1 / 3Ishigaki beef, at lunchPhoto: pelican from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY-SA 2.0
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Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
Island-raised black wagyu, grazed on subtropical grass and finished here. A lunch set costs a fraction of the dinner price for the same animal, and this is the one place in Japan where wagyu is a local product rather than an import from somewhere better known.
- Our number 3 for Ishigaki, out of ten. It is the first thing we would spend the hours on.
- Short enough to be certain of: 2 hr door to door, so even a tender day works.
- 2 hr door to door needs a 4-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Ishigaki beef, at lunch is famous
Ishigaki beef is a certified brand from Japanese Black cattle raised on this island, and the island's calves have long been sold on to famous mainland brands, which means you are eating the origin rather than the copy. Lunch is the sensible way to have it: the same beef at a fraction of the evening price.
Three places, three different answers
The one the queue agrees on, the one people who live here use instead, and the one nearest your ship. Opening days change; check before you build a day around one.
Ishigaki beef from its own farm, at lunch prices, which is the only sane way to have it on a port day.
Open in Google MapsClosest to the berthEuglena MallユーグレナモールThe covered arcade by the market, with several beef counters within a block of each other.
Open in Google MapsRoutes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
3 hr 30 min for bothYaeyama soba
Round, thin, slightly chewy wheat noodles in a light pork-and-bonito broth, with kamaboko and diced pork belly.
See the detail
3 hr 30 min for bothThe public market and Euglena Mall
Fish in colours that look wrong downstairs, a small canteen on the 3rd floor, and the whole Yaeyama larder in between — island salt, chilli oil in awamori, brown sugar, and dried bonito.
See the detail
3 hr 30 min for bothMinsah weaving
A belt woven in a repeating five-and-four square pattern, traditionally given by a woman to a man.
See the detail