The Island of Kuchinoerabujima

Kuchinoerabujima is a small volcanic island reachable only by daily ferry from Yakushima, with a current population of about 100 people. During the early twentieth-century sulfur mining boom, over 1,000 people lived here. Today residents keep multiple freezers and large refrigerators to stockpile food when rough weather suspends ferry service for up to ten days. The island is the northernmost habitat of the Erabu fruit bat, a large species that relies on vision rather than echolocation. The 2015 eruption of Mt. Shindake wiped out the azalea plants on the peaks and reduced tree cover, threatening the bat population and earning it National Endangered Species status in 2019.