A bare rock with a lighthouse, 5nm off Honshu, where the Kuroshio current delivers schooling scalloped hammerheads within…A bare rock with a lighthouse, 5nm off Honshu, where the Kuroshio current delivers schooling scalloped hammerheads within day-trip range of Tokyo. Also huge kingfish, barracuda walls and mola mola. The current is the price of admission. The 1870 lighthouse was designed by Richard Henry Brunton, the Scottish engineer who built much of Japan's lighthouse network after the Meiji Restoration. Mikomoto's hammerhead season has made it a pilgrimage for Japanese divers, and it is the only mainland-accessible hammerhead site in the country. Anchorage: Shimoda harbour; the island is a 30-minute run offshore. Hazards: Ferocious current with real downcurrent risk. Advanced drift experience, SMB and a live-boat operator are essential. Trips are frequently cancelled, build slack into any itinerary. Altro