Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
might see most it or you might not. Several small islets are always above the waterline and
have some permanent vegetation but much of Kamiyamajima ( 神山島 ; Kami-yama-jima) is
often submerged.
From the perspective of the sea, Kamiyama appears to be one long island and sandbar
with a light beacon planted on its far eastern end. An aerial view, however, shows that it is,
in fact, several islets and sandbars surrounded by a shallow reef. The constituent parts are
variously shaped as rounds, rectangles or crescents and range in size from a few thousand
feet to almost three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) in length. None are much larger than a
couple of hundred feet across. Again, depending on the tides, the island's highest points rise
to 15-30 feet (4.5-9 meters).
Outcroppings like this are no joke. In 1963 112 people aboard the passenger ferry Midori-
maru drowned when she went down after hitting a reef here. Most Kerama-bound ferries,
and those sailing to Tonaki and Kume, usually steer well below the Kamiyama shoal, to its
south. Northbound ferries, those headed for Aguni, the Amamis or Tokyo, sail above the
shoal. Keep your eye open and you should see it. It spans well over a square kilometer. By the
way, the name literally translates as “God's Mountain Island,” quite a name for such a danger-
ous place.
2 KUEFUJIMA クエフ島
The size of this landmass also depends on the height of the tide. The Kuefujima ( クエフ 島 ;
Kuéfu-jima, also called Kuéfu-tō) out-cropping may be one long sandbar or two. It's less than
1.25 miles (2 kilometers) southwest from Kamiyamajima. At a spring tide, the islet may be as
long as 1,640 feet (500 meters), running east to west. At neap tide (or any low tide), it divides
in half and each portion of the sandbar may be about 325-550 feet (100-150 meters) long. At
all times, it's never much wider, north to south, than about 80-100 feet (24-30 meters). And
it's never much taller than 7-10 feet (2-3 meters). It's merely a place to run aground. In fact,
how is deserves to be called a jima at all is a mystery, for it's really no island, nor even an islet.
It's simply a sandbar.
3 NAGANNUJIMA ナガンヌ島
Here's another hazardous reef waiting for the unwary sailor, the last of this set of three marine
outcroppings. The Nagannu shoal is not as large as the Kamiyama, nonetheless, it's a com-
bination of two or three islets and several connecting sandbars, nicely protected by a sub-
merged reef. Nagannujima ( ナガンヌ 島 ; Nagan-nu-jima) is about 1.25 miles (2 kilometers)
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