Taketomi Village is the single settlement on this tiny island, and it has been preserved in a state of remarkable intactness. Low coral-stone walls line the sandy lanes; wooden houses wear traditional red ceramic roof tiles held in place by shisa lion statues; bougainvillea spills scarlet over every gate. The village streets are unpaved, the pace is deliberate, and the combination of Ryukyuan architecture and tropical vegetation creates an atmosphere found nowhere else in Japan.
The village is most pleasant to explore in the early morning before the day-trippers arrive from Ishigaki, or in the late afternoon after they leave. Bicycles can be rented at the ferry terminal and from several shops in the village. The streets are laid out on a grid with clear signage; it is impossible to get lost on an island this size. A walk through the village to the coast on the western shore takes about thirty minutes each way.