Photo: 663highland / CC BY 2.5Updated 1 October 2026 · 33 official and operator sources · Researched from official timetables, operators and the port authority · Takumi Yamada
Ishigaki puts two very different islands within reach of one call: Kabira Bay, the turquoise inlet farmed for black pearls, and Taketomi, a coral-walled village fifteen minutes offshore by ferry. Every ship ties up at the same bare quay on the reclaimed island of Painuhama — no terminal building, no shop, no ATM — about 10 minutes by car from the island-ferry terminal where the whole day starts, and 40–50 minutes on foot. On the commonest 9-hour call, choose one of the two and do it properly; on a 10-hour call you can do both by bus and ferry, provided Kabira comes first. The one thing to settle before you land is how you get off the quay: only some cruise lines run a free shuttle, and taxis are not certain to be waiting.
Pick your ship from the official Ishigaki schedule — or just the hours you have — and this page picks the plan and the tours that fit, with the hour before all-aboard already set aside.
A preserved village of coral-stone walls, red-tiled roofs and white sand lanes, reached by a ferry that takes 10–15 minutes. It is the half-day that feels furthest from the ship, and you can see it on foot or from a water-buffalo cart.
From the ship Shuttle or taxi to the island-ferry terminal (about 10 minutes), then Anei Kanko or YKF, ¥970 one way or ¥1,880 return. Boats every 30–60 minutes between the two companies; last back 17:50.
The island's postcard: a sheltered bay of turquoise water over white sand, farmed for black pearls. You cannot swim in it, so you see it from the park's viewpoint and from a glass-bottom boat.
From the ship Taxi about 32 minutes and roughly ¥4,540 each way. Bus Route 9 from the bus terminal beside the ferry pier, 43 minutes, ¥770 (09:45 out, back at 12:53, 13:37 or 13:59).
The public market, the covered Euglena Mall, a bowl of Yaeyama soba and a lunch of the island's own black-cattle beef — all within a few hundred metres of the ferry terminal. It is the whole plan on a short call and the lunch stop on a long one.
From the ship Shuttle or taxi to the island-ferry terminal, then on foot: the market is about 370 m away.
Ishigaki is the port for water and villages rather than temples and castles. Two things bring people here. Kabira Bay is the turquoise-over-white-sand view that sells the island, farmed for black pearls and seen from a glass-bottom boat. Taketomi, ten to fifteen minutes offshore by ferry, is a whole village kept as it was: coral-stone walls, red-tiled roofs, lanes of white sand, and water buffalo pulling carts at a walking pace.
Between them sits the town — the public market, the covered Euglena Mall, Yaeyama soba and lunch-priced Ishigaki beef — a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal where every day here starts.
The two signatures lie in different directions: Kabira half an hour by road, Taketomi across the water. On the commonest calls of 9 and 10 hours that is the whole question. This guide answers it from the city's port pages, the national port spec sheet, the bus and ferry timetables for October 2026 to March 2027 and the official call list, checked on 30 September 2026. Where a figure comes from a travel listing rather than the operator, or from our own map estimate, we say so.
What Ishigaki is not: a port where you step off into town. The quay is on a reclaimed island with a car park and toilets, and everything worth your day begins with a shuttle or a taxi across the bridge.
There is only one, and every call on the official list to the end of 2027 uses it — 165 of them. It is the Ishigaki Port cruise quay (officially the Shinko district International Wharf, −10.5 m) on the reclaimed island of Painuhama (南ぬ浜町), south-west of downtown. The name is read Painu-hama — 南 is pai, the local word for south — so older pages that call it "Minami-nu-hama" have misread it.
| The Painuhama cruise quay | |
|---|---|
| Size | 420 m long, 10.5 m deep; takes ships up to the 220,000-ton class, so no tender |
| In use since | April 2018 (then 295 m, for ships up to about 70,000 tons); since extended to 420 m |
| Ships a day | One. The city accepts a single cruise ship per day, berthing from 07:00 |
| At the quay | Toilets, temporary immigration, parking for 50 buses and a pool for 21 taxis |
| Not at the quay | A terminal building, rain shelter, shop or vending machines, Wi-Fi, currency exchange, ATM |
| To town | About 10 minutes by car; 40–50 minutes on foot over a bridge |
Two consequences follow. First, bring what you need off the ship — water, a hat, cash, a charged phone — because there is nothing to buy at the quay. Second, the one-ship rule means cruise crowds are capped: whatever else is busy, you will not share Taketomi with three other ships.
