opposite of Chinokoujima on Nozaki Island. Hime no Matsubara A 450 meter long avenue of pine trees, this avenue has been selected as the best of 100 pine tree locations in Japan, and the best of 8 sights in the Hokusho region. Kominka In 2007, the Ojika municipal government began a program of converting century-old private houses known as kominka (古民家) into lodging. All the homes were donated by the houses' original owners, which were then renovated and restored. Six houses, one restaurant, and one guesthouse have so far been converted. Ecology The native forests of Ojika were cut down in order to create space for rice paddies and cattle farming. The remaining forest has been largely colonized by invasive species brought to the island as a result of trade with Japan and China over the centuries. The main island of Ojika is surrounded by a shallow underwater plateau with an extensive rocky seabed around the islands. This contributes to breeding and fishing grounds for abalone, which are caught once or twice per year using a form of breath-hold diving. Abalone are dependent on the presence and quality of macroalgae beds, which has significantly degraded around the Ojika islands, contributing the gradual decline in the annual landed catches of abalone since the late 1980s. Decreases and disappearances of macroalgal beds have affected the two main species of abalone, Haliotis discus and Haliotis gigantea, differently. H. discus has been able to mature and the catch per unit effort (CPUE) has remained stable. However almost no H. gigantea were able to mature due to the loss of macroalgal beds and the population will become locally extinct without intervention for the recovery of the macroalgal beds. The sea star Ophidaster multispinus, previously found only in the Hainan Strait of southern China, was first identified in Japan in the Ojika islands. Transportation Ojika can be reached by two ferry lines, one from Fukuoka which is a five-hour journey, and the other from Sasebo, which takes about two hours. Although there is an airport on the island, it does not have regular service. Instead, planes can be chartered to Ojika during the higher parts of the tourist seasons. References External links Ojika official website Ojika and Nozaki Island Tourism website Towns in Nagasaki Prefecture