RegionOutline guide

Yaeyama Islands

Archipelago within the Ryukyu Islands

Photo: maru0522, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Yaeyama Islands (八重山諸島 Yaeyama-shotō) are the westernmost part of Okinawa, Japan.

Getting there and around

Getting there

By plane
The only airport of significance in the islands is the New Ishigaki Airport (ISG), which has frequent flights to Naha and Miyako and some direct flights to most larger Japanese cities like Tokyo (3…
By boat
The only international service to the Yaeyamas is the Yaima Line from Keelung, Taiwan, which travels to Ishigaki once or twice a week.

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Getting around

By boat
There are frequent services from Ishigaki to Taketomi (10 min), Iriomote (40 min) and Hatoma (40 min).

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Airports and nearby hotels

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New Ishigaki Airport

Ishigaki · Regional · ISG

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Read before you go to Yaeyama Islands

Articles and travel topics about Yaeyama Islands and Japan.

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Full travel guide

Every section of the guide. Open one to read it in full.

Municipalities and IslandsThe islands area consists of one city and two towns as follows.

UnderstandThe Yaeyama Islands are the most southwestern part of Japan, closer to Taiwan and even Batanes of the Philippines than Okinawa Island, much less the mainland.

TalkSpellings and pronunciations vary not just from island to island, but according to the speaker's preferred rendering in kana.

Get inThe Yaeyama Islands are a long way from anywhere.

Get aroundJapan Transocean Air and Ryukyu Air Commuter have one or two daily flights from Ishigaki to Yonaguni.

SeeThe Yaeyama Islands are about as off-the-beaten-track as it gets in Japan, but each has its own distinct character.

DoThanks to the pristine coral reefs that surround practically all the islands, scuba diving is the number one sports activity.

EatYaeyama's best-known dish is the ubiquitous Yaeyama soba (八重山そば), which bears little resemblance to soba on the mainland: the Yaeyaman version is closer to ramen, consisting of white wheat noodles in a mild pork-based…

DrinkAs elsewhere in Okinawa the tipple of choice is awamori, the best known local brand being Yaesen (八重泉), but Yonaguni is also known for its deadly 60° hanazake.

Stay safeYaeyama 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 suspicious hissing sounds.

RespectThe Yaeyama islands have over 200 utaki (御嶽 otake), known in the local language as ogan or on, which are sacred sites (places for venerating the gods).

CopeThere are few options for withdrawing cash on the islands using foreign credit or debit cards.

Sources and licences

Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Yaeyama Islands" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Summary from the Wikipedia article "Yaeyama Islands", available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikipedia
Photo: maru0522, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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