The city may turn calls away on the Ishigaki Island Marathon (the 3rd or 4th Sunday of January) and the triathlon (the 2nd or 3rd Sunday of April); the official list has no calls on those Sundays in 2027.
Everything starts at the Euglena Ishigaki Port Remote Island Terminal — the island-ferry terminal downtown. The Azuma bus terminal is 170 m away, the public market about 370 m. No route bus serves the quay itself, so the first leg is one of three:
| To | How | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferry terminal | Free ship shuttle — only some lines run one | About 10 min | Free |
| Ferry terminal | Paid shuttle (Azuma Unyu or Painushima Kotsu), only on some days without a free one | About 10 min | About ¥200 (a local tour site's figure) |
| Ferry terminal | Taxi from the quay car park | About 6–10 min | About ¥830–970 |
| Ferry terminal | On foot, over the bridge | 40–50 min | Free |
| Kabira Bay | Taxi, direct | About 32 min | About ¥4,540 each way |
| Taketomi | Ferry from the ferry terminal | 10–15 min crossing | ¥970 one way, ¥1,880 return |
The shuttle. The city says "some cruise ships" run a free passenger shuttle to the ferry terminal and tells passengers to ask their line; it does not run one itself. When there is no free shuttle, a paid one "may" run, decided just before the day. Ask at the tour desk on board the day before.
Taxis. On a call morning several taxis are often waiting in front of the quay, but the city recommends booking. The island has fewer drivers than it did — 287 in 2023 against 368 in 2019 — and a local tour operator warns that town runs short of taxis when a big ship is in. For the afternoon return, the ferry terminal is the obvious place to find one. Our fares are worked out from the tariff Ishigaki's taxi firms applied for in 2024 (¥550 for the first 1.1 km, then ¥70 per 334 m) and map routing without traffic; we could not confirm the approved rate, so treat every figure as the least you will pay.
Walking. The city puts it at 40–50 minutes; the national spec sheet at 3 km. The route climbs a steep bridge to leave the reclaimed island, in full sun. It is not a walk for small children, anyone unsteady, or a hot afternoon, and it is not the fifteen minutes some pages claim.
The honest version, from the October 2026 – March 2027 timetables:
From the gangway to Taketomi takes 40–60 minutes door to door: about 10 minutes to the ferry terminal, up to half an hour's wait for a boat, and the crossing. So the minimum realistic Taketomi visit is about three and a half hours from gangway back to gangway, with an hour and a half on the island. Kabira by taxi needs about 2½–3 hours for an hour at the bay; by bus, about four.
The village is always open; the ferries set the hours. Which company? They charge the same and both come back at 17:50. Seats on both are unreserved. YKF caps the number of tickets sold for each sailing and asks you to buy about 30 minutes before departure (boarding starts 15 minutes before); its online e-tickets are for a named sailing and cannot be changed, so on a port day the counter is the flexible choice. Anei sells discounted tickets online, and its counter at Ishigaki takes cards, transit IC cards and QR payments, while its counter on Taketomi takes cash only. A ticket from one company is not valid on the other's boats — YKF ended the shared ticket in 2020 — so come back with the company you went out with.
There is a voluntary ¥300 entry fee per person, paid at ticket machines at the Ishigaki ferry terminal or at Taketomi port; it goes to the foundation that looks after the island's natural heritage.
On the island:
Weather matters more than crowds: both companies publish their operating status each day and say times may change with the sea. YKF will not board passengers in wet clothing — change after the beach.
Kabira Bay is a national Place of Scenic Beauty, and it has one rule: no swimming, because the tidal currents are strong. The bay is also farmed for black pearls. The way onto the water is a glass-bottom boat, which travel listings say leave about every 15–30 minutes from about 9:00 to 17:00, for 20–30 minutes, at about ¥1,300 booked online to ¥1,700 at the beach. One operator advertises a discount for passengers who arrive by route bus; ask. Some boats take e-money; bring cash anyway.
Allow an hour to an hour and a half on site: the boat, then the viewpoint in Kabira Park above the beach. On the bus plan that is exactly what you get — 10:28 to 12:53 — with time for a coffee. If you want to swim, book the reef snorkel below rather than look for a beach from the bus.
Three questions come up often enough to answer here, though none is the usual port day.
