THE TOKARA ISLANDS - Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands - page 58

This last leg of the cruise is three hours and arrives in Nazé at 4:20 PM , Tuesday. Here
the ship moors and stays until 4:00 AM Wednesday morning. Then it will depart northbound,
sailing three hours to arrive back at Takarajima at 7:00 AM . From there, starting at 7:15 AM ,
the ship will make all the same Tokara Island stops in reverse, arriving back in Kagoshima at
8:30 PM Wednesday evening. Late Friday night, two days later, the cycle begins all over again.
Note that the only day the ship is at rest is Thursday. This day is a catch-up for weather and
any other delays that have interfered with the normal weekly schedule. By the way, this sched-
ule has not changed in over ten years. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
As for these dozen islands, although to the casual observer it may seem as though one
is more or less the same as another, that's not true. Every island is a little different and each
has its own special attraction. Some, like Suwanosejima, have active volcanoes. Others, like
Nakanoshima, have good onsen . Yet another will have a good beach or a coral reef for diving
or snorkeling. And some, like Tairajima, will have some historical ties to ancient Japan.
Akusekijima is the island of the mask god Bozé and each summer a festival is held there.
Each and every island is an individual and, like people, each is unique and special. Ko-
takarajima may be unusual merely because it is so small and yet inhabited. All the islands
have sago palms and hibiscus flowers and stars and ocean. All have beauty. Finally, for
dreamers, some believe that the coral island Takarajima, literally, “Treasure Island,” is the
spot on which Robert Louis Stevenson based his eponymously named novel.
1 KUCHINOSHIMA 口之島
The northernmost island of the Tokara group and the first stop on the semi-weekly ferry
when sailing south out of Kagoshima is Kuchinoshima ( 口之島 ; Kuchi-no-shima). It's an ir-
regularly shaped island, more or less a 2 by 3-mile (3 by 5-kilometer) rectangle but with an
extra extension on its northern end. The port is located in the northwest in a natural bay
formed at the junction of the island's main body and its northern extension. Other than a ce-
ment plant, there's almost nothing to see at the port itself.
Just over the hill, beyond the port, there are two small villages, Nishinohama and
Kuchinoshima, although it's difficult to tell where one ends and another begins. The total
population is only about 160. There are three minshuku inns in town and a nice public bath.
At the other end of the island, at its southeasternmost point, there's another onsen . It's out-
doors and free.