Ishigaki

Ishigaki (石垣) is the second-largest and the most populated island of the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa, Japan. The whole island belongs to the City of Ishigaki, which also includes the deserted Senkaku islands.

Understand
Ishigaki has 45,000 of Yaeyama's 50,000 people and is thus the political, economic and transport hub of the islands. Most of these live in central Ishigaki, known for lack of a better name in Japanese as shigaichi (市街地 "city streets"), chūshin (中心 "center") or just machi (町 "town"). The town's focal point is the rather sad 730 Monument (730交差点), where main roads Sanbashi-dōri (桟橋通り), running eastwards from the ferry terminal, and Shiyakusho-dōri (市役所通り), running north-south, meet.

Other population centers on Ishigaki are Kabira (川平), by the bay of the same name on the northwest coast, and Shiraho (白保), at the southeast corner. Much of the island, particularly the central mountains and the scenic northeastern peninsula, is quite sparsely settled.

Tourist Information Sites
OoriToori is the city's partly multilingual official guide site.

The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site with integrated machine translation.

By plane
Azuma Bus lines #4 and #10 serve the airport every 20 minutes or so. The lines take different routes, but both take around 45 minutes, end up at the bus terminal and cost ¥520. You can also use the Free Passes for this (see Get around). A taxi to central Ishigaki costs around ¥2,500 and take 30 minutes.

By boat
Ishigaki Port (石垣港) is in the center of the city near the bus terminal. There are two parts: the central Ritō-sanbashi (離島さんばし), for services to nearby islands, and a second unnamed pier at the southeast corner of the port for long-distance services to Yonaguni and slow boats to Hateruma. The port information office is next to Ritō-sanbashi pier 1.

There are no scheduled services to Taiwan, mainland Japan or islands outside the Yaeyama group.

There are extensive services (daytime only) to the other islands in the Yaeyama group:
 * Taketomi (¥690, 15 min), departures every 30 minutes or so
 * Iriomote Ōhara Port (¥1,800, 35 min) and Uehara Port (¥2,000, 40 min; summer months only), departures roughly hourly
 * Hatoma island north of Iriomote (¥2,360, 40 min), 3 departures daily, one stopping at Uehara first and therefore taking longer
 * Kohama (¥1,220, 25 min), departures roughly hourly
 * Kuroshima (Kuro) (¥1,320, 25 min), 5 departures daily, 6 in summer months
 * Hateruma (¥3,550, 70 min), 2-5 departures daily

Prices and times above are one-ways on fast ferries. Return fares are usually slightly cheaper. The schedules seem to now be unified, so that you can buy a ticket for any of the above routes from any company's desk for the same price, and round-trip tickets will be honored by all operators.

The ticket desks in Ishigaki accept credit cards, but the ones on other islands generally do not. If taking a ferry to another island without a round-trip ticket, make sure to bring enough cash for your expenses plus your ticket back, or be sure you're able to withdraw money from post office ATMs, since there are no other brands of ATMs outside of Ishigaki.

Slower service with regular ships is somewhat cheaper but connections are less frequent:


 * Hateruma (¥3,000, about 2 hours), 1 departure per day (weekdays only)
 * Yonaguni (¥3,500, 4–5 hours), 2 departures weekly

The major operators are Anei Kankō and Yaeyama Kankō Ferry. There are free courtesy buses from the larger resorts to some ferries; inquire locally.

To get to some smaller and uninhabited islands, it may be possible to charter a boat or water taxi service, or else you can join a snorkeling or diving tour. Inquire at the ferry ticket desks.

By bus
Azuma Bus operates services throughout the island radiating from the bus terminal on Sanbashi-dōri, just across the street from the port. The most useful services connect to the airport (¥520) and Kabira (¥700).

The best deal for transport on the island is the Michikusa Free Pass (みちくさフリーパス). It's not quite free, but ¥2,000 gets you unlimited trips around the island for 5 days. This isn't great if you're only getting a bus between the airport and the port (and are planning on spending your time visiting other islands or the beach), but given that a single trip from the airport to Kabira and back would cost you ¥2,440, if you're exploring Ishigaki (or are staying outside the city) this pays off pretty much instantly. There is also a "One-Day Free Pass" (1日フリーパス), which is just that, for ¥1,000.