Our full list, with the time each takes from the quay, is on the Ishigaki top 10. In brief:
Rainy day: the Yaeyama Museum (¥200, 9:00–17:00, closed Mondays and holidays) and the covered Euglena Mall. Ishigaki Yaima Village, a collection of old island houses, is about 20 minutes by taxi (about ¥2,650) or 30 minutes on Route 9, open 9:00–17:30.
Fits 09:00–19:00 (MSC Bellissima's pattern from November 2026 to January 2027, and Spectrum of the Seas on 4 December) or any call of 10 hours or more. Shift every time by your arrival.
The day most people want, and it works on public transport — but only in this order, because the Kabira buses run late morning and early afternoon. Times assume a 09:00–19:00 call, all-aboard 18:30 and our target back at the gangway 17:30.
Fits 10:00–19:00 (Star Navigator's Saturday round trips from Keelung, and Piano Land from February 2027), and 07:00–16:00 calls if you move everything three hours earlier (YKF 08:30 out; back on the 12:50 Anei or 13:50 YKF). For Star Navigator's 14:00–23:00 calls, see the note.
One island, done properly, with the town at the end of it. Times assume a 10:00–19:00 call, all-aboard 18:30 and our target back at the gangway 17:30.
Fits Star Seeker's 08:00–13:00 call on Sunday 7 March 2027, and any call under 7 hours. Target back at the gangway 11:30 on that call.
On a short call the ferry and bus timings eat most of the day, so stay in town, where everything is within walking distance of the ferry terminal. Times assume that 08:00–13:00 Sunday call, all-aboard 12:30 and our target back at the gangway 11:30.
Work backwards from the ship. Your all-aboard time is usually 30 minutes before departure (check the daily programme), you want to be back at the gangway an hour before that, and the first half hour after arrival goes on getting off. So the time you can actually use is the call length minus about two hours — and here, take another 10–15 minutes off each end for the shuttle or taxi between the quay and the ferry terminal.
| Call | Usable | What fits from the Painuhama quay |
|---|---|---|
| 4–5 hours | about 2–3 | Town only: the market, Euglena Mall, Miyara Dunchi (not Tuesdays), Yaeyama soba. Taketomi leaves under an hour on the island. |
| 6 hours | about 4 | One of: Taketomi, with 2–2½ hours on the island; or Kabira by taxi, about 1½ hours at the bay and about ¥9,000 a car. The Kabira bus does not fit. |
| 8–9 hours | about 6–7 | Taketomi unhurried plus the town; or Kabira and the town. Both is tight, and only with a taxi to Kabira. |
| 10 hours+ | about 8 | Both, by bus and ferry, Kabira first; or a five-to-six-hour tour plus the town. |
The official list has 63 calls from October 2026 to March 2027, and they are strikingly regular. Nine-hour calls are 43% and ten-hour calls 37%; eight-hour calls (six) and a handful of others make up the rest, and the shortest is Star Seeker's five hours on 7 March 2027. The patterns to recognise:
There are no overnight calls in this period. Navigator of the Seas on 3 March 2027 is filed as 00:00–23:59, which is a placeholder rather than a real call length; check its actual times with the line. See every call on the Ishigaki cruise calendar.
Every pick opens our own page first — what the operator actually includes, who should skip it, and which upcoming Ishigaki calls it fits. Prices are the operator's "from" price as of 26 Sep 2026.
Both are two-hour activities rather than tours. Neither names the cruise quay as a meeting point, so settle the pickup in writing before you book.
Couples · priced per couple · pickup at town hotels or a FamilyMart car parkIshigaki Island Romantic PhotoshootA husband-and-wife team photograph you at two or more island spots in two hours — the one thing here that fits a 5-hour call. Ask them to meet you at the quay or the ferry terminal; a dress or suit costs extra.Why it is on this site →
Couples & small groups · per person · no pickup, studio in the northCouture Perfume WorkshopA private two-hour perfume workshop near the Blue Cave. The studio is about 25 minutes by taxi from town and buses are few, so budget taxis both ways and about three hours in all.Why it is on this site →Kabira Bay is not for swimming; this is how you get on the reef.
The couple's pick on the commonest 9- and 10-hour calls, and a good fit for six people who want to share a van.
Car-based and made to order, so the pace is yours. It is the only tour here that includes the Kabira glass-bottom boat.
