Can’t afford to buy an island? Rent one for about Y70,000 a day

An uninhabited island located in Tokyo Bay about 1.7 kilometers off the coast of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Sarushima earned itself a bit of attention last year when Google Streetview started offering a virtual tour of “Monkey Island.” Easily accessible by ferry, which makes seven round trips a day, Sarushima is a great destination during the summer when you can sit on the beach or explore the island’s passages.

Unfortunately for the island’s tourism industry, the winter months turn into a bit of an off-season. Which makes sense, since we suspect running around on the beach in a swimsuit in Tokyo Bay in February isn’t very much fun. However, it turns out the island is available for rent on weekdays during this off-season.

News of the island’s rentability spread online after a tweet, which shows images of a TV show discussing the island, was retweeted over 12,000 times. As @yuruhuwa_rikusi points out, the island apparently has some air-raid shelters, making it ideal for cosplayers who go for a more militaristic look.

But you don’t need to be into cosplay to enjoy the island! We bet you can think of all sorts of fun things to do with an island to yourself — though you may have to scale back your imagination a little bit, since the city will need to sign off on any rental requests.

However, for only 70,000 yen, we bet people can think of all sorts of clever uses. According to the Tokyo Shimbun, Space Market, the rental agency in charge of renting the island, says no one has actually taken the offer yet, though they have apparently had inquiries from a talent agency about setting up a meet-and-greet between idols and fans. Of course, that 70,000 yen will only get you the island — it’ll cost about 200 yen per person for the ferry ride.

Unfortunately, there are a number of areas on the island that are off-limits to visitors without a guide, but at least you’ll have a guaranteed beach all to yourself. Rental will only be available until the end of February, so if you’re interested, you’ll need to contact both Space Market and Yokosuka City to get permission.

_Sources: Tokyo Shimbun, Twitter/@yuruhuwarikusi

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