Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
count for the vast majority of the archipelago's area, 200 square miles (518 square kilomet-
ers). The remaining balance of 24 square miles (63 square kilometers) is divided between the
other much smaller islands in the group. Despite their small size, more than half the islands
and islets in the Yaeyamas are inhabited.
Ishigaki Airport is the main entry point for visitors to the Yaeyamas from Okinawa's Naha, the Japanese
mainland and elsewhere.
As the crow flies, it's 1,210 miles (1,950 kilometers) southwest from Tokyo or 260 miles
(415 kilometers) southwest from Naha to Ishigaki Airport (
石垣空港
; Ishigaki Kūkō), which
is about 1.75 miles (3 kilometers) and five minutes from downtown Ishigaki City, the capital
of the archipelago and the only city of any size in the group. Flying time from Tokyo is about
three and a half hours. From Naha it's about one hour. There are frequent flights from those
two cities every day of the year, and service, though less frequent, from a number of other
mainland Japan cities as well.
Over the past few years, the Yaeyamas have grown increasingly more popular with Japan-
ese tourists. Currently, Ishigaki's Airport serves almost two million passengers a year, and it's
overburdened. Because no aircraft larger than a Boeing 737 can land there, construction star-
ted several years ago on a new one, New Ishigaki Airport (
新石垣 空港
; Shin-Ishigaki Kūkō).
The expected date of completion is somewhere in 2014. The new airport will also be on the
eastern side of the island, but a bit further north, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from down-
town. Whether one is arriving at the present airport or eventually the new one, Ishigaki is not
an international airport, so anyone visiting from overseas must fly through, and clear cus-
