Taketomi

Taketomi (竹富) is one of the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa, Japan. This small island just north of the tropics with its picturesque beaches and architecture is a popular getaway especially for domestic visitors. Far out in the Philippine Sea and part of the Ryukyu Kingdom until the late 19th century, Taketomi offers attractions that you won’t encounter on the Japanese mainland.

Tiny even by Yaeyaman standards, Taketomi (population around 300, area 5.4 km²) gets a disproportionate number of visitors because of its convenient location just off Ishigaki, and above all, its carefully preserved Ryūkyū village (集落 shūraku). Many houses in the village have red clay roofs with guardian shisa lions, a low surrounding wall of coral and extensive flower beds, which are particularly pretty in spring. Most roads are unpaved lanes of white sand and ambling water buffalo pull tourist-packed carts through town. While hardly off the tourist trail even before, Taketomi's popularity skyrocketed in 2012 when NHK aired the drama Tsurukame Josan'in (つるかめ助産院), and accommodation prices have soared to match.

Beware that the administrative area of Taketomi Town (竹富町 Taketomi-chō) covers not just Taketomi Island, but also the neighboring far larger island of Iriomote and in fact all of the Yaeyamas except Ishigaki and Yonaguni. An address with "Taketomi" in it may thus be located elsewhere in the archipelago.

This idyllic island has been inhabited for over a thousand years, but it wasn't the easiest place to scrape out a living. Being too dry for rice farming, villagers had to row for several hours across to Iriomote to tend their rice fields, spending nights on nearby Yubu to avoid Iriomote's malarial mosquitoes. Today, malaria has been eradicated, rice is imported, and the island cultivates tourists instead: the entire island is a part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, and the village is carefully preserved as a historical architectural landmark. The few concrete structures you'll see on the island are actually some of the oldest buildings on the island, since all new construction down to electricity substations has to conform to traditional norms.

Start your tour by dropping into the visitor center right next to the dock, which can give you a free rough map or sell you a better one (¥200). Most sights in the village are of fairly minor interest and it's generally more rewarding to amble around randomly, popping into little village shops and cafes.

• Kihōin, +81 98-085-2202. 9AM-5PM. Japan's southernmost temple, but it's not much to look at. It houses about 3,000 historical artifacts and local handicrafts gathered from around the island. With no English explanations, visitors may find it to be of limited interest; however, it is essentially the island's history and culture museum. ¥300.
• Nagomi-no-tō. 24h. A purpose-built concrete tower that offers views over the entire island. The steps up are very steep.
• Folkcraft Museum, 381-4 Taketomi, +81 98-085-2302. 9AM-5PM. Has local artisans weaving traditional Yaeyaman minsā cloth. Free.
• Yugafukan. An informative museum run by the national parks authority, but all the information is in Japanese. On the plus side, the 15-minute film and the audio sets of Yaeyaman stories and songs are interesting to everyone. Free.
• West Pier. This disused pier is where Taketomi's villagers used to set off by canoe to tend their rice fields on Iriomote. Today, it's Taketomi's best sunset-watching spot, but you'll have to stay overnight to catch this nightly event.

Kihōin, +81 98-085-2202. 9AM-5PM. Japan's southernmost temple, but it's not much to look at. It houses about 3,000 historical artifacts and local handicrafts gathered from around the island. With no English explanations, visitors may find it to be of limited interest; however, it is essentially the island's history and culture museum. ¥300.

Nagomi-no-tō. 24h. A purpose-built concrete tower that offers views over the entire island. The steps up are very steep.

Folkcraft Museum, 381-4 Taketomi, +81 98-085-2302. 9AM-5PM. Has local artisans weaving traditional Yaeyaman minsā cloth. Free.

Yugafukan. An informative museum run by the national parks authority, but all the information is in Japanese. On the plus side, the 15-minute film and the audio sets of Yaeyaman stories and songs are interesting to everyone. Free.

West Pier. This disused pier is where Taketomi's villagers used to set off by canoe to tend their rice fields on Iriomote. Today, it's Taketomi's best sunset-watching spot, but you'll have to stay overnight to catch this nightly event.

Taketomi is the kind of island where, by design, you can't really "do" much of anything — for example, there are no watersport facilities beyond paddling around snorkeling.

• Kondoi Beach. A spectacular expanse of white sand and turquoise water, and the only beach where swimming is allowed. Free toilets and showers; expensive beach gear rentals.
• Kaiji Beach. Taketomi is one of only two islands in Japan (the other is Iriomote) that accumulate this 'sand' formed from the shells of thousands of tiny crustaceans. While Star Sand Beach (星砂の浜 Hoshizuna-no-hama) usually refers to the more accessible Kaiji, you can also find the stuff at the rarely visited Aiyaruhama (アイヤル浜) near the Hoshinoya resort. People are not allowed to take the sand — you must pick the individual stars.

Kondoi Beach. A spectacular expanse of white sand and turquoise water, and the only beach where swimming is allowed. Free toilets and showers; expensive beach gear rentals.

