Did you know that Tokyo has its very own desert? Our reporter went to check it out…

Tokyo, Japan’s bustling capital, is where it all happens. As a result, the city tends to be a pretty crowded place, and it can be hard to find a space of your very own.

After months of crowds, trains, traffic and busy crosswalks, our Japanese reporter Masanuki couldn’t take the pushing and the shoving any longer, so decided to hotfoot it to the most desolate, remote place he could locate that is still technically in Tokyo.

After poring over his map (he’s old-school like that), Masanuki finally settled on a spot to head to, making plans to take a boat which left for Izu Oshima island at 13:20pm that day. His destination? The desert!

Now, before you accuse our man of cheating, we should point out that Izu Oshima, while an island, is technically under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan government, which makes it a bona-fide part of Tokyo.

The boat to the island takes about two hours from Tokyo Takeshiba terminal to reach Izu Oshima, which should give you a pretty good idea of how far away it is from the mainland.

Arriving on the island at 3pm, our intrepid reporter headed straight to the rental bike shop where he’d reserved a 50cc scooter with which to traverse the island. The kindly lady who worked at the shop took one look at our reporter’s flimsy duds and decided to bestow a waterproof jumpsuit upon him to keep out the island’s elements. She also saw fit to throw in a fetching red helmet (safety first!) which made our reporter look a little bit too much like the video game character Bomberman for his liking. Still, it’s not likely that any of his pals and acquaintances from Tokyo would just happen to be on the island to laugh at his new apparel, so he decided not to worry about it.

▼ Check out that sweet ride.

▼ Bomberman ready to hit those desert sands.

Around 40 minutes of intense scootering along the island’s main road later, and our reporter finally reached the entrance to the, um, desert. Fittingly, it truly was deserted, with nothing but grey sand stretching out in all directions. Bomberman hopped from his wild hog to survey the scenery.

Five minutes of quiet reflection, and our hero was starting to get a little bit creeped out. After all, the sun was beginning its descent from the heavens, and there wasn’t a soul around. Eventually he began to fantasise that he was an astronaut who had crash-landed on inhospitable terrain on a remote alien planet.

▼ Nothing but a bunch of sand and some shrubs.

▼ A conbini or two wouldn’t go amiss right now…

▼ Not a soul to be seen. Aah, solitude… creepy, creepy solitude…

Another five minutes of that and he was beginning to get more than a slight case of the heebie-jeebies. In the end, he decided to call quits on his quest for solitude and head back to the safe, comfortable crowds of Tokyo!

All photos © RocketNews24
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