ), and à Âkago (大è³Âé·).
The population of Hachijà Â-jima on 1 March 2018 was 7,522.
The language spoken historically on Hachijà Â-jima is one of the most divergent forms of Japanese; it is the only surviving descendant of Eastern Old Japanese. The number of speakers is not certain; it is on UNESCO's list of endangered languages, and is likely to be extinct by 2050 if counter-measures are not taken.
The island is home to bioluminescent mushrooms, including Mycena lux-coeliâÂÂmeaning "heavenly light mushrooms"âÂÂand Mycena chlorophos. M. lux-coeli are widely found and for decades were believed only to exist on the island. The local name for the mushrooms is hato-no-hi, literally "pigeon fire". Many different plants are native to the island, including the pygmy date palm, aloe, freesia, hydrangea, hibiscus, Oshima and Japanese cherry, and bird of paradise.
Since November 2015, humpback whales have been observed gathering around the island, far north from their known breeding areas in the Bonin Islands. All breeding activities except for giving births have been confirmed, and research is underway by the town of Hachijà  and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology to determine whether Hachijà Â-jima may become the northernmost breeding ground in the world, and possible expectations for opening a future tourism attraction. Whales can be viewed even from hot springs. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, likely (re)colonised from Mikura-jima, also live around the island, among other cetaceans such as false killer whales, sperm whales, and orcas (being sighted during humpback whale research in 2017).
The waters around the island are important for the nourishment of green sea turtles, as well as Hamatobiuo (a type of flying fish).
The Izu thrush makes its home on the island, as does the Japanese white-eye. The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it also supports populations of Japanese wood pigeons, Japanese murrelets, Pleske's grasshopper warblers and Ijima's leaf-warblers.
Hachijà Â-jima has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with very warm summers and mild winters. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year, but is somewhat lower in winter.
<div style="width: 80%;"></div>
Hachijà Â-jima is a compound volcanic island that is in length with a maximum width of . The island is formed from two stratovolcanoes. âÂÂalso called âÂÂhas a height of and was active from 100,000 BC to around 1700 BC. It has eroded flanks and retains a distinctive caldera.
âÂÂalso called âÂÂhas a height of . It is the highest point on the island and the tallest peak in the Izu island chain. The summit is occupied by a shallow caldera with a diameter of and a depth of around . It is rated as a Class-C active volcano by the Japan Meteorological Agency with recent eruptions recorded in 1487, 1518âÂÂ1523, and 1605, with seismic activity as recently as 2002. Between these two peaks are over 20 flank volcanoes and pyroclastic cones.
Hachijà Â-jima has been inhabited since at least the Jà Âmon period, and archaeologists have found magatama and other remains. Under the Ritsuryà  system of the early Nara period, the island was part of Suruga Province. It was transferred to Izu Province when Izu separated from Suruga in 680. During the Heian period, Minamoto no Tametomo was banished to Izu à Âshima after a failed rebellion, but per a semi-legendary story, escaped to Hachijà Â-jima, where he attempted to establish an independent kingdom.
During the Edo period, the island became known as a place of exile for convicts, most notably Ukita Hideie, a daimyà  who was defeated at the Battle of Sekigahara. Originally the island was a place of exile mainly for political figures, but beginning in 1704 the criteria for banishment were broadened. Crimes punishable by banishment included murder, theft, arson, brawling, gambling, fraud, jailbreak, rape, and membership of an outlawed religious group. Criminals exiled to the island were never told the length of their sentences, and the history of the island is filled with foiled escape attempts. Its use as a prison island ended during the Meiji Restoration: after a general amnesty in 1868 most of the island's residents chose to move to the mainland; however, the policy of banishment was not officially abolished until 1881.
Former U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant visited the island during his 1877 world tour. The island's residents were aware of his exploits in the American Civil War and gave him a jubilant welcome. He was ceremonially adopted by the village chief, being given the name ; meaning "courageous general" in the local dialect, and was presented with prayer beads made with pearls and gemstones. He declared that the island's residents were the "friendliest people in the Pacific".
In 1900, pioneers from Hachijà  became the first inhabitants of the Daità  Islands, where they established a sugarcane farming industry. The Hachijà  language is still spoken on the islands to this day.
During World War II, the island was regarded as a strategic point in the defense of the ocean approaches to Tokyo; and in the final stages of the war, a base of operations for the Kaiten suicide submarines was founded on the southern coast. From the end of the war through the 1960s, the government made attempts to promote Hachijà Â-jima as the "Hawaii of Japan" to encourage tourist development, and tourism remains a large component of the island's economy.
There is a small mystery regarding the history of Hachijà Â-jima, of potential significance to the history of women's rights. Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, a well known autobiographer from the early 20th century, states in A Daughter of the Samurai that the island was commonly known in Japan during her childhood for being a place where standard gender roles were reversed; women did heavy field work and "made laws", and men tended the home and children. The mystery is that no other source mentions this. A brief quote to illustrate the significance of the information:
Hachijà Â-jima is accessible both by aircraft and by ferry. In 2010 a pedestrian ferry would leave Tà Âkyà  once every day at 10:30 pm, and arrive at Hachijà Â-jima at 8:50 am the following day. Air travel to Hachijojima Airport takes 45 minutes from Tà Âkyà  International Airport (Haneda). In 2000, there were three metropolitan roads on Hachijà Â-jima: 215 (formally, æ±京é½éÂÂ215å·堫ä¸Â循ç°ç·Â), 216 (é½éÂÂ216Ã¥Â፴Âæ¹Âå «éÂÂ根港ç·Â, 8.3 km), and 217 (æ±京é½éÂÂ217å·æ±ÂéÂÂæ´Â輪沢港ç·Â).
The island is home to the Hachijo Royal Resort, a now-abandoned French baroque-style luxury hotel that was built during the tourism boom of the 1960s. When the hotel was built in 1963 it was one of the largest in Japan, and attracted visitors from all over the country. The hotel was finally closed in 2006 due to declining tourism to the island. As of April 2016, the grounds were overgrown and the building severely dilapidated.
The contains displays covering the history of the island, local industries, as well as the animals and plants found on and around the island. The is a botanical and animal park next to the Hachijojima Visitors Center.
In 2005, accommodation on Hachijà Â-jima was plentiful, with many Japanese-style inns, hot spring resorts, campsites, and several larger hotels. Hachijà Â-jima is popular with surfers, with three reef breaks and consistently warmer water than mainland Japan because of the Kuroshio Current. Because Hachijà Â-jima is a volcanic island, there are several black sandy beaches, including one next to the main harbour of Sokodo.
Hachijà Â-jima's scuba diving points were regarded in 2008 as many and varied, and as including one of the top five diving spots in Japan.
Hachijà Â-jima is known for its hiking trails, waterfalls, and natural environment. Other activities for visitors include visiting the Botanical Park, exploring wartime tunnels, and hiking to the top of Hachijà Â-fuji.
Kihachijà Â, a naturally yellow silk fabric, is woven on the island. One of the workshops is open to tourists. The Tokyo Electric Power Company operates a free museum at its geothermal power plant.
Hachijà Â-jima is famous both for its sushiâÂÂknown locally as shimazushiâÂÂand for its kusaya (a dried and fermented version of hamatobiuo). As well as being served with sake, the latter is used in many different recipes.
Local cuisine also makes use of the ashitaba plant in dishes such as ashitaba soba and tempura.
The island is the main setting of the film Bento Harassment, released in 2019 and starring Ryoko Shinohara and Kyoko Yoshine.