Trip to Yonaguni Island, Japan’s westernmost island

 

Have you ever heard of Yonaguni Island?
This time, I would like to talk about my trip to the westernmost island of Japan, Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture.

【PR】Buy Japanese tableware if you’d like (we’re a pottery shop/wholesaler).

The president of the company gets angry if I keep writing blogs that have nothing to do with my work, so here’s a proper PR for the tableware.

What is Yonaguni Island?

About 509 km southwest of Okinawa Island, 127 km from Ishigaki Island, and 1,900 km from Tokyo.
With a circumference of 27.49 km and an area of 28.95 km2, Yonaguni Island is the westernmost point of Japan.
（沖縄本島から南西へ約509km、石垣島から約127km、東京から約1,900km。
周囲27.49km、面積28.95k㎡の日本最西端の地、与那国島。）

与那国観光WEBより

The island is located further away from the main island of Okinawa and is about 1,800 km away from Mizunami City, where I live.
Its distance from Taiwan is about 111 km, making Taiwan very close!
The population is about 1,600.

Access to Yonaguni Island

Yonaguni Island is accessible by air from Naha or Ishigaki Island, about 2 flights a day.
By ferry, there are about 2 flights a day from Ishigaki Island.

For a day trip, you can only fly.
Be aware that ferry service may be cancelled depending on the weather.

Link:
・琉球エアーコミューター
・フェリーよなくに

Go to Yonaguni Island

This time, we will fly from Ishigaki Island to Yonaguni Island.
We boarded an airplane of a company called Ryukyu Air Commuter.

Members of today’s Yonaguni Island expedition.

Come on, let’s get on the plane.

What a surprise! It is a propeller-driven plane.
This is the first time in my life that I will ride in a propeller-driven plane.

It was also the first time I walked on the runway and boarded an airplane.

They seemed a little nervous about their first time in a propeller-driven plane.
However, they happened to be seated right next to the propeller, so they could see the propeller clearly, which was fun.

He must have been very happy because he loved the fan.

The plane was full. Good thing I had made reservations.

Yonaguni Airport

Arrive at Yonaguni Airport in about one hour.

Trying to rent a car

Yonaguni Island is not a large island, but still has a circumference of 27.49 km.
It would be more convenient to have a car for sightseeing.

So we went to a car rental shop to rent a car, but they were out of stock…there are not that many cars available.
I had thought of coming to Yonaguni Island, but I hadn’t thought of booking a rental car.😅

By the way, there are 3 car rental agencies in Yonaguni Island.

Link
・与那国米浜レンタカー – 与那国島の米浜（ヨネハマ）レンタカー
・レンタカー | 与那国島のレンタカー・観光バスは最西端観光へ
・与那国ホンダ＿＿日本最西端のレンタカー屋さん＿＿

Try to borrow a bicycle.

Ryukyu Air Commuter rents out bicycles, so I considered it, but decided against it because they only have adult bicycles.
The size was too large for the children.

Link
・与那国サイクリングツアー（与那国空港“JAL レンタサイクル”）

No cabs seem to be running today.
What should I do? I have no means of transportation … but I want to go see at least the westernmost monument in Japan …

Free buses run on Yonaguni Island.

It is about 5.7 km from Yonaguni Airport to the westernmost monument in Japan.
It takes 1.5 hours to get there, so do you want to go on foot?🤔
Just when I was about to make up my mind, I was told by someone who had flown in with me that there was a free bus service.

This was a great help. Thank you very much.

Since we were going to be there, we decided to work together with the people who told us about the bus from here.

Nanta Beach

I don’t know what to expect since I came here without doing a thorough research.
I heard that the bus stops at the terminal station and departs after a short time. Since we had some time to kill, we decided to go to Nanta Beach, which is located near the terminal.

Before that, the bus driver told me that the grocery store would be closing soon, so I went shopping first.

There are also restaurants on Yonaguni Island.
However, today is January 2, and restaurants are closed and the grocery store, Sakihara Shoten, closes at 12:00 noon.

There was no bento available, so I bought bread and sausages.

And I bought some beer!
Even on Japan’s westernmost island, I was surprised to find a selection of products comparable to those in my neighborhood.

Then came Nanta Beach.

Well, today’s weather forecast for Yonaguni Island is cloudy with occasional rain……as long as it doesn’t rain, it will be OK……please let the weather hold out!

Tindavana can be seen clearly.
It looks a little like Mt. Arafune in Gunma Prefecture.

Lunch while viewing Nanta Beach.

Ms. S in red and Ms. K on the top right of him. They are the ones who told me about the bus.
Both of them are from Hokkaido. It is amazing to meet people from Hokkaido here on Yonaguni Island, which is the westernmost island in Japan and also relatively close to the southernmost island.
The lady on the bottom right has been staying in Yonaguni Island since yesterday. She came here to take pictures. She is going back today.

It was talked about that there is a 100 million yen grave east of Nanta beach, but considering the bus time, it is not close enough to go there… I have no choice but to give up….
I mean, it is not a tourist spot to begin with, but really a private grave.
It seems to be the grave of a ferry company for generations. While we were talking about something like that, the bus time was approaching, so we started again.

This is where I parted ways with the lady in the photo.

Transfer by bus to Kubura Port

We boarded the bus again that we took earlier and arrived at the port of Kubura.

