Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
waterline and thus appear or disappear with its rising and falling. It's also a dangerous area
for mariners.
YUBUIWA
(
ユブ岩
; Yubu-iwa). Approximately 820 feet (250 meters) southeast of the Naka
rocks is this group of six or seven more rocks which bear the name Yubu. The northernmost
is the largest one. It measures about 575 feet (175 meters) long by 260 feet (80 meters) wide
and is, in turn, surrounded by a handful of smaller stone islets. There's almost no vegetation
on any of them. About 820 feet (250 meters) to the south is another little group. The three or
four mini-islets in this group measure 30-80 feet (10-25 meters) in diameter. In the grand
scheme of things, a 30-foot (10-meter) rock may appear insignificant, but it is not. Any fixed
rock at sea can be large enough to punch a hole in any ship, big or small. Rock islets like those
that comprise Ōjima have a funny habit—they don't move when you hit them. Along with
Unjima and Shiroiwa, the islets due south of Tokashikijima, the Ōjima Rocks vie for the most
southerly location of the Keramas.
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KUBASHIMA
久場島
Kuba Island is located a little more than 1.75 miles (3 kilometers) northwest of Ōjima, 2.5
(4 kilometers) southwest of Aka, or 3 miles (4 and a half kilometers) due west of Geruma
and Fukaji. Kuba and its northern neighbor Yakabi are the two westernmost islands in the
Kerama group. As the crow flies, they are each approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of
Naha on Okinawa Main Island. Both are uninhabited and designated as protected reserves.
Kubashima (
久場島
; Kuba-shima) is a fairly uniform rectangle with a pointy top. It is over
1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) long from north to south and almost exactly three-quarters of a
mile (1 kilometer) wide for nearly all of its length. Its area is a bit more than half a square mile
(1.55 square kilometers) with a 4.5-mile (7-kilometer) circumference. It's hilly, rising to 886
feet (270 meters) above sea level. Both Kuba Island and Yakabi Island are completely covered
in dense vegetation.
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YAKABIJIMA
屋嘉比島
Not quite 1.75 miles (3 kilometers) due north of Kubashima is Yakabijima (
屋嘉比島
; Yakabi-
jima). Measured from several points, it is 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) northwest of Aka, 1.75
miles (3.kilometers) southwest from Zamami's closest point, and 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers)
from the port at Zamami.
The shape of Yakabi Island is more or less a pretty well-formed oval, 1.25 miles (2 kilo-
meters) long and three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) across at its center. It is half a square