What Is Taketomi Island? Red Tile Roofs, Shisa and Buffalo Carts

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to know what Taketomi Island is and what they will see in its village. It uses the English and Japanese pages of the Taketomi Town Tourism Association and four English pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). All pages were read on 2026-10-04. The Japanese pages are summarised here in English.

The sources describe the island in general terms. They give few opening hours or prices, and this guide does not invent any.

The short answer

JNTO describes Taketomi as a village where the original landscape of Okinawa remains, with water buffalo rides, beautiful beaches and a lot of Ryukyu culture. It is just a short ride from Ishigaki Island by speed boat, and JNTO says it feels like a different world, with traditional culture and old-fashioned streets.

The village

JNTO says the village, a 15-minute walk from the harbour, has been designated a national Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. You walk along a white sand road surrounded by stone walls and covered with red tiled roofs. JNTO's page on the national park describes a village made up almost entirely of one-storey houses with stone walls and red tiled roofs, and says the best way to explore it is by bicycle or on foot.

The association's Japanese page on cultural properties describes the same scene: a white sand road, houses surrounded by stone walls and a belt of trees, and red tiled roofs, which it says preserves the landscape of an old farming settlement.

Shisa, the paired guardians

JNTO asks visitors to look for the lion statues called shisa, which guard in pairs against evil spirits. A second JNTO page explains that shisa figures were first brought over from China in the 14th century, when Okinawa was the Ryukyu kingdom. They always come in pairs, with one mouth open to ward off evil spirits and the other closed to keep good spirits in. The same page says a variation has a sphere under one paw to symbolise a concentration of wealth and bountiful crops.

Buffalo cart tours

JNTO says you can explore the village by buffalo cart. The tour lasts 30 minutes, and the guide plays the sanshin, a three-stringed instrument similar to the Japanese shamisen. Another JNTO writer calls the cart ride highly recommended, and a JNTO page on Okinawa says the driver also performs on the sanshin. The association's English page notes that buffalo carts are also used on Iriomote Island, at the shore across from Yubu Island.

A tower, a pier and some old houses

JNTO's island-hopping page says that to see the whole island you can climb the 4.5 metre Nagominoto Tower in the middle of the village. The association's cultural properties page explains that in 1953 residents turned the Akayama hill in the western part of the village into a park and built a reinforced concrete lookout in its centre. The page says it is now a symbol of the island.

The same page lists other things worth knowing about. It describes a house with a main building and a separate kitchen building, set inside a stone wall. It also lists a collection of 842 items, including tools that show how people lived. It describes a pier that was the island's first modern pier, 105.3 metres long and 4.38 metres wide, built of piled limestone. JNTO calls the West Pier a cultural asset and a popular spot for the sunset.

Beaches

JNTO's island-hopping page names the star sand beaches of Kaiji and Hoshizuna as popular, and says the sand is actually made up of tiny skeletons of starfish-like creatures. The most popular beach, according to JNTO's own page on the island, is Kondoi Beach on the western side, with soft sands and emerald waters. Another JNTO writer says a coral breakwater far out makes hundreds of yards of calm, foot-deep water.

Festivals

The association's event page lists the island's annual rituals. The Tanedori festival is held on Taketomi, and the page says it was designated a nationally important intangible folk cultural property in 1977. The page describes it as a festival of sowing seeds on purified land, with performances in the garden in the morning and on a stage in the afternoon over two days. The page says dates follow the old lunar calendar. Photography may be prohibited at some festivals, according to the association's English page, so ask before you take pictures.

Who the island suits

Because the sources describe a small, flat village best seen on foot, by bicycle or by cart, it suits a half day or a full day trip. For overnight stays, the association has a page on lodging, but the page lists no details that we could confirm.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Prices and hours for buffalo cart tours, bicycle rental and any museum or collection.
• This year's dates for the Tanedori festival.
• Whether a particular house or pier on the cultural properties list is open to visitors.
• Whether the shuttle services mentioned by JNTO are still offered.

Related guides

• How Do You Get to Taketomi Island From Ishigaki and Get Around?
• What Should You Know Before Swimming at Taketomi Beaches, and What Are the Island Rules?

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Taketomi Island (JNTO) — (village, preservation district, buffalo cart, beaches)
2. Okinawa: Island Hopping (JNTO) — (shisa, Nagominoto Tower, star sand)
3. Explore Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park (JNTO) — (one-storey houses, bicycle or on foot)
4. Japan's Best Beaches (JNTO) — (Kondoi Beach, calm water, buffalo cart)
5. Cultural properties of Taketomi Town (Taketomi Town Tourism Association, in Japanese) — (landscape, lookout, pier, collection)
6. Event calendar (Taketomi Town Tourism Association, in Japanese) — (Tanedori festival)
7. English (Taketomi Town Tourism Association) — (photography at festivals, buffalo carts on Iriomote)