Yaeyama · HatomaNo.798★★Open in map →

Hatoma Island

localOff the trail — and worth it

A raised coral island in the Yaeyama group, north of Iriomote and reached by fast ferry from Ishigaki. One village, one low hill, a ring of unmanaged beaches, and a school whose survival became a national story.

FromIshigaki Port Ferry Terminal
Under 1 hrFast ferry from Ishigaki
Get off atHatoma Port (Yaeyama Kanko Ferry / Anei Kanko sailings)
On foot
Hatoma Island

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is not an undiscovered island. The boat is timetabled and it arrives with people on it. What thins the crowd is that most visitors stay a couple of hours between sailings and never leave the port end, so the far side of the loop belongs to whoever keeps walking.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Hatoma NakamoriPaipateroma / CC BY-SA 4.0

Hatoma Portsmall pier and passenger terminal where the Ishigaki boats tie up
Hatoma villagelow houses and the community hall on the island's southern side
Hatoma Nakamorithe island's high point, with the white lighthouse and a restored beacon platform
Yarahamathe widest beach on the island, backed by shade trees
Bushinuyawalled ruin between Shimanaka and Tachibaru beaches, read as an old lookout

How to actually get there

Fly to Ishigaki, then make your way to the ferry terminal beside the port in the city centre.
Take the fast ferry to Hatoma, checking whether your sailing runs direct or calls at Uehara on Iriomote first.
From the pier, walk into the village, then up Hatoma Nakamori for the view over the reef.
Follow the loop track clockwise past the beaches and back to the harbour for the afternoon boat.

Fast ferry from Ishigaki Port: Hatoma is served from the ferry terminal beside Ishigaki Port in the city centre. Two operators, Yaeyama Kanko Ferry and Anei Kanko, each run a daily service on the Ishigaki–Uehara route that calls at the island. Some sailings go direct and others stop at Uehara on Iriomote first, so read the day's board rather than assuming a pattern.
Back to Ishigaki on the same route: The return uses the same two operators and the same pair of sailings, so there is no dense timetable to fall back on. Fix your return boat before you walk away from the pier. Because Hatoma is an intermediate call on the Ishigaki–Uehara run, a cancellation on the main leg cancels the island legs as well.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Hatoma lies in the Yaeyama group, a raised coral island of under one square kilometre off the north coast of Iriomote. Its shape is close to a circle. The rim is flat, and a single low rise called Hatoma Nakamori stands at the centre. The village occupies the southern side, facing the harbour, while the north is open ground given over to fields, scrub and grazing. A track loops the whole island, and the beaches arrive one after another as you follow it clockwise from the pier. None of them is a managed swimming beach, which is part of why the water reads so clear.

How to enjoy it

Day trippers get a few hours between boats, which is enough for the village, the hill and one beach at an unhurried pace. In early May the island fills for its music festival, when Yaeyama song and sanshin are played outdoors. From October to March the north wind cancels sailings for days at a stretch, so leave slack in any plan that includes Hatoma.

Background & history

A village has stood here since the Ryukyu era, and the hill at the centre carried a stone beacon platform, one of a chain built across the Sakishima islands to pass signals along. Bonito fishing made the island prosperous, then failed in the post-war decades, and the population fell away with it. When the island school was down to a single pupil, families elsewhere in Japan sent children so that it could stay open, and the account of it became a book and later a television drama. Scheduled fast ferries from Ishigaki began calling in 2006, and day visitors have come ever since.

Before you go

Cash: There is no bank on the island and the post office counter is a simple one, so bring cash across from Ishigaki. Accommodation and the few places to eat are village-scale rather than geared to volume.
Good to know: There is no clinic and no police post on Hatoma, so treat the island as somewhere you look after yourself. The beaches are not managed swimming beaches, with no lifeguards and no facilities. Camping and sleeping out are not permitted.
Another way: Take the sailing that calls at Uehara on Iriomote first and ride the extra leg back across to Hatoma. It costs more time but turns the crossing itself into part of the day.
After you get off: The pier sits at the southern edge of the island and the village begins a few minutes' walk from it, so nothing on the loop is far. Follow the track clockwise from the harbour and it will bring you back to the same pier.

Nearby notes

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