Tours are booked through Viator (a Tripadvisor company). If you book, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend — which is why each tour page has a "think twice" note.
About the return to the ship. None of the Ishigaki tours we list promises in writing to get you back on time; the closest is the cruise-only island loop, which says its pickup times are adjusted to your ship's schedule. Three of the five do not name the cruise quay as a pickup point, and one of those (the perfume workshop) has no pickup at all. Three habits protect you: get the quay or ferry-terminal meeting point confirmed in writing, tell the guide your all-aboard time when you meet, and agree to be back at the gangway an hour before it. All five offer a full refund if you cancel 24 hours ahead. More options, and how we choose, are on guided tours in Ishigaki and our Ishigaki plans.
There is nothing at the quay: no ATM, no exchange, no shop. Cards work on the buses and on the Ishigaki side of the ferries; cash is still the safe choice on Taketomi and at small places.
| Place | Pay with |
|---|---|
| Azuma route buses | Cash, paper coupons, or tap a contactless credit card on and off |
| Anei ferry counter, Ishigaki | Cash, card, transit IC, e-money or QR |
| Anei ferry counter, Taketomi | Cash only |
| YKF and Anei boarding | Tap-to-pay card readers at the pier (Visa, JCB, Amex and others) |
| Taketomi ¥300 entry fee | Ticket machines at both ports |
| Kabira glass-bottom boats | Mixed; some take e-money — bring cash |
| Miyara Dunchi, soba shops, buffalo cart | Bring cash |
| Taxis | Bring cash |
The nearest cash machines are in town: a 24-hour FamilyMart about 250 m from the ferry terminal, and Yaeyama Post Office about 375 m away, whose Japan Post Bank ATM is the one most likely to take a foreign card. Bank branches nearby keep weekday hours. Bring ¥10,000 or so in notes from the ship if you plan Taketomi and a taxi.
Earthquakes and tsunami. The quay is on reclaimed land at the water's edge, and the Yaeyama islands take tsunami warnings seriously: on 3 April 2024 the Japan Meteorological Agency issued one for the Miyako and Yaeyama islands three minutes after an earthquake near Taiwan. The agency's Ishigaki office cites an Okinawa Prefecture model of the 1771 Yaeyama tsunami in which waves reach parts of the islands within 10 minutes and stand about 10 m high at the coast. Its advice: if you feel strong shaking, or weaker shaking that goes on for a long time, or hear a warning while near the sea, leave the shore at once on foot for high ground or the upper floors of a tall reinforced-concrete building — the agency's manual lists several hotels around the ferry terminal as evacuation buildings — and stay there until the warning is lifted. If you are on board or at the quay, follow the crew's instructions.
Closed days worth checking against your date.
Ishigaki is subtropical, and the cruise season falls in its mild half.
| Month | Average high | Rain |
|---|---|---|
| October | 28.8 °C | 211 mm |
| November | 26.2 °C | 138 mm |
| December | 23.0 °C | 155 mm |
| January | 21.5 °C | 135 mm |
| February | 22.0 °C | 124 mm |
| March | 23.7 °C | 134 mm |
Things you will read about Ishigaki elsewhere — in older port guides, forum posts and some cruise-line pages — set against what the official source says today.
| You may read | What the official source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ships anchor off Ishigaki and tender passengers to the ferry terminal in the middle of town. | Every ship ties up alongside one 420 m quay (−10.5 m) in the Shinko (New Port) district on reclaimed Painuhama, so there is no tender — and you land about 10 minutes by car from the ferry terminal, not beside it. | MLIT — Ishigaki Port cruise pier specifications (as of 1 January 2026) |
| The cruise terminal is about 1.5 km from downtown, near the bus terminal, so you can walk into town. | The quay is on reclaimed land in the New Port district: about 10 minutes by car to town, and 40–50 minutes on foot. No route bus serves the quay. | City of Ishigaki, Port Division — Cruise ship calls |
| The port authority runs a ¥200 shuttle from the ship to the ferry terminal. | The city runs no shuttle. Some cruise lines run a free one for their own passengers, and a paid shuttle runs only sometimes, so ask your line and have a taxi plan. | City of Ishigaki, Port Division — Cruise ship calls |
| The bus costs ¥200 to the airport and ¥700 to Kabira. | The airport bus is ¥550 one way (¥1,000 return) and Route 9 to Kabira ¥770 from the bus terminal (fares from 1 April 2025); a 24-hour pass is ¥1,000. Both lines start in town, not at the quay. | Azuma Unyu — tickets and passes; Route 9 fare table |
At one quay: the Ishigaki Port cruise quay in the Shinko (New Port) district — officially the International Wharf, −10.5 m — on the reclaimed island of Painuhama (南ぬ浜町), about 10 minutes by car south-west of downtown. It is 420 m long and takes ships up to the 220,000-ton class, so there is no tendering, and the city accepts only one cruise ship a day. All 165 calls on the official list to the end of 2027 use it. It is not the island-ferry terminal downtown, where pages written before 2018 put passengers ashore by tender.