Kaiji Beach. Taketomi is one of only two islands in Japan (the other is [[Iriomote]]) that accumulate this 'sand' formed from the shells of thousands of tiny crustaceans. While Star Sand Beach (星砂の浜 Hoshizuna-no-hama) usually refers to the more accessible Kaiji, you can also find the stuff at the rarely visited Aiyaruhama (アイヤル浜) near the Hoshinoya resort. People are not allowed to take the sand — you must pick the individual stars.

The touristy way to see Taketomi is from cart pulled by a water buffalo (水牛車 suigyūsha), complete with guide telling folk stories (in Japanese) and twanging on a sanshin while at it. This is purely for sightseeing, not a practical means of transport, as the only option is a 30-minute round-trip tour for ¥1200/600 adult/child, including port transfers. While the scene is picturesque enough, animal lovers may have second thoughts, as the water buffaloes themselves aren't terribly pleased about having to lug around heavy carts in the midday heat and small whips are used rather liberally as encouragement.

• Taketomi Kankō Center, +81 980-85-2998.

Taketomi Kankō Center, +81 980-85-2998.

Upmarket handicraft shops discreetly litter the streets of Taketomi. Popular buys include the local minsā cloth, which is very expensive if hand-weaved and hand-dyed with indigo, and star sand, more affordable at around ¥30 per teaspoonful.

There are no supermarkets or convenience stores on the island, so stock up before you head over. Souvenir shops do sell beach essentials like sunscreen.

The island has half a dozen cafes and restaurants, which do a roaring trade at lunchtime and are quiet the rest of the day. Overnight guests typically eat dinner and breakfast at their accommodations. Much of the southern part of the island is taken up by a farm that cultivates kuruma-ebi (車えび), a type of shrimp, so no prizes for guessing what you will find for dinner.

• Shidame-kan, +81 980-85-2239. 10AM-10PM. Lovely little cafe-restaurant-bar right below the Nagomi-no-to tower, serving up a wide variety of Okinawan and Japanese staples. Best known for their rafti-don (ラフティ丼, ¥1,000), a rice bowl dripping with porky goodness, and their home-made sata-andagi donuts (2 for ¥100). Stays open late, with customers hanging out after dinner drinking awamori and sampling snacks. Meals from ¥700.
• Takenoko, +81 980-85-2251. Daily 10:30AM-4PM, 7PM-9PM. A well-known island eatery, Takenoko is justly famous for their rendition of Yaeyama soba, which they've been serving since 1975. Order the soki variant with melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs, spice it up with a dash of their homegrown piyashii pepper or a careful slug of kuchu chilli-infused awamori, then cool down with a bowl of shaved ice (kakigōri). Soba ¥700+.

Shidame-kan, +81 980-85-2239. 10AM-10PM. Lovely little cafe-restaurant-bar right below the Nagomi-no-to tower, serving up a wide variety of Okinawan and Japanese staples. Best known for their rafti-don (ラフティ丼, ¥1,000), a rice bowl dripping with porky goodness, and their home-made sata-andagi donuts (2 for ¥100). Stays open late, with customers hanging out after dinner drinking awamori and sampling snacks. Meals from ¥700.

Takenoko, +81 980-85-2251. Daily 10:30AM-4PM, 7PM-9PM. A well-known island eatery, Takenoko is justly famous for their rendition of Yaeyama soba, which they've been serving since 1975. Order the soki variant with melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs, spice it up with a dash of their homegrown piyashii pepper or a careful slug of kuchu chilli-infused awamori, then cool down with a bowl of shaved ice (kakigōri). Soba ¥700+.

Taketomi has only one dedicated drinking spot.

• Bar Take-To-Me, +81 980-85-2555. 7PM-11:30PM. Forget marble countertops and tuxedoed waiters: this is an open-air wooden platform piled with plastic lawn chairs and surrounded by hibiscus flowers. Order an awamori straight or turned into a cocktail, kick back, watch the starry skies and enjoy the quiet of Taketomi at night. Open only during high season. Drinks ¥500-900.

Bar Take-To-Me, +81 980-85-2555. 7PM-11:30PM. Forget marble countertops and tuxedoed waiters: this is an open-air wooden platform piled with plastic lawn chairs and surrounded by hibiscus flowers. Order an awamori straight or turned into a cocktail, kick back, watch the starry skies and enjoy the quiet of Taketomi at night. Open only during high season. Drinks ¥500-900.

• Taketomi Clinic, 324 Taketomi, +81 980-85-2132. M-F 9AM-5PM. The only medical facility on the island. On weekends, or for anything even mildly serious, you'll need to schlep back to Ishigaki. Emergencies outside ferry operating hours will require a helicopter medevac or convincing Hoshinoya to lend their private boat.

Taketomi Clinic, 324 Taketomi, +81 980-85-2132. M-F 9AM-5PM. The only medical facility on the island. On weekends, or for anything even mildly serious, you'll need to schlep back to Ishigaki. Emergencies outside ferry operating hours will require a helicopter medevac or convincing Hoshinoya to lend their private boat.

Taketomi has no less than 30 on (御嶽), or holy places for venerating the gods, usually marked off with low stone walls and Japanese signage. Don't venture inside.

• Ishigaki - You take this ferry in and take this ferry out