Ishigaki, Japan

The island of Ishigaki is part of the Yaeyama archipelago, far out in the ocean between Okinawa and Taiwan.

The only city on the archipelago is located on Ishigaki, and has 49,000 inhabitants. The town grew from several small villages to a continuous built-up area in the early 20th century, and is the gateway to the other islands in the archipelago, and a busy cruise port.

National park

The vast majority of the islands and surrounding sea are national parks. Parts of the coast is fringed with mangrove forests, trees that stand as if on stilts in the water, with their roots going down into the seabed.

On land there is a rich flora and fauna, and the coral reefs outside are home to dolphins, sea turtles, sharks and manta rays.

Spices

The culture on these islands differs from the rest of Japan, and is influenced by both China and South-East Asia. This is particularly evident in the food. Meat production is important, so there is less seafood on the menu than in the rest of Japan, and the food is more strongly spiced.

Sugar cane, pineapple and other tropical fruits are also important products.

Rain forest

Ishigaki has a tropical rainforest climate, wet and hot all year round. The archipelago is hit by tropical cyclones from time to time, which bring a lot of heavy rain. This makes August and September the wettest months.

Normally, the island gets 2,095 millimeters of rain yearly.

Normal maximum temperature in October: 28.8 ℃
Normal rainfall in October: 211 mm

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