RegionOutline guide

Amami Islands

Archipelago within the Ryukyu Islands

Photo: Snap55, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Amami Islands (奄美諸島 Amami-shotō) are a small archipelago south of Kyushu, Japan.

Getting there and around

Getting there

By ferry
The Amami Islands are served the cozy duopoly of A-Line Ferry, aka Maru-A (マルエー) and Marix Line, both of which run between Kagoshima (Kyushu) and Naha (Okinawa) via the islands on alternating days.

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Getting around

By ferry
The Kagoshima-Naze-Okinawa ferries can be used for travel from island to island.

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Airports and nearby hotels

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Tokunoshima Airport

Amagi · Regional · TKN

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Read before you go to Amami Islands

Articles and travel topics about Amami Islands and Japan.

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Full travel guide

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IslandsIn addition, the Tokara Islands just to the north of Amami are sometimes lumped in with the Amami Islands.

UnderstandThe Amami Islands are geographically, linguistically and culturally a part of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa), but in the early 1600s they were conquered by Satsuma (today's Kagoshima) and have been formally a part of…

TalkEverybody on the islands speaks standard Japanese. English is rare.

Get inAmami Airport (ASJ) on Amami Oshima is the main hub for flights, with direct flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, and Naha in Okinawa.

Get aroundKikai, Okinoerabujima, Tokunoshima and Yoron have small airports with service to Amami and Kagoshima only.

EatFood in Amami has strong Okinawan influences: see Okinawa#Eat for a primer.

DrinkBrown sugar shōchū (黒糖焼酎 kokutō shōchū), distilled from cane sugar using the rice koji, is a speciality of the Amamis.

Stay safeThe venomous Okinawan pit viper (ハブ habu) is endemic to the Amami Islands and has an unfortunate habit of entering homes in search of rats and mice. Antivenom is available and the fatality rate for bites is less than 1%.

Go next

Tokara Islands

Sources and licences

Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Amami 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 "Amami Islands", available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikipedia
Photo: Snap55, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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