Ogasawara Archipelago, UNESCO World Heritage archipelago in Tokyo Islands, Japan.

The Ogasawara Archipelago consists of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located about 1,000 kilometers south-southeast of Tokyo, with a total area of 84 square kilometers. Only Chichijima and Hahajima are permanently inhabited, and the seat of government is on Chichijima. The islands are the peaks of an oceanic island arc formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate.

The islands remained uninhabited for centuries until American and European whalers established a settlement in the early 19th century. Japan took administrative control in 1875 and began sending its own citizens to settle there, altering the existing international community.

The local Creole language is called Bonin English, a legacy of the American, European and Hawaiian colonists who arrived from the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1830. Islanders of European descent were all naturalised as Japanese in 1882, and the community remained distinct until most were forcibly relocated to Honshu during World War II.

The only connection is a ferry that leaves Tokyo once a week and takes roughly 24 hours to reach the main island. Plan extended stays because weather delays can occur and return trips are equally limited in frequency.

The islands were never connected to any mainland, so plants and animals evolved here that exist nowhere else on Earth. About 40 percent of the plant species and many snails, insects, and birds live exclusively in these forests.