Sakishima Trip – Day 1: Arriving at Ishigaki Island

2013/12/282020/11/25

My dad and I set out to Ishigaki Island, one of the main islands of Sakishima Archipelago 1,750km away from Tokyo after finishing the work of 2013 to enjoy slow fishing in sub-tropical islands. New airport on Ishigaki Island opened in March 2013 connecting this island to Tokyo in 3.5 hours flight.

About Sakishima Archipelago

Sakishima Archipelago consists of three chains of islands: Yaeyama Islands surrounding Ishigaki Island, Miyako Islands surrounding Miyako Islands, and Senkaku Islands currently under border dispute with China involving recent military incidents. Along with Okinawa's main islands, Sakishima Archipelago used to be part of Ryukyu Kingdom who was annexed by Japan in 1879.

Arrival

Strong winter wind delayed the flight and after 4 hours flight, we have arrived Ishigaki Island past 6pm when sun was already setting down.

We had no business fishing on this island this time, so went straight into dinner for well known "Ishigaki Beef". We ordered sirloin, ribs, premium sirloin, and premium ribs for the tasting. Overall, Ishigaki Beef has very plain flavour unlike Honshu's fatty wagyu. My dad likes lean meat, so his best pick was "premium sirloin". My pic was "ribs" with enough fat to entice my tongue accustomed to

Town is full of attraction and accommodation for tourism. This place seemed to be a great place for base lodge before moving over to surrounding locations good for fishing.

Also considering wonderful illumination for Christmas and having Anglican church, this place seems to be an ideal location to spend Christmas time with family, if that suits your mood.