Kuroshima
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Kuroshima

Kuroshima

Flat Yaeyama coral island nicknamed Cow Island, with pastures, quiet beaches, and nesting turtles.

Kuroshima is a small, flat coral island in the Yaeyama chain, sitting between Iriomote Island and Ishigaki Island. The island is famous for having far more cattle than people -- roughly 3,000 cows to a few hundred residents -- earning it the nickname "Cow Island."

Sea turtles come to nest on Kuroshima's beaches every summer, and the island hosts a lively turtle festival each February. The pace of life here is genuinely slow: you can cycle around the entire island in under an hour, passing through pastures, sugar cane fields, and quiet beaches with hardly another person in sight.

A high-speed ferry from Ishigaki takes about 25 minutes. There is little in the way of shops or restaurants, so bring what you need or eat at one of the few minshuku guesthouses.

Guide

Getting There

High-speed ferries operated by Anei Kanko run from Ishigaki Port to Kuroshima in about 25–30 minutes. Several departures daily in each direction; the schedule reduces in rough weather. The island has no airport.

Ishigaki itself is served by daily direct flights from Tokyo (Haneda and Narita), Osaka, and several other Japanese cities, as well as connections through Naha (Okinawa). Travel time from Tokyo to Kuroshima including the ferry is around 4–5 hours.

Guide

Things to Do

Kuroshima has one speed: slow. The entire island can be cycled in under an hour and there is nowhere to rush to. The beaches are excellent, the sea turtles are the main wildlife event, and the point of coming here is to do less, more consciously.