Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As mentioned earlier, there used to be an airline service to the Keramas. Until 2006 there
were several flights a day between Naha and Kerama Airport (
慶良間空港
; Kerama Kūkō).
Unfortunately, the air route was suspended because it wasn't profitable. Given the relatively
frequent ferry service, there evidently was not enough demand for the 10-minute flight. At
present, there also does not seem to be any hurry to reinstate the flights, so the airport now
sits empty and forlorn. It is located on the tiny island of Fukaji.
Fukajijima is connected by a short bridge to the next island, Gerumajima, which, in turn,
is connected by another bridge to the next island, Akajima. From Akajima there are sever-
al daily ferries leaving for Zamami but not for Tokashiki. To reach Tokashiki from either
Akajima or Zamamijima, it's necessary to return to Naha and take a ferry out from there. Of
course, since these islands are very small and the distances between them equally small, it's
entirely conceivable that a local fisherman or sailor will take you from one to the next, most
likely for the price of the fuel required.
In addition to the four inhabited islands, the Kerama group includes a couple of dozen
miscellaneous isles, islets and rocks. We'll mention most of them. Although all the lesser is-
lands are uninhabited, they, or the waters around them, are visited by private water-craft car-
rying people seeking a secluded beach, an idyllic picnic site or a good diving or snorkeling
location.
We'll visit this archipelago in a westward path, coming out from Naha. As a group, start-
ing from Maejima in the east to Yakabijima and Kubashima in the west, they span almost 14
miles (22 kilometers). From north to south, starting at either the top of Zamamijima or Kur-
oshima to the bottom of the Ōjima rocks or Unjima, it's about 8 miles (13 kilometers). You'll
soon see that these approximate 110 square miles (286 square kilometers) of the East China
Sea are quite busy indeed—full of little islands popping up all over the place.
Low-lying Kamiyamajima comprises more than a square kilometer of hazardous shoals.
1
KAMIYAMAJIMA
神山島
The first place we'll mention isn't really much of a
jima
, an “island.” It's better described as a
shipping and navigation hazard. It's a combination of three or four islets, reefs and sand-bars
6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest from Tomari Port. Depending on the height of the tide, you