Then I checked the timetable again at the bus stop.
This is a very serious trip because if you don’t take the right bus, you will not be able to board the plane in the worst case scenario.

We’ve all thought it through.

1. Japan’s westernmost monument
2. Dr. Koto’s Clinic

We decided to go around in the above order.

Although there are only a few places you can go because of the bus, a bus trip can be fun.

Walking to the westernmost monument in Japan

From Kubura Port to the westernmost monument in Japan is on foot.
It is quite a distance, 1.4 km, but we did our best to walk.

Kubura fishing port is here on the map.

Therefore, objects west of here are likely to be the westernmost objects in Japan.

This is Naama beach.

The weather was not so great, but still beautiful.

The roads are well maintained and very easy to walk on.
Cars are also driving through quickly. （I envy them.)

Japan’s westernmost monument

After a 20-minute stroll, we arrived at the westernmost monument in Japan.
Next to it is the Nishizaki Lighthouse.

A commemorative photo was immediately taken.

On the back of the westernmost monument in Japan, the distance to major cities was written.

It’s 117 km to Ishigaki Island and 111 km to Taiwan… Taiwan is closer!

There’s nothing to see from here on out…! (In the Japan)
Unfornatery, I can’t see Taiwan…

It was very windy and I was tired just standing there.

This is a monument for a project to thoroughly recreate the voyage of 30,000 years ago.
This is a project to verify if it is possible to sail from Taiwan to Yonaguni Island here with the technology of that time.
I happened to see it on TV.

If the weather had been better, it would have been beautiful.
I heard that January is the rainy season in Okinawa.

A commemorative photo at the Monument to the Westernmost Fish in Japan.

Mr. M on the left joined us.
Mr. M has been traveling to many places in Japan and abroad, and the next day he is planning to go to Hateruma Island, where the southernmost monument in Japan is located. (How nice!).

Incidentally, Japan’s southernmost uninhabited island is Okinotorijima.
Hateruma Island is the southernmost inhabited island in Japan.

Bus transfer to Hikawa

Next, we took a bus to Higawa, where the Dr. Koto Clinic is located.

There is a Hikawa community store in Hikawa, so we decided to buy some snacks here.

Dr. Koto Clinic

Walk 700m from Hikawa to Dr. Koto Clinic.

Dr. Koto Clinic is officially called Shikinajima Clinic.
It is the clinic where the TV drama “Dr. Koto Clinic” was filmed.

Dr. Koto Clinic” is a Japanese TV drama that was broadcast in 2003. That was almost 20 years ago.
I didn’t watch it, but I vaguely remember it.

Now (2022), a movie is also being released. I don’t know if it was before or after we went there, but I guess they must have filmed at this location at a relatively close time. 🤔

Link:
映画「Dr.コトー診療所」公式サイト

Dr. Koto Clinic (Shikinajima Clinic)Dr. Koto Clinic is open to the public as an open set and can be visited for an admission fee of 300 yen (free for high school students and younger).

The admission fee is paid on a tray at the reception desk.

For those who have seen Dr. Koto Clinic, it is an impressive sight.
Even for those who have not seen it, it is still beautiful scenery and enough to enjoy the atmosphere of Yonaguni Island.

But the kids get bored quickly and leave.
Let me slow down a little more. 😩

If only the weather were better…

The ladder to the rooftop was quite rusted and I expect it will be impossible to climb if it continues.

This Tokachi Butter Sweet was bought at the Higawa Community Kiosk. Tokachi is located in Hokkaido.
Even though this is the westernmost point of Japan, I was surprised at the wide selection of goods.
Ms. S (from Hokkaido), who was with me, was also surprised.
I got the impression that there was not much difference in price, although it depends on the product.

Hikawa beach stretches outside the Dr. Koto Clinic.

I suddenly thought back and took a picture of the admission ticket to the Dr. Coto Clinic.

Return to Yonaguni Airport

We took a bus from Dr. Koto Clinic and returned safely to Yonaguni Airport.
There is still time to catch a flight.

It can’t be helped.
I was hoping to see the sunset, but unfortunately it was cloudy. Let’s have a beer and forget about it! 😂

Soon it was time to fly. The return trip is also by propeller plane.

This was a story about going to Yonaguni Island to see the westernmost monument in Japan.

It was a memory of a trip to Yonaguni Island, Japan’s westernmost island.

As I mentioned earlier, the distance from Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, where Yamani is located, is about 1,800 km in a straight line.
This seems to be the furthest distance in Japan that I have researched, and it is about 1,000 to 1,200 km from the northern and eastern ends of Hokkaido and the Ogasawara Islands, which I could have reached if I tried hard enough.
It is a pity that we were not blessed with good weather. If I have another chance, I would like to go back to take the sunset at the farthest tip of Japan…I guess it’s impossible.

I would like to thank Ms. S, Ms. K, and Mr. M who shared the trip with me, the two couples whose names I could not catch, the family members who joined us on the bus back from Higawa, and the bus driver who was so kind to us.
Thanks to you, this was a trip I will never forget.

If you want to visit Yonaguni Island, please refer to this site.

If you are going to Yonaguni Island, do your homework. 😇
And don’t forget to make reservations for flights and rental cars.
There are other places with spectacular views and undersea temples as well.

リンク：
・与那国観光WEB
・私に還る与那国島

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