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Boats moored in the turquoise water of Kabira Bay among green hills on Ishigaki

Sample journey · 9–11 days

Coral, red roofs and mangroves: Okinawa and the Yaeyama Islands

Naha, Yanbaru, Ishigaki, Taketomi & Iriomote

Photo: Roméo A. / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

The islands strung between Kyushu and Taiwan were for centuries the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, trading with China, Korea and South-East Asia. The music still sounds different here, the food is different, and roof ridges are guarded by shisa, clay protectors that look half lion, half dog. This journey begins in Naha, where the Shuri Castle complex sits on its hill, and climbs into the north of Okinawa Island, to the Yanbaru forest and birds found nowhere else.

Then comes a short flight to the Yaeyama Islands, almost halfway to Taiwan. Ishigaki is their hub, Taketomi a tiny village of coral-stone walls and sandy lanes, and Iriomote is almost entirely jungle and mangrove, best explored by kayak. The journey suits couples and families who want the sea but not only a beach: transfers are short, and the stays are simple but full of character, from a traditional house around a courtyard to small hotels above a bay, chosen to suit your rhythm.

The route

The journey

  1. Naha & Shuri
  2. Yanbaru (northern Okinawa)
  3. Ishigaki
  4. Taketomi
  5. Iriomote
  6. Ishigaki
  1. The red, tile-roofed Shureimon gate with its inscribed board, leading into the Shuri Castle complex in Naha

    01Days 1–3 · Naha & Shuri

    The kings' capital on its hill

    Two nights in Naha, usually reached via Tokyo or Osaka. The first full day is for Shuri: through the red Shureimon gate and up into the castle complex, its walls looking out over the city and the sea. The main hall burned in 2019 and is being rebuilt, so parts of the site may be screened off; at times the restoration itself can be watched, which is interesting in its own right. Below lie the stone-paved Kinjo lane between old walls and Tamaudun, the royal mausoleum. In the afternoon, Makishi market, where fish bought downstairs is cooked for you upstairs, and Okinawa soba, hearty wheat noodles in broth. In the evening, if you like, a small bar where someone plays the sanshin, a three-stringed instrument covered in snakeskin.

  2. Fern fronds growing from a moss-covered tree trunk in the Yanbaru forest, Okinawa

    02Days 3–5 · Yanbaru

    A forest of birds found nowhere else

    About two and a half hours' drive north, along an ever wilder coast, and two nights in Yanbaru, the hilly, forested north of Okinawa Island, inscribed with Iriomote on UNESCO's World Natural Heritage list. In the morning, a walk with a local guide through subtropical forest, where ferns grow from mossy trunks and where the Okinawa rail, a bird that has all but given up flying, and the Okinawa woodpecker live. You're more likely to hear both than see them, but the guide knows where to listen. In the afternoon, kayaks among the mangroves at a river mouth, or Cape Hedo, where the island's northernmost point opens onto the open sea. An evening is well spent on a guided night walk: in the dark come frogs and insects you would never notice by day. Road signs here warn of wildlife, so driving is slow.

  3. Red-tiled roofs and stone walls among greenery in Taketomi village, with the sea and clouds beyond

    03Days 5–7 · Ishigaki & Taketomi

    The village after the last ferry leaves

    Back to Naha and a flight of about an hour to Ishigaki. One night on the edge of the harbour town: dinner of local beef and Yaeyama soba, and a first evening on the island. The next morning it's barely fifteen minutes by ferry to Taketomi. Many visitors come over by day, but if you stay the night, by evening the village belongs again to its few hundred residents. Red-tiled roofs crowned with shisa, coral-stone walls, white sand lanes that someone sweeps every morning, and carts drawn by water buffalo whose drivers sometimes break into song. By bike, to the shallows of Kondoi beach and to Kaiji, where people search the sand for tiny star-shaped grains. Sunset from Nishi pier. Taketomi is a living village, not a museum, so we stay out of courtyards and respect the quiet of those who live here.

  4. A narrow country road between sugarcane fields, with a turquoise sea beyond, on Iriomote

    04Days 7–9 · Iriomote

    Upriver by kayak through the mangroves

    By ferry from Taketomi via Ishigaki it's about half an hour or a little more to Iriomote, most of which is covered in jungle. The road runs around only part of the island, villages are few, and at night you hear only insects. Two nights here. The key day is spent with a licensed guide, kayaking upriver between mangrove roots, then walking through the forest to a waterfall with a pool you can swim in. Trails are often wet, slippery and hot, so the pace is steady, and the guide chooses the route by water level and weather. The next day is gentler: a boat up the Urauchi River, a water-buffalo cart across the shallows to tiny Yubu Island, or snorkelling over coral with a guide. The Iriomote cat, thought to number only around a hundred, is very rarely seen; road signs ask drivers to slow down, and we do.

  5. An empty beach and clear blue sea on Ishigaki in the afternoon

    05Days 9–10 · Ishigaki

    A last day by the coral sea

    Back to Ishigaki by ferry and a final night in the north of the island, where beaches are quieter than near the harbour. Kabira Bay is one of the loveliest places in the Yaeyamas, but swimming isn't allowed because of currents and the pearl farms, so it's best taken in from the shore or from a glass-bottomed boat, through which you see coral and turtles. Elsewhere, snorkelling with a guide when the sea is calm, the climb up Banna Hill for a view of the whole island, or simply a long afternoon on the beach. In the evening, Ishigaki's izakaya-lined lanes and, with luck, Yaeyama folk songs. On the last day, a flight to Naha, Tokyo or Osaka and on home; there are usually direct flights from Ishigaki to Tokyo, so you needn't go back through Naha.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Shuri and the Ryukyu story

    The royal castle complex, the stone-paved Kinjo lane and a history you won't find anywhere else in Japan.

  2. 02

    A night on Taketomi

    The red-roofed village in the evening, when the day visitors have gone and only the residents remain.

  3. 03

    Iriomote's mangroves

    Upriver by kayak and on foot to a waterfall, with a licensed local guide.

  4. 04

    Yanbaru by night

    A guided walk in the subtropical forest when its night-time residents emerge.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Slower and longer

    One more night on Iriomote and one on Ishigaki makes eleven days, with a buffer for days when the ferries don't run because of the swell.

  • With children

    Instead of the long walk to the waterfall, a short kayak route, the shallows of Kondoi beach and a glass-bottomed boat. Children love Taketomi's buffalo carts too.

  • By season

    Spring and late autumn are warm rather than hot, and the sea is often calm. Winter is cooler and windier, but quieter and good for walking.

  • With Tokyo or Kyoto

    Okinawa pairs naturally with a few days in Tokyo or Kyoto at the start, turning the journey into one of Japan's great contrasts.

Practical considerations

  • The most comfortable time is roughly late October to May. Summer is hot and humid, and typhoon season usually runs from about July to October, when ferries and flights can be cancelled, so we plan with a buffer.
  • Ferries between Ishigaki, Taketomi and Iriomote are short, but in a swell some sailings are cancelled or switch ports. We check timetables and routes before you travel and on the ground.
  • On Iriomote some trails and rivers may be visited only with a licensed guide, and visitor rules change; we check the current arrangements before you travel. On Okinawa Island a car is easiest; on Iriomote, guides' transfers or a hire car.
  • The sun is strong here even on cloudy days, and there are currents at sea, so we swim and snorkel only where it's safe, and recommend reef-friendly sunscreen.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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