Yonaguni
Yonaguni is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan, in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, in the Okinawa region, about 110 kilometres east of Taiwan and some thirty minutes by air from Ishigakijima.
- Region
- Okinawa
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
The last island of Japan, where the sun sets after it has set everywhere else in the country.
Yonaguni is small, about thirty square kilometres, with some 1,700 people in three villages: Sonai, the main village by the port, Kubura in the west, and Higawa in the south. It is an island of cliffs and green pasture, ringed by a road of some twenty-seven kilometres that can be driven in under an hour, with small native horses grazing the headlands and the open ocean on every side.
Its isolation has given it a culture of its own. The island has its own language, Dunan, recognised by UNESCO as endangered; its own weaving, Yonaguni-ori; and its own spirit, hanazake, an awamori distilled to sixty per cent and made nowhere else. Its forests are home to the atlas moth, one of the largest moths in the world, which the islanders call ayamihabiru.
Yonaguni is a journey to the end of Japan, for a night or two: the last sunset in the country from its western cape, the horses on the cliffs, and a sense of distance found nowhere else in Japan.
see and do
What to see on Yonaguni
Irizaki
The westernmost point of Japan, a cape with a stone marking the spot, where on the clearest days the mountains of Taiwan rise on the horizon.
Agarizaki
The eastern cape, a grassy headland with a lighthouse above the cliffs, where Yonaguni horses graze in the open.
The Yonaguni horses
A small native breed, gentle and sturdy, protected as a natural monument of the prefecture, grazing freely on the pastures of the island's headlands.
Tachigami-iwa
A pillar of rock standing alone in the sea off the east coast, its name meaning the standing god rock, seen from a lookout on the cliff above.
Sanninudai
A lookout on the high cliffs of the east coast, over the open Pacific and the rock pillars below.
Kubura
The fishing village of the west coast, around a small harbour, with the cape of Irizaki a few minutes beyond it.
Ayamihabiru-kan
A small museum of the atlas moth, the ayamihabiru, its wings as wide as a man's hand, in the forest of the island.
The rock terraces under the sea
Off the south coast, great stepped terraces of rock lie beneath the water; whether shaped by nature or by hand is still argued. A semi-submersible boat goes out over them, so they can be seen through its windows.
experiences
The best of Yonaguni
The last sunset
An evening at Irizaki, watching the sun go down into the sea at the westernmost point of the country, the last sunset in Japan.
Hanazake at the distillery
A visit to one of the island's distilleries, to taste hanazake, the island spirit of sixty per cent, made nowhere else and poured in small cups.
Around the island
An afternoon on the road around Yonaguni with a driver, stopping at the capes, the cliffs and the horses on the headlands.
Yonaguni-ori
An hour with a weaver of Yonaguni-ori, the island's own cloth of small woven flower patterns, on a hand loom in Sonai.
plan your visit
Yonaguni on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night lets Yonaguni be seen around the island and at sunset; two allows the boat over the rock terraces and a slower day.
- Getting there
- By air from Ishigakijima in about thirty minutes, or from Naha in about an hour and twenty minutes.
- Pairs well with
- Yonaguni is a short flight from Ishigakijima, and sits at the end of a journey through the Yaeyama Islands, after Taketomi and Iriomote.IshigakijimaIriomoteTaketomiMiyakojima
journeys
Yonaguni on a private journey
We bring guests to Yonaguni on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Yonaguni: questions answered
Where is Yonaguni?
At the western end of the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, about 110 kilometres east of Taiwan. It is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan.
How do you get to Yonaguni?
By air from Ishigakijima, about thirty minutes, or from Naha, about an hour and twenty minutes.
Can you see Taiwan from Yonaguni?
Yes, on the clearest days, when the mountains of Taiwan can be seen on the horizon from Irizaki, the island's western cape.
What is the Yonaguni Monument?
The Yonaguni Monument is a formation of great stepped rock terraces under the sea off the south coast. Whether it is natural or worked by hand is still debated, and it can be seen from a semi-submersible boat.
What is hanazake?
Hanazake is the spirit of Yonaguni, an awamori distilled to sixty per cent alcohol and made only on the island.
Can Yonaguni be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Yonaguni included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
okinawa
More in Okinawa
Yonaguni, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Yonaguni, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.