Yaeyama Islands

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The Yaeyama Islands (????? Yaeyama-shot?) are the westernmost part of Okinawa, Japan.

	yaeyama islands Travel Guide : 1 Islands 2 Understand 2.1 Climate 3 Talk 4 Get in 4.1 By plane 4.2 By boat 5 Get around 5.1 By plane 5.2 By boat 6 See 7 Do 8 Eat 9 Drink 10 Stay safe 11 Respect 12 Cope 13 External links

Islands

• Aragusuku — population 7
• Hatoma — the main attraction here is that there are no attractions
• Hateruma — the southernmost inhabited point of Japan
• Ishigaki — the largest town and transport hub of the islands
• Iriomote — covered in mangrove swamps and jungles inhabited by the elusive Iriomote wild cat
• Kohama — tiny island that houses one swanky resort
• Kuro — with more cows than humans
• Taketomi — small island off Ishigaki, known for a carefully restored Ryukyu village
• Yonaguni — the westernmost point of Japan, famous for its mysterious underwater stone structures

Understand

The Yaeyama Islands are the remotest and most southwestern part of Japan, closer to Taiwan than Okinawa Island, much less the mainland.

Climate

The Yaeyama Islands are subtropical and even in winter temperatures rarely drop below 15°C, making the area a popular winter getaway, although it's often cloudy and usually a little too cold for sunbathing. Spring, around March and April, is an excellent time to visit if you take care to avoid Golden Week at the end of April. The rainy season starts early in May and continues until June. Summer in Okinawa is hot and humid but still one of the peak visiting seasons, while September-October brings a succession of fierce typhoons that can bring everything to a standstill. November and December are again good times to visit.

Talk

Handy Yaeyaman glossary Some words you may run into: ??? yaima — Yaeyama ?????? ?rit?ri — welcome ?????? kuy?n?ra — hello ????????n?faiy? — thank you ?????m?san — delicious Note that spellings and pronunciations vary not just from island to island, but according to the speaker's preferred rendering in kana.

Due to their isolation the Yaeyama Islands are a linguist's dream. While standard Japanese is spoken everywhere and the main Okinawan language is also well understood, there is a unique Yaeyaman language (yaimamunii) as well. Ishigaki, Iriomote and Taketomi all have their own dialects of this, and Yonaguni's is so distinct that it's usually considered its own language.

An indigenous ideographical writing system known as kaid? was once employed on Taketomi and Yonaguni, but is now primarily found on T-shirts in souvenir shops.

See also: Yaeyama phrasebook, Yonaguni phrasebook

Get in

The Yaeyama Islands are a long way from anywhere.

By plane

The main airport of the islands is Ishigaki. There are frequent connections to Naha and Miyako and limited direct services to major Japanese cities like Tokyo, but no scheduled international services.

By boat

A weekly ferry travels from Kaohsiung (Taiwan) to Ishigaki and onward to mainland Japan as far as Nagoya. There are also 4 services per week from Naha and Miyako to Ishigaki.

Star Cruises (http://www.starcruises.com/Itineraries/Taiwan/index.html) operates cruises from Keelung (Taiwan) to Miyako, Ishigaki and Yonaguni.

Get around

By plane

Japan Transocean Air (http://www.jal.co.jp/jta/) and Ryukyu Air Commuter have limited flights (1-2 services daily) from Ishigaki to Yonaguni and Hateruma.

By boat

There are frequent services from Ishigaki to Taketomi (just 10 minutes) and Iriomote (40 minutes). Infrequent boats connect to the other islands. The major operators are Anei Kank? (http://www.aneikankou.co.jp/index1.htm) and Yaeyama Kank? Ferry (http://www.yaeyama.co.jp/timetable.htm).

See

The Yaeyama Islands are about as off the beaten track as it gets in Japan, but each has its own distinct character. Ishigaki has some spectacular beaches and Iriomote is the only island in all Japan with authentic jungle and mangrove forests, while tiny Taketomi is known for its carefully maintained traditional Ryukyu village.

Do

Thanks to the pristine coral reefs that surround practically all the islands, scuba diving is the number one sports activity. Ishigaki is known for its manta rays, while Yonaguni's star attractions are hammerhead sharks and underwater ruins.

Even with just a snorkel and mask, it's possible to see a good assortment of tropical fish and other marine life among the reefs just a short distance from the beaches. The best spots are probably Nakamoto Beach on Kuro Island and Star Sand Beach on Iriomote.

Eat

Yaeyama's best-known dish is the ubiquitous Yaeyama soba (?????), which bears little resemblance to soba on the mainland: the Yaeyaman version consists of white wheat noodles in a mild pork-based stock, garnished with chunks of pork (s?ki), some slices of fish cake and red ginger. Available everywhere for ¥400-500 a bowl.

The local beef is also renowned, although needless to say in Japan prime steaks don't come cheap. The tiny island of Kuro, in particular, is known for having more cows than people.

Some of the more exotic local fare on offer includes snake soup and mimig?, a salad of pork ear, cucumber and vinegar.

Drink

As elsewhere in Okinawa the tipple of choice is awamori, the best known local brand being Yaesen (???), but Yonaguni is also known for its deadly 60° hanazake. In addition to the ubiquitous Orion beer, Ishigaki also houses a microbrewery.

Stay safe

Yaeyama poses no health risks apart from those found elsewhere in Okinawa. Use plenty of suntan lotion and don't insert your hands into holes in trees that make hissing sounds.

Respect

The Yaeyama islands have over 200 utaki (??), also known as ogan or on, which are holy places for venerating the gods. Akin to low-key versions of Japanese jinja shrines, they usually do not have torii gates, but are instead marked off with low stone walls and Japanese signage. Don't venture inside.

Cope

The definitive reference to the islands is Nanzansha's Yaeyama Guide Book (???? GUIDE BOOK, ISBN 4876413886, Amazon.co.jp (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4876413886)), but alas, the only words of English in this yearly-updated tome are in the title. Still, the maps and thorough listings are invaluable, particularly for the smaller islands. Available in better bookstores throughout Japan for ¥1200, and older copies can almost always be found sitting around in Yaeyaman lodgings.

The free Yaeyama Navi (?????) pamphlet with large, detailed maps is also quite good, but the listings inside are limited to paid advertisements.

External links

• Yaeyama Navi (http://ishigaki.net/navi/) (Japanese only)

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