The Reason Why Yururi is a “Lost Island”

The Nemuro Peninsula is located at the eastern edge of the main island of Hokkaido, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. A small island floats off the coast of Ochiishi, a district of Nemuro City, located on the southern side of the peninsula. The name of the island is Yururi Island. It is only 2.6 km away from the Kombumori port, the nearest fishing port. If you stand on the port jetty, you can see the island’s impressively long, flat outline, like a thin disk on the surface of the sea. Today, the island is entirely uninhabited, and access to the island is restricted due to its designation as a natural monument of Hokkaido. However, there used to be houses and guardhouses for fishermen who gathered kelp from the surrounding sea. Horses were an indispensable part of people’s lives there. These horses were needed to pull the kelp from the boats to the drying grounds on the cliffs, and to carry fuel for the lighthouse that lit the surrounding area. About half a century ago, the last of the islanders left Yururi, but the horses that had been taken across the sea remained on the island. Thus, Yururi became a utopia only for horses. A place which you can see but cannot go to. I am sure that horses are running on the grasslands of such a unique island today. We can only imagine what they look like. That’s why Yururi is a lost island, and an island of dreams.