Iriomote Island Activities

Iriomote is the largest of the Yaeyama islands, the second largest in Okinawa prefecture and the sixteenth largest in Japan. However there is just one main road (the `215`) and the population numbers less than 2500. This is because 90% of the island is densely forested, and home to a huge array of wildlife, including the very rare Iriomote wild cat, a critically endangered species of cat which can only be found on Iriomote.

The island is hilly and densely forested, with vast stretches of mangroves. These trees, of which there are seven varieties on the island,  are fascinating in that they can survive and thrive in a changing fresh/ salt water environment. They manage to shed salt through their leaves, which yellow and fall. The island is traversed by rivers, the Urauchi being the longest river in Okinawa, and waterfalls such as the beautiful Maryudo falls and Kanpire falls. Animals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and fireflies are found in abundance on the island , in the surrounding sea and the rivers. There are reportedly some 400 types of fish in the Urauchi river alone.

Whilst nature continues to flourish on the island, it also has some assistance, designed to conserve the wildlife.  There are subways under the 215, constructed especially for the Iriomote wild cats, and `speed bumps` which make a noise when cars pass to warn them of oncoming traffic. Similarly the drainage gullies are `V` shaped, rather than flat-bottomed, to allow the local tortoises to climb out, if they fall or are swept inside.