(This is a version of the story originally published in Stripes Japan’s Destination Paradise)

As the interisland ferry approached Okinoerabujima, I still wasn’t sure if I’d made a mistake coming here. Before us was an island of high sea cliffs with green fuzz on top and little else. Wadomari, the island’s port town and largest “city” couldn’t have had more than a few hundred people in its small collection of low buildings and streets. I’d read it was dreary and desolate, a remote outpost where samurai were exiled as a slower and more miserable alternative to a swift execution. The sky was grey and overcast with intermittent sunlight reinforcing the ambience.

What began with some trepidation ended with the discovery of one of Japan’s quietest undiscovered getaways. Okinoerabujima is one of the Amami Oshima islands partway between Kyushu and Okinawa; it’s a lightly populated jungle island with natural beauty, history and good food. Everything you could want from a simple vacation without the crowds of tourists, high prices or traffic. We arrived just before noon and would have 24 hours to see what the island had to offer.

The most adventurous part of Okinoerabujima was the ruins of Goranmagohachi Castle, built by its namesake 15^th century ruler. This Ryukyu castle was overrun by jungle a long time ago creating a perfect blend of walkable nature and history.

Getting to the castle ruins we had to enter through a man-made ‘hole’ in the wall of lush jungle and banyans and once inside were fully enveloped under the jungle canopy. A map at the entrance shows where the trails go, though they’re just defined enough to follow and sometimes I wondered if we got off the path before bumping into a reassuring sign that we hadn’t. Earlier in the walk it was easier to follow but was got up further past the ruins it became more challenging, which makes it feel like you really are exploring a near lost place.

Our first view of the ruins were the partially collapsed stubby coral walls and after penetrating the first layer of defenses we had to get under a banyan tree and go through more ruin rubble to get to the remains of the living area. (Yes, this is on the official trail with marked signs) Beyond this the trail gets fuzzier and we found ourselves surrounded by ropy banyan trees beside a drop leading down to a tall bamboo forest. We raced the sunset to find an exit after an hour of exploring; my wife said she hadn’t felt ‘doki-doki’ like this since she was a girl.

Before leaving the area we visited another nearby historic ruin, Yononushi Tomb. It was built for a 15^th century ruler that is unlike the turtleback tombs of Okinawa or any Japanese mainland burial sites. The tomb itself is built into a hillside and surrounded by a walled courtyard.

For history we hit up all things Saigo. Saigo Takamori was one of the men who led the Meiji Restoration that brought about Imperial rule in 1868, and sadly whose life ended in 1877 leading a rebellion again the government he helped create. But before all that he was for banished in 1862 to Okinoerabujima. He only spent a year and seven months here, but even as a prisoner he impacted the island and today the places he visited are memorialized; Wadomari has a Saigo Shrine and the Saigo Nanshu Museum shares his Okinoerabujima story. A stoic bronze Saigo in a cage marks where he was held captive. We also dined at the Saigo Diner for the Segodon-buri. A cheesy word pun but filled with all the finest fresh seafood the island has to offer and at a reasonable price.

A replica of Saigo’s second cage at it’s original location; adjacent to the Saigo Nanshu Museum.

A replica of Saigo’s second cage at it’s original location; adjacent to the Saigo Nanshu Museum.

Saigo landing site memorial

According to the sign Saigo walked this road to Wadomari. He was offered a horse but declined it to enjoy his last walk as a free man in a place he expected to die.

Saigodonburi

Saigodonburi

We also got to visit a now-gone short term attraction a short walk from the Saigo Nanshu Museum, “Saigo-mura” (Saigo Village) which was composed of leftover set pieces from the making of NHK’s drama about Saigo, “Segodon.”

Segodon’s recreation of Saigo’s first cage. He was held for a short time while his permanent ‘home’ was constructed.

To learn more about the island itself we stopped at Wadomari Town History & Folk Museum, which is a combination natural and cultural history museum. It was nearly closing time but the attendant told us don’t worry about it and after we finished he gave us a tour of the museum’s old house and granary.

Being a tropical island, natural beauty is in abundance and throughout the trip we were surrounded by jungle and sugar cane fields making all the driving we did rather relaxing. Driving a coastal road we were greeted with view after view of high rugged cliffs buffeted by the sea, creating explosions of white foam that disappeared back into the swirling multi-hued blues and greens. The wind whipped hard and it was overcast but there was a beauty to it I didn’t expect. We stopped a few times to walk the cliffs and take in the views at Hanazaki and Sea Turtle Point.

The “biggest” single natural attraction is Japan’s largest banyan tree at Kunigami Elementary School. The school’s first graduating class planted this now house-sized tree more than 120 years ago. Despite being on school property its open to visitors, just don’t bother the students or staff.

We stayed overnight in a combination convenience store/diner/inn in a village. The accommodations were a bit worn, but the owner was very friendly and a great cook. She made us dinner and breakfast and shared with us a local island treat- tai-imo with brown sugar chunks. Tai-imo is a country potato that when eaten with a chunk of sugar tastes like a lot like a homemade tortilla but sweeter. Raw brown sugar is a common treat here and during our stay on we were given brown sugar candy and sugar chunks to snack on.

She was typical of the people we met in the islands. People were to a fault friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to offer a few random strangers tea or to help us out and we always seemed to leave places with more brown sugar than when we arrived.

I would recommend this or the other Amami Islands to anyone wanting a quite, slow island vacation over visiting Okinawa. As our host pointed out, due to a lack of accommodations the island can’t actually get over-crowded. Everything was also cheap, from accommodations to food and admission fees. None of the historic sites charged admission.

All of the Amami islands have these core selling points, but each is also unique and so a week of island-hopping using the ferries is a potential vacation in itself. There was also more beaches, mountains and caves to visit than we could add to our one-day itinerary so it may be worthwhile allotting a few days to Okinoerabujima.

Despite its remoteness these islands aren’t difficult or terribly expensive to access. For service members stationed on Okinawa, the ferry is the cheapest and most adventurous option as it leaves from Naha and Motobu every day and stops at five Amami islands on the way to Kagoshima. Ferry are from A Line (“Maru A”) and Marix; seats are cheap, but bringing a vehicle is expensive so I would recommend arranging to rent a car on island before your arrival.

For those coming from mainland Japan flying to Okinoerabujima may be a better option unless you don’t mind the added expense of a drive or train to Kagoshima for the ferry.

I had no trouble using my cell phone anywhere on island and it was great for navigating along with using a paper map we picked up on the ferry.

For our stay my Japanese wife looked up Okinoerabujima hotels and also tried different booking websites like Jalan, I recommend having a Japanese-speaking friend assist you for the best deals if you or your spouse is not a Japanese speaker. We contacted the ferry directly for information and made reservations over the phone.