Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Robert Walker
of the end of the airport runway and Sugira Beach begins what is called the “Esplanado” (遊歩道; Esplanado). It’s a 1.5-mile-(2.4-kilometer)-long path running north to south along the island’s far western shore. It ends at Araki (荒木; Araki) village. It’s mostly coral and rock, but sections of the trail also go through dense banyan tree groves, and at one point there’s an observatory with splendid views of the sea. It’s a beautiful walk, one of the nicest you’ll find anywhere. It’s also Kikai’s best place to watch the sun set into the ocean. Incidentally, some signs refer to it by a rather longer name: the Arakinakasato Promenade (荒木中里遊歩道; Arakinakasato Esplanado).
There’s one more sightseeing attraction not far from this end of the island. A little less than a mile (2 kilometers) southeast of Araki, you’ll see signs for the Gajyumaru Big Banyan Tree (ガジュマル巨木; Gaju maru kyo boku). There’s no question about it, it’s big. And if you really like giant banyan trees, there’s a whole grove of them about halfway up the escarpment on the way to Nakanishi Park. It’s called the Couple Banyan Tree (夫婦ガジュマル; Fūfu gaju maru) and there are well over a dozen of them—all giants. The road goes right through it. We’ll drive there next.
At this point we’ve been more or less following Kikai’s circle-island road, Route 619, counter-clockwise. From the Giant Banyan to the Couple Banyans, it’s about 4 miles (6 kilometers). The road goes around the southernmost end of Kikai, then heads north along the east coast. Watch for the signs for the Couple Banyan and Nakanishi Park just after the village of Keraji (花良治; Keraji). The left-hand turn is less than half a mile (0.7 kilometer) north just after exiting the village. From the turn-off at Route 619, it’s a bit more than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) up a twisting, winding road past the Couple Banyans to the Nakanishi Park.
You will crest the mountain and find yourself on the top of Kikai’s escarpmen. This spot is crowned by a little observation platform on the island’s highest point at 695 feet (212 meters) at Nakanishi Park (中西公園; Nakan-ishi kōen). On a clear day, you’ll get some splendid views looking down over the cultivated fields, the small villages and the unending expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Incidentally, if you look behind you to the west, you’ll see a fairly large barracks and an enormous circular something. It’s a Japanese military installation and the big circle is a “listening” post.
Gajyumaru Big Banyan Tree.
Nakanishi Park, the highest point on Kikai.
From Nakanishi Park, perhaps the scenic highlight of the island begins. There is a road, or you can hike along the trail, that follows the crest of the Kikai escarpment 3 miles (5 kilometers) north, all along the heights of the east coast of the island. This especially lovely drive terminates at the almost equally tall 666-feet (203-meter) Hyakunodai Park Observation Platform (百之台公園展望台; Hyaku no-dai kōen Tenbō-dai). From this vantage point there are great views towards the north of island. It truly is beautiful and you’ll wonder why more people don’t know about this island. But they don’t, so we’ll leave it at that.
From the northern end of the escarpment, there are several alternative routes that may be taken. There are many roads that crisscross over and through Kikai Island. Most of this part of Kikai’s mid-section is a fairly level but elevated plateau, and there are attractive villages scattered around even up here. For the most part, it’s all cultivated with sugar cane.
View of Kikai Island from the Hyakunodai Park Observation Platform.
The Tonbizaki Lighthouse near Cape Tonbi.
Let’s, however, stay on Route 619 and continue north to the top end of the island. As we do, we’ll gradually descend. The topmost third of Kikai is for the most part uniformly flat and not elevated. The end of the island is marked by the Tonbizaki Lighthouse (トンビ崎灯台; Tonbi-zaki tōdai) near Cape Tonbi (トンビ崎; Tonbi-zaki). Essentially, we’re rounding the northern tip of Kikai on a small road that parallels just above Route 619. You’ll see signs here and there for a couple of miles/kilometers along this section of shoreline for Tonbizaki “Beach” (トンビ崎海岸; Tonbi-zaki kaigan). Despite the signs, there is no beach. The better translation of the Kanji characters would be coast, not beach. It may have some interest to visitors, but it’s more a long stretch of rather desolate coral stone and tidal basins on the northwest coast of Kikai.
Karimata Spring, a sacred fresh water spring.
Now driving southwest, you’ll soon come to the village of Onotsu (小野津; Onotsu). There is one minor attraction here and one nearby.
It so happens that the 130th East Longitude Meridian Line (東経130度線 - 子午線 モニュメント; Tōkei 130 (sha ku tan jie) do-sen-Shigosen Monyumento) runs through Kikai’s northern end. To celebrate this invisible meridian, there’s a small marker and a couple of yellow lines in the road. It’s right on the shore of town, perhaps 330 feet (100 meters) to the west of the fishing port and overlooking the ocean. Naturally, the line would continue across the island and indeed continue around the world from the North to the South Pole. It exits Kikai someplace near the east coast village of Sōmachi (早町; Sōmachi) but there’s nothing special over there to mark it although it is indicated where it passes through Hyakunodai Park.
Let’s admit it, there are longitude and latitude lines all over the face of the earth, at least on maps. We don’t normally pay too much attention to them unless they are, for example, the Greenwich Prime Meridian, International Date Line, Equator, Arctic Circle or something like that. But this is Kikai and things are on a slightly smaller scale here. Embrace it.
From Onotsu it’s just a bit up the hill leaving town and you’ll see a sign for the Karimata Spring (雁股の泉; Karimata-no izumi). Again, it’s nothing too, too special, but one can easily imagine that it was something special a few hundred years ago. Miraculously flowing fresh water supplies on small islands surrounded by the un-drinkable ocean are always special, usually revered. The Japanese town website reports that there is a wealth of legend surrounding this particular fountain and thus it is a sacred place. If fresh water springs interest you, there is another one, which includes a small waterfall, in the village of Ōasato (大朝戸; Ōasato), which is approximately in the center of the island, on the east side. Its waters are brilliantly clear.
Not far from the Ōasato Spring, perhaps less than three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer), you’ll come to the last place we’ll visit on Kikai, the Ufuyaguchi Limestone Caverns (ウフヤグチ鐘乳洞; Ufu yaguchi shōn yūdō). It’s a little difficult to find. There are only a couple of small signs and they are only in Japanese. Watch for the last Kanji character “洞” as it means cave or cavern. There’s a small parking area on the side of the road and then a short walk up a hill leads you there. The caverns are not commercialized and therefore entry is free.
Pachinko (パチンコ)
Okinawa and the Ryukyus may be another world, and they are, but they are still Japan, and that means Pachinko. Like Sumo wrestling and Kabuki theater, Pachinko is wholly unique to this country and found nowhere else. Superficially, a Pachinko machine resembles pinball, but it’s vertical and there are no levers (flippers) for the player. Also, the steel balls are much smaller than those used in pinball. The player initiates the ball’s speed, but then has no further control over it. The ball travels downwards through a maze of pins, in most cases, to be lost at the bottom. But some, by chance, are diverted to side pockets, which then generate more balls for the player. As gambling is illegal in Japan, that’s essentially the payout: more balls and thus more