It’s said that a major eruption occurred by the Akiya Coast, resulting in the flatlands on which the town of Ama was built. So then, the question is--where was the source of the eruption? While the actual location is unknown, if you look down from this spot you will see a farm in the distance. Shiokaze Farm lies at the bottom of a small caldera. It might be possible that this caldera was once a volcanic crater from which volcanic lava once flew up and up, into the sky, flowing to what is now the Akiya coastline.

If you continue to drive and take this road west, you will come across a rare plant called “Dystaenia takeshimana.” Within all of Japan, this plant only grows in Ama Town and blooms only in June. It’s very rare to have a plant that only grows in Ama Town, but what is even rarer is the fact that there are similar types of flowers blooming in both Okinawa, the southernmost tip of Japan, and Hokkaido, the northernmost tip of Japan. This points to the fact that these flowers date back to a time when all of the islands of Japan were once one large island connected.

If we think about it, the water levels between Oki Island and the mainland are only 80 meters (262 feet) deep. When global cooling occurs, the water levels fall, connecting the land, but with global warming, the water levels rise and the earth becomes isolated islands. This cycle has continued over time to the present day. However, even during global cooling, the warmer climate of the Oki Islands persisted thanks to the Tsushima Wind Currents. Many plants seeking shelter from the cold, migrated to these islands. However, this doesn’t mean the islands are overflowing with vegetation. The island, as we know, is a result of volcanic eruption, which means its soils lack nutrition and plants are barely able to survive. Rather than growing en masse all over the island, here and there you find one plant which has managed to miraculously survive--this is a prime example of plant life on Oki.

The fact that Oki was once connected to the mainland may come as a shock. If we think that a mere 20,000 years ago the lands were connected as a result of global cooling, we realize just how recently all of this occurred. There may be a time in another ten thousand years when the islands may once again connect to the mainland. That is just how relevant the process of global warming and cooling is to our lives. Under the surface of the water we are looking at, all land is connected.