Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
So far as is known, William Kidd never sailed the waters of Japan—or anywhere in Asia
for that matter. Therefore, it is doubtful that there is any truth to Takarajima's legend of Cap-
tain Kidd and his buried treasure. And although it is true that Robert Louis Stevenson spent
a good part of his short life in the Pacific—he traveled in the South Pacific and died and
is buried on the island of Samoa—he had no known association with any of the islands of
the North Pacific or Japan. It is highly improbable, therefore, that he knew of this particular
Treasure Island, Takarajima.
Whether the treasure stories were inspired by the limestone cave or whether the cave in-
spired the legends, or whether the mere coincidence of the name “Treasure Island” is be-
hind the legends, it's hard to know, but in any case, Takarajima's Kannon-dō Cave (
観音堂
;
Kannon-dō) is an interesting little spot and worth a visit. It's located a little over a mile (2
kilometers) from the village on the island's west side. There are several small shrines within
the cave, including a Kannondō shrine. Note that the cave is also called “Dai shoun yuu-dō”
(
大鐘乳洞
).
If the limestone cave doesn't impress you, you can walk about 985 feet (300 meters) down
to one of Takara's beaches, this one over a mile (2 kilometers) long and encompassing vir-
tually the entire mid-section of Takara's west coast. There are also a couple of small beaches
on Takara's southeast and northeast shore, plus the island's best beach, the Ōkago bathing
beach (
大籠海水浴場
; Ōkago-kaisui-yoku-jō), which is adjacent to the port. None of Takara's
beaches are great, but they're modestly sandy and accessible, something that's not true on
most of the other Tokara Islands.
For many visitors, Takara's big “sight” is the fanciful mural at the port. For one, you can't
miss it when you arrive. It's a giant, wildly imaginative drawing that covers most of the ce-
mented hillside. Whatever your take on the aesthetics, it has to be said that it's different.
The last sightseeing spot we'll mention is the island's final spot: the southernmost ex-
tremity, Cape Araki (
荒木崎
; Araki-zaki). Here, the triangular-shaped Tarakajima narrows
down to its most acute angle. The road goes right to the end and then it's a short 300-feet
(100-meter) walk to the Cape Araki Lighthouse (
荒木崎灯台
; Araki-zaki tōdai). From here,
there's nothing but ocean on all three sides. And from there, it's open waters until our next
archipelago—the Amami-shotō.
MUUTACHIIWA
(
舞立;
Muu-tachi iwa). If you do go to the beach on Takarajima's west coast,
near the Kannon-do cave and shrine, you'll see this little rock. It's only some 660 feet (200
meters) offshore, about exactly midway along the west coast measuring from north to south.
