Taketomi Island

Taketomi is the outer island most people see first, and the reason is the ferry: 10 to 15 minutes from Ishigaki, with a boat at least once an hour from early morning to evening. The island itself is small and flat, 9.2 km around, with one village in the middle. That village was selected in 1987 as a preservation district for groups of traditional buildings, and it still looks the part: low houses with shisa figures on their red tile roofs, walls of stacked coral stone, and lanes of white sand that residents sweep with brooms. About 310 people live here, and the houses are homes, not exhibits, so keep to the lanes and out of the yards. Kondoi Beach on the west side is shallow and calm, and the only beach where the town's tourism association says swimming is possible; there are no lifeguards. Next door, Kaiji Beach is where people look for star sand by pressing a palm into the sand along the rocks. The currents there are strong, so do not swim. The drawback is the number of visitors, around 500,000 a year by the island foundation's count. From late morning to mid afternoon the lanes tend to fill with tour groups and bikes. Stay the night, or catch the first boat, and the village is quiet again.