Kujuku Islands

Kujukushima means ninety-nine islands, which is an old way of saying a great many rather than a count; the surveyed number is 208, packed into about twenty-five kilometres of coast running north-west from Sasebo towards Hirado, which the local visitor centre describes as the largest number of islands in so compact an area anywhere in Japan. Almost all are uninhabited, small, and covered in black pine growing straight out of the rock. The way to see the shape of it is from above: Ishidake and Tenkaiho are viewpoints on the ridge behind Sasebo. Cruise boats run out among the islands from the Pearl Sea Resort in about fifty minutes. The waters are farmed for oysters and pearls, and the whole area is within Saikai National Park.

The landscape

• 208 islets - said to be the densest island group in Japan, in twenty-five kilometres of coast.
• Pines on bare rock - black pine growing straight out of the islets.
• Ridge viewpoints - Ishidake and Tenkaiho giving the whole scatter at once.
• Cruise boats - about fifty minutes threading among the islands.

When to go

March to November; sunset at Ishidake. Half a day.

Good to know

Cruises are cancelled in swell and are busy in holidays. The viewpoints need a car or an infrequent bus. Haze softens the view for much of the summer. Sasebo itself is a working port city rather than a resort.

Nearby

Huis Ten Bosch is south; Hirado is north up the coast.

Key facts