In April earlier this year, my boyfriend and I went out on a random adventure and ended up in Itsuwa, at an island called Kameshima (亀島), or Turtle Island. So often I am surprised and intrigued by places that aren’t quite on the tourist and/or sightseeing path, but are locally well known and part of everyday citizens lives.

So Kameshima is – you guessed it – shaped like a turtle, and sticks out of the water a short ways offshore. You can walk to it at low tide, but once it’s high tide you might need a boat to get back! Many locals here come to catch bugs or small fish with their children, some elder locals come out to fish or collect seaweed for making their own food.

I was a little surprised by some of the sights pictured in some of these photos. I expected little to nothing to be on the island when we originally trekked over, but once we got there we spotted a number of items. My personal favorite was the down-and-out, yet likely functioning port-o-potty. The cabin with someone’s homemade hunting equipment left there was up there with the potty though. It was quite surprising, making me surmise that someone lived there. (A friend informed me afterward that they think the city of Itsuwa rents the cabin out to interested parties, which makes sense. But does it lock? And who uses it when no one is there? A city official with an urge to return to the wild? ;) ) A well and a wheelbarrow were also spotted on the scene.

There’s not too much to do on the island itself if you’re not staying there to maroon yourself for a few days, but it’s worth a trip out to walk on and adventure about in your free time. We enjoyed it quite a bit!