Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
er products. The population of all the islands in the chain is about 53,000. Miyakojima is
by far the largest island both in terms of area and population. Its main city, Hirara (
平良市
;
Hirara-shi), has some 35,000 residents and serves as the transportation hub for ferries and
flights to the other islands in the group as well as a center for hotels, restaurants, diving sup-
plies and other tourist services.
Local ferries at Hirara Port.
Miyako Airport (
宮古空港
; Miyako Kūkō) has daily direct flights to Tokyo's Haneda Air-
port (3 hours) and Osaka's Kansai Airport (2.5 hours). There are several flights a day to Naha
Airport on Okinawa Main Island (45 minutes) and to Ishigaki (30 minutes). There are also
daily flights to Tarama (25 minutes), a small island midway between Miyako and Ishigaki.
The airport is 3 miles (5 kilometers) from downtown and it takes 5-10 minutes to get there.
All the local rental car companies have counters or facilities at the airport terminal and in
town.
Because of the frequent and convenient air service, there was a consequent lack of de-
mand for the ferry service. In 2008 the Okinawa-Miyako-Ishigaki passenger and vehicle
