Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Okinawa. One bridge connects Yagaji's western end to the Motobu Peninsula, the other ex-
tends from the northern end of Yagaji to the island of Kouri. We'll go there next.
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KOURIJIMA
古宇利島
Opened to the car-loving Japanese or, rather, Okinawan, public by the 2005 bridge, Kour-
ijima (
古宇利島
; Kouri-jima) is a traditional small island of about 350 inhabitants It's almost
perfectly round, roughly 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) in diameter, 1 square mile (3.11 square
kilometers) in area and 5 miles (8 kilometers) in circumference. It's actually quite a high is-
land, more or less a plateau, almost all of which is just over 330 feet (100 meters) tall. Its only
village and harbor face south to Yagaji Island and the Motobu Peninsula. Formerly, its port
hosted a small ferry that connected it to Okinawa, but that's no longer necessary due to the
bridge. The rest of the island is sparsely populated but intensively cultivated. There's a ring
road that circles the island and you can drive it in about 10 minutes. The main agricultural
products are sugar cane and purple sweet potatoes.
A view of Yagajijima from the plateau-like Kourijima, with the linking bridge on the left.
Kouri has one nice beach, right next to the port, which is called Chigunu (
ちぐぬ浜
;
Chigunu-hama). The island's specialty product is a type of sea urchin. You'll see them for
sale in the shops in the village and by roadside vendors. Called
shirahige-uni
(
シラヒゲ ウ
ニ
), they are collected just offshore in the surrounding clear clean waters. They taste of the
sea—salty, fresh and delicious.
For many visitors, half the fun of visiting Kouri is getting there. It's a long bridge, almost
1.25 miles (2 kilometers) over the sea. When it first opened a few years ago, there were
bumper-to-bumper traffic jams of Okinawans waiting their turn to see the island. Many of
these visitors had lived on Okinawa all their lives yet never visited this small place. The traffic
jams are over but Kourijima remains.
