Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A little to the north of Hirara, near the waterfront, perhaps less than three-quarters of
a mile (1 kilometer) northeast from the ferry terminal, you'll find the tomb of Tuyumya
Nakasone Genga (
仲宗根豊見親玄 雅
; Nakasoné Tuyumiya Genga), a feudal lord who unified
Miyako Island into the Kingdom of the Ryukyus in the late 15th century. Tuyumya is an Ok-
inawan honorific, not a name. Genga Nakasone is a hero celebrated for having spared the
people of Miyako from the death and destruction that would have resulted from attempts
to resist an invasion, instead having chosen to unify with the Yaeyamas and ultimately the
Okinawan monarchy. Nakasone originally built the tomb for his father. It is designated as an
important Japanese cultural property.
A road dedicated to Gerhard Schröder-Strasse and German-Japanese friendship.
Less than three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) north of there, on the same road, is the
Nintō-zei ishi (
人頭税石
) or “Head Tax Stone.” It's a small pillar standing in what appears to
be someone's yard. Before the Meiji Period (
明治時代
; Meiji-jidai), 1868-1912, it is said that a
tax was levied on every islander taller than the 4.5-foot (1.4-meter)-tall stone. Other reports
state that the tax stone was employed until 1903. A third version has it that the entire story
is a fiction. If the story is true, it is said that men paid their tax in millet, a type of grain, and
women paid their tax with cloth.
Backtracking south about 1 mile (2 kilometers), we'll return to the harbor area and then
continue just past it to the first of many beaches that we'll find on Miyako. Painagama (
パイ
ナガマビーチ
; Painagama bīchi) may not be Miyako's most famous beach but it's a perfectly
good one and it's the closest to town. It's within walking distance of downtown Hirara, only a
few blocks from the center and a couple of blocks south of the port. It's not too big but it has
a clean, white, wide sand frontage, freshwater showers and changing facilities. Just across the
street from the beach is a popular seafood restaurant.
From Painagama it's less than 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) west to a much larger beach, Sunset
Beach (
サンセットビーチ
; Sansetto bīchi), which is the main attraction of a fairly large public
