Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Robert Walker
in the Ryukyus. It may be a little difficult for a gaijin (外人) (foreigner) to understand, but after all, what’s a sugar cane farmer to do in the off season?
The Ufuyaguchi site is a good example of the difference between a cave and a cavern. Rather than a tunnel or some narrow, confined space, this opening into the earth is large—“cavernous.” There are several chambers and they may be reached from several entrances. You’ll need a flashlight, so bring one. There’s usually no one around and it’s a little spooky. Watch your step. In a couple of places there are vents in the ceilings allowing some light to stream in. There are few stalactites or stalagmites but there are some limestone formations. Altogether the caverns are fairly large. It’s no Kentucky Mammoth Cave, but it is impressive enough.
A chamber in the Ufuyaguchi Limestone Caverns.
From either the Ōasato Spring or the Ufuyaguchi Limestone Caverns, you’re only about 2.4 miles (4 kilometers) east of Kikai Town. You can either head back over the local roads or turn north, back on to the coast, and take the last section of Route 619, completing this big circle we’ve made around the island.
Kikai is a surprising place, a lovely, peaceful island that seems to have fallen off the radar screen. No doubt the town fathers would like to promote tourism. The widely available free island map and directory (only in Japanese) is nicely put together and comprehensive. Yet, few people seem to have heard of the place. Most travelers, if they get to the northern Ryukyus at all, never leave Amami-Ōshima. That’s understandable for it takes an extra flight or ferry ride to reach Kikaijima.
Nonetheless, it’s worth the effort. Finally, it’s also worth mentioning that Kikai is one of the few Ryukyu Islands that does not have habu snakes. For whatever reason, they’re not part of the island’s indigenous wildlife. Among the Ryukyus, only Kikai, Okinoerabu and Yoron share this distinction.
The marine terminal at Kametoku Port.
4 TOKUNOSHIMA 徳之島
For the Ryukyus, Tokunoshima (徳之島; Tokuno-shima) is a fairly large island (the second largest of the Amamis) as it has an area of 96 square miles (248 square kilometers) and a circumference of 52 miles (84 kilometers). Depending on your point of view, it’s a rectangle or an oval. It spans almost exactly 15 miles (24 kilometers) from north to south and anywhere from 5–8 miles (8–13 kilometers) east to west. Tokuno also has a large population of about 26,750. The island is divided administratively into three “towns” : Tokunoshima (徳之島町; Tokunoshima-chō), Amagi (天城町; Amagi-chō), and Isen (伊仙町; Isen-chō). The largest is Tokunoshima Town whose village is called Kametsu (亀津; Kamétsu). This is where the main port is located and where most of the island’s hotels, restaurants and other services are found. It’s on Tokuno’s Pacific Ocean side.
Tokuno Island has a small airport, (徳之 島空港; Tokuno-shima-kūkō), which is located on the island’s northwest side, approximately 15 miles (24 kilometers) driving distance from Kametsu. There are two flights a day to Amami-Ōshima (25 minutes) and two daily flights to Kagoshima (one hour). There is occasional service to Naha, Okinawa through Okinoerabu.
Tokunoshima’s air terminal and control tower.
The island is well served by the alternating “A” Line and Marix Ferries, which run daily from Okinawa to Kagoshima and vice versa. Sailing time south from Nazé Port is about three hours and 30 minutes. Sailing north from Naha, Okinawa, it takes the best part of a day, almost 10 hours, as the ferry stops at Motobu Port, Yoron and Okinoerabu along the way.
The ferry usually docks at the marine terminal at Kametsu’s Kametoku Port (亀徳港; Kamétoku-kō), but when the Pacific Ocean is stormy, the ferries often dock at Hetono Port (平土野港; Hétono-kō) on the island’s East China Sea side. Hetono lies just below the airport.
Ryukyu Bullfighting
Known as Tōgyū or Ushi-zumō (闘牛大会; “bull sumo”), it’s tough, potentially dangerous and probably politically incorrect but it’s popular on Okinawa and especially so on Tokunoshima. It’s a match between bull and bull. Thus, it really has nothing to do with Spanish, Portuguese or Mexican bullfighting where the contest is between man and bull and which, in many cases, ends in the bull’s death. Okinawan bullfighting, as it’s often called, is more like Sumo wrestling for bulls. The animals are guided by their coaches. Bulls will lock horns, push and shove one another, each attempting to force the other to yield. The match is over when either bull relents or tires, then withdraws. Great care is taken so that bulls are not harmed. Should a bull be gored, the contest is immediately stopped and the bull is given medical aid.
The Mushiroze volcanic rock formations.
A view of the East China Sea from Cape Inutabu.
In many ways, Tokuno is a perfect model of a typical Ryukyu Island. It’s small but not too small. It has beautiful waters, a couple of good beaches, friendly people and several nice hotels and minshuku in its small main town. All in all, Tokuno has at least a couple of days of interesting sightseeing.
First worth seeing are two rather unusual items. Along with Okinawa’s main island, Tokuno is one of the centers of “Tōgyū,” otherwise known as “Okinawan” or “Ryukyu” Bullfighting. It’s a unique form of the sport and has nothing to do with the bullfighting found in Spain or other places. In Tōgyū, the bulls fight each other, not a matador, and nobody dies.
The second, in this case rare, item is the presence of the prehistoric Amami Black Rabbit (奄美の黒兔; Amami no Kuro-Usagi). Along with Amami-Ōshima, Tokuno is the only other island, indeed the only other place in the world, where this nocturnal and secretive creature may be found. Unfortunately, since they truly are an animal of the jungle—and a nighttime one at that—most casual visitors will not get to see one.
Much easier to find and see because they never move and don’t hide themselves at night are the great rock formations at the island’s northwesternmost tip: Mushiroze (むしろ瀬; Mushi-rozé). They are volcanic, thus giving a clue to Tokuno’s origins. It’s not a coral island. At Tokuno’s opposite northern cape, the northeasternmost Promontory Kanami (金見崎; Kanami-zaki), you’ll find the Kanami Sotetsu (Sago Palm) Tree Tunnel (金見ソテツトンネル; Kanami Sotésu), a 400-year-old oceanside collection of these great ancient cycads. There’s one more seaside natural attraction, the “Glasses’ Rocks” (メガネ岩; Mégama-iwa) of Innojofuta (犬門蓋; Innojo-futa) near Hetono. It’s a twin set of natural arches carved by the sea bearing a resemblance to a pair of eyeglasses.
Another good view, this one from the island’s most prominent southwest cape, is from the Observatory at Inutabu (犬田布岬; Inutabu-misaki). The vista from the cliffs here is as long as the eye can see. It’s an impressive great stretch of headlands fronting the East China Sea. Close by on this same cape is an enigmatic monument for a non-Japanese, for there is nothing on or around the monument in English to describe it. If there were a plaque in English, its significance would still be virtually unknown except perhaps to naval historians.
The memorial is to the Battleship Yamato (大和) and the men who perished on her. She was, at the time of her construction, the largest ship ever built. Commissioned and launched at the beginning of the 1940s, the Yamato class