No. The national port spec sheet lists no terminal building and no rain shelter at the Painuhama quay; immigration is done on board or in temporary structures. There are toilets, a bus park and a taxi pool, but no shop, vending machines, Wi-Fi, currency exchange or ATM. Bring water, a hat and cash from the ship, or get what you need in town, 10 minutes away.
About 10 minutes by shuttle — but only some cruise lines run a free one, to the Euglena Ishigaki Port Remote Island Terminal (the island-ferry terminal); the city does not run one. When there is no free shuttle, a paid one sometimes runs (a local tour site mentions ¥200), decided just before the day. Otherwise take a taxi, about ¥830–970. Ask the ship's tour desk the day before.
40–50 minutes, according to the city — about 3 km — over a high, steep bridge in full sun, with no route bus to fall back on. It is not a walk for small children, anyone unsteady or a hot afternoon. Many older pages say fifteen minutes; that is wrong. Nothing worth seeing is within walking distance of the quay itself: the market, Miyara Dunchi and the museum are all a short walk from the ferry terminal instead.
About ¥830–970 to the ferry terminal in town, about ¥4,540 each way to Kabira Bay (about ¥9,000 a car for the round trip), about ¥2,650 to Ishigaki Yaima Village and about ¥9,370 each way to Hirakubozaki. These are our estimates from the tariff Ishigaki's taxi firms applied for in 2024, so treat them as the least you will pay, and carry cash. Several taxis often wait at the quay on a call morning, but the city recommends booking: town runs short of taxis on big-ship days.
By taxi, about 32 minutes and roughly ¥4,540 each way. By bus, get to the bus terminal beside the ferry terminal and take Azuma Route 9 at 09:45, arriving at Kabira-Koen-mae at 10:28; buses back leave at 12:53, 13:37 and 13:59. The fare is ¥770 each way, or ¥1,000 for a day pass, and the buses take contactless credit cards. The bus works on calls of 9 hours or more; on shorter calls, take a taxi.
No — swimming is prohibited at Kabira Bay because of strong tidal currents. See the water from a glass-bottom boat instead: about 9:00–17:00, every 15–30 minutes, roughly ¥1,300–1,700 for 20–30 minutes. To be in the water on a port day, book a reef snorkel with an operator that confirms the cruise quay as its pickup in writing; the site is chosen by the weather the day before.
10–15 minutes by high-speed ferry from the island-ferry terminal, which is about 10 minutes from the quay by shuttle or taxi. Anei Kanko and Yaeyama Kanko Ferry (YKF) both charge ¥970 one way or ¥1,880 return and between them sail roughly every 30–60 minutes from 07:30. Allow 40–60 minutes from the gangway to the island, and about 3½ hours gangway to gangway for 1½ hours on Taketomi. The water-buffalo cart costs about ¥3,300 for 20–30 minutes and stops about 15:30.
No: buy at the counter in the island-ferry terminal about 30 minutes before you sail. Seats are unreserved, and the boats leave roughly every 30–60 minutes. YKF caps the tickets it sells for each sailing, and its online e-tickets are fixed to one sailing and cannot be changed, so on a port day the counter is the flexible choice. A ticket from one company is not valid on the other's boats, so come back with the company you went out with.
17:50 with both Anei and YKF in the current timetables (Anei's runs October 2026 – March 2027, YKF's October 2026 – February 2027). There is no later boat, so on an afternoon call aim for the 16:50 and keep the 17:50 as your spare. Both companies publish a daily operating status and may change times in rough seas.
Yes on a call of about 10 hours: Route 9 to Kabira at 09:45, the 12:53 bus back, then a 14:30 ferry to Taketomi and the 16:20 back puts you back at the gangway about 40 minutes earlier than the usual target of an hour before all-aboard. It only works Kabira first. On a 9-hour call, choose one, or pay for a taxi to Kabira and cut Taketomi short.