While service between the city center and the airport are quite frequent, the same is not true for the Kabira Resort Line. There are a few buses in the morning, none at midday and a couple more in the late afternoon, with the last departing Ishigaki at about 18:00. This means that you should only stay outside Ishigaki city if these time constraints work for you, or better yet if you have a car.

By taxi
Taxis are the only other form of transport and it's common to see them slowly cruising the streets waiting for passengers. Flag fall is ¥390 and the meter ticks at alarming speed after 2 km.

By car
There are many car rental companies in the island and many hotels offer car rental for ¥2,000–4,000 per day. A drive between the city and the farthest point of the island is about an hour and a half.

By bicycle
Yaeyama Visitors Bureau publishes a free small guide about Yaeyama Islands cycling routes, including Ishigaki, with distances and gradients. If you start from downtown (southwest of the island), visiting the different parts of the island will mean some long rides, especially if you return to your accommodation every evening.
 * The route from downtown Ishigaki to Kabira is the flattest on the island (only 50 m altitude gain in the end) and offers beautiful seaside landscapes. Allow 1½ hours and 21 km. Starting from downtown, if you make a slight detour along the seaside instead of following Highway 79 as proposed by the guide, you will see the Tōjin Grave, a small temple and a lighthouse. Unless you're cycling athletically, it's better to ride on the sidewalk, which is widely used for this purpose (as is often the case in Japan).
 * The portion from the southern part of Kabira Bay and following the north coast is more hilly. Going from the intersection south of Kabira Bay to Yohenara Beach requires a positive difference in altitude of 85 m and 6.5 km both ways.
 * If you plan to travel to the northwestern part, the route will also be hilly and the distances quite long. Allow 30 km and 2 hours to go from downtown to the beginning of the northwestern peninsula, then one more hour to reach the tip of the peninsula.

Many hotels offer bicycle rental at about ¥500 per day. Bicycles can be taken in most ferries to the islands at an additional price (may not be possible during peak periods).

On foot
Central Ishigaki can be comfortably covered on foot, but you'll almost certainly need another means of transport for the rest of the island.

By thumb
Many backpackers hitchhike between different parts of the island. As hitchhiking goes, this is an easy place to get rides, sometimes even from within the city, but be prepared to be picked up by someone who speaks extremely little English.

See
Ishigaki is a little low on must-see attractions and somewhat tamer in terms of scenery than Iriomote. Most visitors hit the beaches of the northern coast and stay there.






















 * Nearby is also a bilingual monument of angular concrete, built in 2001, dedicated to three Americans shot down over Ishigaki in April 1945, during the closing days of World War II. After being captured and tortured, two were beheaded and one was used for bayonet practice, and monument duly notes that such things are not fair play according to the Geneva Convention.
 * Nearby is also a bilingual monument of angular concrete, built in 2001, dedicated to three Americans shot down over Ishigaki in April 1945, during the closing days of World War II. After being captured and tortured, two were beheaded and one was used for bayonet practice, and monument duly notes that such things are not fair play according to the Geneva Convention.



Do


The transparent waters around the island are full of coral reefs, making scuba diving the number one activity on Ishigaki. In particular, Manta Scramble (マンタスクランブル), just off the island's north coast, is a legendary spot for manta ray spotting where groups of manta rays are almost guaranteed during Autumn. There are a large number of dive operators and rates are more or less standardized at around ¥12,000 for two boat dives (not including gear rental).



Snorkeling is also excellent at Yonehara Beach. There are many hidden and beautiful beaches and snorkeling spots throughout the island where you can observe a large variety of hard corals and various tropical fish and marine creatures. Occasionally, you may even encounter sea turtles and ｍanta rays. Except for beaches with lifeguards, some caution is required if you decide to go Snorkeling by yourself as there are some danger from rip currents and jellyfish (Normally there are signs warning you around the beach entrance). There are many guided snorkeling tour companies available, but not many with English speaking staff. Among the popular snorkeling tour you can find the Ishigaki Blue Cave snorkeling tour which is one of the famous tours in the island.

