Taketomi Island is a small coral island in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa, surrounded by brilliant blue waters and white-sand beaches. With a circumference of approximately 9 kilometers, the island lies about 6 kilometers south of Ishigaki Island and can be reached in about 10 minutes by high-speed ferry from Ishigaki Port.
Despite its small size, Taketomi Island is one of the most remarkable places in Okinawa for experiencing the traditional landscape and culture of the Ryukyu Islands. White-sand streets, traditional wooden houses with red-tiled roofs, stone walls, and guardian shisa statues create a distinctive village landscape that has been carefully preserved for generations.
The historic settlements of Taketomi Island retain many elements of the traditional Okinawan landscape. Roads are covered with bright white sand, while houses are surrounded by stone walls and topped with red Ryukyuan roof tiles.
The entire historic townscape was selected in 1987 as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Walking through the village offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience an Okinawan settlement largely preserved in its traditional form.
The traditional houses of Taketomi are surrounded by stone walls, which hide much of the lower portion of each building from view. As a result, the rooftops form an especially important part of the island’s townscape.
Most traditional houses have red Ryukyuan roof tiles. Curved female tiles and male ridge tiles are fitted together and secured with plaster. This construction technique developed in response to the island’s climate and helps prevent roof tiles from being blown away by strong winds.
The rich reddish-brown tiles create a striking contrast with the white plaster and pale sand of the streets. Perched on many rooftops are shisa, traditional lion-like guardian figures believed to protect homes from evil and misfortune.
Taketomi Island has three traditional settlements: East Village, or Ainohta; West Village, or Innota; and Nakasuji Village, also known as Naji or South Village. They are located mainly in the central and northwestern part of the island.
The combination of red-tiled wooden houses, white-sand roads, stone walls, and tropical vegetation creates a harmonious landscape that has become one of the most recognizable images of traditional Okinawa.
Taketomi is not simply an open-air museum. Local residents continue to maintain traditional ways of life and cultural practices. Traditional performing arts that have been offered to the island’s deities for more than 600 years are still preserved today.
The island is also known for traditional crafts, particularly weaving and other forms of folk art. Its traditional language, known as Teedun Muni, belongs to the Yaeyama group of languages and reflects the island’s distinctive cultural heritage.
Residents have established the Taketomi Island Charter to protect the island’s unique environment and traditional way of life. Its principles are expressed through five basic ideas: do not sell, do not pollute, do not disturb, do not destroy, and make use of what the island has to offer.
Based on these principles, the local community has established a system for preserving and managing the traditional village landscape. These community-led efforts play an important role in protecting Taketomi’s historic scenery while allowing residents and visitors to coexist with the island environment.
Taketomi Island was formed from uplifted Ryukyu limestone created by coral reefs. The island is relatively low and flat, with a coastline of approximately 9 kilometers. The entire island lies within Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park.
The west coast is designated as a Special Zone II within the national park, and Kondo-i Beach is home to a landscaped area known as Kondo-i Park. The island’s combination of coral reefs, tropical vegetation, beaches, and traditional villages makes it an exceptional destination for both nature and cultural tourism.
The west coast is home to several of Taketomi’s best-known beaches, including Kondo-i Beach, a popular swimming beach, and Kaiji Beach, famous for its tiny star-shaped grains of sand.
The island is also located within the Sekisei Lagoon, Japan’s largest coral reef system. Rich coral communities have developed around the island, particularly in the waters around Takidunguchi to the northwest, Shimobishi to the southwest, and the southern offshore reef. These areas are designated as marine park zones and attract divers from around the world.
Nishi Pier, on the western coast of the island, is one of Taketomi’s most popular scenic spots. The long pier extending toward the sea provides an unobstructed view of the surrounding waters and is especially beautiful around sunset.
The peaceful atmosphere, changing colors of the sky, and wide expanse of the sea make Nishi Pier a memorable place to experience the slower pace of island life.
Taketomi Island has also attracted attention as a filming location. The island was used as a setting for the Japanese television drama “Tsurukame Maternity Clinic: From a Southern Island”, introducing its distinctive landscapes and traditional village scenery to audiences across Japan.
The name Taketomi Island has appeared in historical records for centuries. The island was recorded as “Takidono” in the 1708 geographical work Shinan Kogi and as “Takidomi” in the 1721 Chuzan Denshinroku. Other historical maps and writings from the late 17th and early 18th centuries also contain forms of the name that correspond to the modern pronunciation “Taketomi.”
In the traditional language of Taketomi, the island is called Teedun, while the Ishigaki dialect uses the name Takidun.
The island was traditionally written using the characters for “Taketomi.” In 1729, however, the Ryukyu government prohibited the use of the character meaning “bamboo,” and the island subsequently came to be written as “Būtomi” using different characters.
This form continued to be used for many years before the traditional characters were restored around the 1880s and 1890s. The changing written forms of the name offer a glimpse into the island’s long history under the Ryukyu Kingdom and its later transition into modern Japan.
Tourism is the island’s main industry, with accommodations ranging from traditional-style inns and guesthouses to hotels. Agriculture and livestock-related activities also continue, including a large-scale prawn aquaculture facility and a communal cattle ranch in the southern part of the island.
To support the preservation of the natural environment and traditional village landscape, Taketomi introduced an entrance fee for visitors from outside the island on September 1, 2019. The fee was one of Japan’s first examples of an admission system under a regional natural asset conservation framework. The 300-yen fee is used to support environmental conservation and projects related to acquiring land for the preservation of the traditional rural landscape.
Taketomi Island’s unique character has been maintained through the active involvement of its residents. The local elementary and junior high school has twice received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for Schools Recognized for Creative Educational Initiatives.
From its traditional performing arts and language to its distinctive architecture and village landscape, Taketomi demonstrates how cultural heritage can remain a living part of everyday community life.
Taketomi Island offers a rare combination of beautiful nature and living cultural heritage. The contrast between turquoise seas, white-sand streets, red-tiled roofs, stone walls, and shisa guardians creates a landscape that feels instantly recognizable as Okinawan, yet deeply rooted in the island’s own history.
Whether you explore the historic village on foot, relax on a coral-sand beach, search for star sand, dive among colorful coral reefs, or watch the sunset from Nishi Pier, Taketomi provides an opportunity to experience an enduring side of the Ryukyu Islands.
10 minutes by high-speed boat from Ishigaki Port Terminal
Buses to the village and beach are available from the port