Three, by call length. Taketomi island, the coral-walled village by ferry (about 3½ hours gangway to gangway); Kabira Bay and its glass-bottom boats (about 3 hours by taxi, 4 by bus); and the town. On 5 hours or less, stay in town: the public market and covered Euglena Mall (about 9:00–19:00, closed 2nd and 4th Sundays), Miyara Dunchi, the 1819 residence and garden (about ¥200, closed Tuesdays), the Yaeyama Museum (¥200, closed Mondays) and a bowl of Yaeyama soba — all a short walk from the ferry terminal.
You do not need one for the two big sights — buses and ferries reach both. For a couple on a 9- or 10-hour call who want it done for them, the all-inclusive island loop sold only to cruise guests (5598306P1): five to six hours, lunch included, timed to your ship, though it needs three guests to run. For a group of up to six, or anyone who walks slowly, the private tour (5592804P6), which includes the Kabira glass-bottom boat. None of them puts an on-time return in writing.
Only on a long call. Anei Kanko's boats take 40–45 minutes each way to Ohara and 45–55 minutes to Uehara, at ¥4,880 return to Ohara or ¥6,370 to Uehara, and they sail far less often than to Taketomi. Add about 10 minutes from the quay to the ferry terminal; Anei asks for at least 30 minutes between connections. By our arithmetic, a mangrove river trip there needs a call of about 10 hours. On a 9-hour call, Taketomi, 10–15 minutes away, is the realistic island.
About 21 minutes and 15.6 km by car without traffic, by our map estimate, and roughly ¥3,630 by taxi as the least you will pay. The Azuma airport bus costs ¥550 one way (¥1,000 return), but it runs from the bus terminal and the island-ferry terminal in town, not from the quay, so you first need the shuttle or a taxi into town. If you are joining or leaving a ship here, book the taxi.
Only from a company that will deliver to the quay — confirm it when you book, because the city closes the quay car park to private cars for two to three hours after a ship arrives. You need your home licence, your passport and an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, in booklet form; drivers from a few countries, including Germany, France and Switzerland, carry an official Japanese translation instead. Japan drives on the left, and Kabira is about 32 minutes away.
Yes. There is no ATM at the quay, and the Anei ticket counter on Taketomi takes cash only. The buses and the ferries at Ishigaki take cards, and Anei's Ishigaki counter also takes transit IC cards and QR payments. The nearest cash machines are at a 24-hour FamilyMart about 250 m from the ferry terminal and Yaeyama Post Office about 375 m away. Bring ¥10,000 or so in notes for Taketomi and a taxi.
In town, near the island-ferry terminal; nothing is sold at the quay. Kitauchi Bokujo's Hamasaki shop serves beef from its own black cattle at lunch, 11:30–14:30 (last order 14:00), according to a travel listing. For Yaeyama soba, Kimi Shokudo in Tonoshiro, about 1 km east of the market, opens from 10:00 until the soba runs out and closes Thursdays; Kunatsuyu opens 10:00–14:00 but closes Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
63 calls are on the official list from October 2026 to March 2027, and 165 to the end of 2027, never more than one ship a day. The regulars are MSC Bellissima (09:00–19:00, November–January), Star Navigator from Keelung (mostly 10:00–19:00, plus eight 14:00–23:00 calls), Piano Land from February 2027, and western ships such as Westerdam, Seabourn Encore and Norwegian Jade, often arriving at 07:00. Nine-hour calls make up 43% and ten-hour calls 37%.
November to April is the mild side of the year — average highs of 21.5–26 °C — but windy, with cloudier days in December and January. Typhoons approach the Okinawa region about 7.7 times a year, most often in August and September; October still averages about one, and calls can be cancelled from July to October and in winter storms. The hikan-zakura cherry first blooms around 18 January.
Yes. On 3 April 2024 the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for the Miyako and Yaeyama islands three minutes after an earthquake near Taiwan. The agency's Ishigaki office cites an Okinawa Prefecture model of the 1771 Yaeyama tsunami in which waves reach parts of the islands within 10 minutes, about 10 m high at the coast. If you feel strong or long, slow shaking near the sea, or hear a warning, walk away from the shore at once to high ground or the upper floors of a tall concrete building, and follow the crew.