Beaches
Ishigaki's beaches are among the most spectacular in Japan.



Buy
Souvenir shops abound, particularly around the port. The closest thing to a dedicated shopping area are the two streets of the covered Ayapani Mall (あやぱにモール) arcade just west of the post office.



Eat
There are plenty of eating options in central Ishigaki, although many of the fancier places are open only for dinner. The stretch of Sanbashi-dori between the piers and the bus terminal has a good selection of reasonably priced Okinawan places, most of which offer affordable set lunches.

Mid-range

 * St, Elmo.jpg

Splurge
Ishigaki's beef (石垣牛 Ishigaki-gyū) is meltingly smooth and well worth the splurge for meat lovers, although you'll generally be looking at around ¥5000 for something approximating a decent-sized steak. Sampling strips served as yakiniku or even raw sashimi is somewhat more affordable, but if the price seems too good, double-check that it's real Ishigaki beef, not a cheaper import.



Drink
Ishigaki has a surprisingly vibrant nightlife, mostly centered around izakayas offering the ubiquitous local firewater awamori. Also be sure to sample the local Ishigakijima Beer (石垣島地ビール) microbrew, now available in "marine" (lager), "kuro" (dark) and three other versions.

Misakichō Center-Dōri (美崎町センター通り) and nearby streets, just north and west of the 730 Crossing, have a range of izakayas, karaoke lounges and nightclubs of varying degrees of respectability. Outside the city, however, there is little to no nightlife of any kind and you'll be hard pressed to find even a restaurant open after 18:00.

Sleep
Ishigaki has a wide range of accommodation, ranging from expensive resorts for ¥10000+ to backpacker-oriented minshukus that can go as low as ¥3000 for your own room or ¥1000 for dormitory-type "guest house" accommodation.

Mid-range
A number of largely identical highrise hotels have sprouted up around Ishigaki's harbor. This is hardly the most scenic area to stay, but it is undeniably convenient, both for day trips to the islands and for eating and shopping in the city center.



Connect
There is free Wi-Fi access at the ferry terminal and in Euglena Mall, the covered arcade a few blocks away from the bus terminal. There is also free WiFi at the bus station, and a leaflet with the password is on the wall next to the ticket window.

There's an internet cafe in Ayapani Mall, the arcade that's farther from the port.

There is also free internet in the public library, though its only available from one terminal.

Vanilla Deli, directly across from City Hall also has free internet for patrons.

The FamilyMart convenience store on 730 Crossing has a cafe area with seats, free WiFi, and electric plugs for your charging needs.

Cope
The Ishigaki City Hall Tourism Division (市役所観光課) and the Ishigaki City Hall International Section (国際交流係) have good information in English for tourists. The International Section also employs a coordinator of international relations, fluent in both Japanese and English, who is available to assist non-Japanese tourists in local knowledge and hotel reservations. The hours for the city hall international section are (excepting holidays) M-F 08:30-16:30. Both the tourism division and the international section are located on the second floor. The Hirata tourist company near the ferry terminal also has English information. Try to pick up copies of the free Ishigaki Town Guide or Yaeyama Navi pamphlets, which are useful packs of information with lots of maps to show you around. They are in Japanese only and any listings inside are essentially paid ads, so not everything is listed. City Hall and many restaurants, shops and lodgings usually have one or both available.

Finding ATMs that work with foreign cards is no longer a big problem in Ishigaki city. You can find them in the ferry terminal, Family Marts, and post offices. The Family Mart ATMs are owned by Bank of the Ryukyus, so you might be able to go that bank's branch as well. If you're going to other islands, the only foreign-friendly ATMs are at the post offices (better be sure your card will work there, or bring a lot of cash!)

Go next

 * Iriomote &mdash; an hour away by boat, offers mangrove jungles and the elusive Iriomote wildcat
 * Taketomi &mdash; 10 minutes by boat, known for its well-preserved Ryukyu village
 * Yonaguni &mdash; 30 minutes by plane or 4 hours by boat, the westernmost point of Japan offers mysterious ruins and diving with hammerhead sharks