⚠️ Timetables, opening hours, prices and access conditions may change without notice, for reasons beyond our control (season, weather, decisions by operators, venues or local authorities). Before every trip, check the information with the relevant authorities and service providers.
Turquoise bay dotted with wooded islets, the symbol of Ishigaki; no swimming, but glass-bottom boats and a viewpoint in the park above.
House built in 1819 by a family of senior Yaeyama officials, with a coral-rock garden, a rare example of architecture from the kingdom era.
Protected village of low red-tiled houses behind coral-stone walls and white-sand lanes, best explored by water-buffalo cart.
Listed in 2021 with Amami-Oshima, Tokunoshima and northern Okinawa for its biodiversity, including the Iriomote cat, found nowhere else.
Official websitewhc.unesco.org→National park combining subtropical forests, mangroves and coral reefs, including Sekisei Lagoon, the largest in Japan.
Official websiteenv.go.jp→Traditional boat races held on the fourth day of the fifth lunar month, around May or June, to pray for safety at sea and good catches.
Obon ritual in which masked figures, an old man and an old woman from the afterlife, visit homes with songs and dances.
Major autumn seed-sowing festival, an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, when islanders perform dozens of dances and plays.
Black wagyu raised on the island and usually enjoyed as yakiniku; Ishigaki is also a major source of calves for farms across Japan.
Thin round noodles in pork broth, topped with strips of pork and fish cake and seasoned with local chilli or pipatsu long pepper.
Island pineapples, mangoes and guavas are enjoyed as juice or shaved ice, while local distilleries make awamori, the Ryukyu rice spirit.