If you drive for about two hours to the east from the Ube airport in Yamaguchi prefecture, you will get to the Suo Oshima Island. The island, surrounded by beautiful nature, is a great place to enjoy the beaches, hiking, and hot spring. Most notably, Suo-Oshima town has a sister island relationship with the County of Kauai in Hawaii, which is probably why you can feel the Hawaiian vibes when you are in Suo Oshima.

Between 1830 and 1844, the population in the island had increased significantly, which urged about 3,900 people in the island to immigrate to other parts of Japan and to Hawaii during the Edo era. The 5th and 6th generation of those immigrants still keep the connections with the Suo Oshima island through cultural and commercial exchanges. The Museum of Japanese Emigration to Hawaii in the Oshima district preserves a record of a history of immigrants to Hawaii.

The island is also famous for mandarin oranges. It is the only place where you can eat the hot pot with mandarin oranges as one of the ingredients.