Jonoyama (Awashima)
If you want to fully enjoy the rich nature of the island with easy hiking, do head to Jonoyama, the highest mountain on the island at the altitude of 222m. There are many stairs and gentle slopes on the mountain trail, but it will take about only 1 hour to reach the summit which enables even beginners to feel easy to hike there.
There are fewer than 300 residents on the island, and almost everyone knows each other. It's super safe here. 👍
Kasashima Important Preservation District of Traditional Buildings
As the home of the Shiwaku Suigun navy, Honjima island is the center of the Shiwaku Islands, which had enough power to be given autonomy by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590 and flourished in the shipping industry during the Edo period (1603-1868).
It's amazing how well they've preserved these historic buildings, especially being so close to the sea. Not an easy feat!
Okunitama-jinja Shrine
Okunitama Shrine, with a history stretching back about 1900 years, is where Okunitama-no-Okami, the deity protecting the Musashino area, is enshrined. Musashino was a vast area including modern-day Tokyo, Saitama, and parts of Kanagawa. Inside the shrine grounds are several smaller shrines, each one granting its own blessing. Among those, the shrine blessing love and marriage is especially well-known.
This place is definitely a center of faith for locals. The grounds are pretty spacious, and walking in from the big torii gate along the main path, you can really feel the shrine's solemn atmosphere. The dragon carving on the purification fountain is super detailed.
Tsutenkaku Tower
A steel tower which looks like the Eiffel Tower and 75 meters high was built In 1912, on top of a building which was the motif of the Arc de Triomphe, and named “Tsutenkaku” meaning “A building reaching the heaven'' by Nangaku Fujisawa, a Confucian in the early Meiji period. After being broken down due to a fire, citizens lobbied for rebuilding and the current 2nd Tsutenkaku was built in 1956.
You can really see the marks of time here. There are lots of izakayas and shops around, making it a really fun area to explore.