( Yaeyama: ''Kumoo'', Okinawan: ''Kubama'') is an island in the

Yaeyama Islands The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa P ...

group at the southwestern end of the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...

chain, and part of

Taketomi is an island in the town of Taketomi, within Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Taketomi is one of the Yaeyama Islands. The population of Taketomi Island was 323 as of January 2012. Geography Taketomi Island is located south of Is ...

Yaeyama District is a district located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The district covers all of the Yaeyama Islands except Ishigaki and the disputed Senkaku Islands. As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 5,579 and the density of 15.37 pers ...

, Okinawa Prefecture,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The island has an

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

of , with a surrounding area of . The island is located about 25 minutes by ferry from

Ishigaki Island , also known as ''Ishigakijima'', is a Japanese island south-west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group, behind Iriomote Island. It is located approximately south-west of Okinawa Hontō. It is within the ...

, which is the transportation and business center of the Yaeyama Islands. The 2001

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

series '' Churasan'' was set on the island. Shinobu Miyara, former member of

Da Pump is a Japanese boy band made up of lead vocalist, Issa Hentona and MCs Ken Okumoto, Yukinari Tamaki and Shinobu Miyara. The band formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996. They made their debut on the Avex Trax subsidiary avex tune un ...

, is from Kohama-jima. The octogenarian "idol" group, KBG84, has given Kohama much media coverage.

Access

Kohamajima is accessible via several ferries from Ishigaki Marina,

Taketomi Island is an island in the town of Taketomi, within Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Taketomi is one of the Yaeyama Islands. The population of Taketomi Island was 323 as of January 2012. Geography Taketomi Island is located south of I ...

, and

Iriomote Island is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — ov ...

. ;Yaeyama Kankō Ferry :Ishigaki Island Port (Ritō Terminal): About 25 minutes one way, 11 ferries daily from morning until evening. A "car ferry" runs about 3 times weekly. :Taketomi Island: About 20 minutes one way, once daily :Iriomote Island Ōhara Port: About 30 minutes one way, once daily ;An'ei Kankō :Ishigaki Island Port (Ritō Terminal): About 25 minutes one way, 10 ferries daily from morning until evening. A "car ferry" runs about 3 times weekly. ;Ishigaki Island Dream Kankō :Ishigaki Island Port (Ritō Terminal): About 25 minutes one way, 6 ferries daily from morning until evening. One trip daily stops at Ōhara Port mid-trip. :Taketomi Island: About 30 minutes one way, once daily, with a stop at Ishigaki Island Port

Sights

As the TV drama ''Churasan'' was very popular all over Japan, Kohamajima is visited by comparatively many tourists. ''Kohaguraso'', a historic house in Kohama, the only village on the island, is one of the most important tourist attractions, as the drama was set here. The house, which is built in the traditional style with a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

and a veranda, is surrounded by a wall made of coral stones. Another tourist attraction is a road in the eastern part of the island where sugarcane is grown. The road which got the nickname ''Sugar Road'' can be seen in the TV drama as well. Mount Ufudaki is the highest spot of the island. Its height is 99 m.Chris Taylor: ''Japan'', p. 721. Stefan Loose Publishers, Berlin 1998 The viewpoint on its top offers a scenic view of the whole island and of

Iriomote is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — ...

, the neighbouring island. The small museum in the village of Kohama is worth a visit as well. On the eastern beach of Kohamajima there is a white gate. An old staircase with white lilies on both sides leads to a small sacred stone which is on a small hill under an old tree.

Infrastructure

There are some small shops, restaurants and guesthouses on the island. The village has a modern school and an administration building. Outside the village there is a large hotel resort.

Education

The

town authorities maintain a single combined elementary and junior high school on the island: Kohama Elementary and Junior High School (竹富町立小浜小中学校). For public senior high school students may attend schools of the

Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education The Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education (沖縄県教育委員会) is the prefectural education agency of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The board oversees municipal school districts in Okinawa and directly operates many high schools. Schools dir ...

Impressions from Kohamajima

File:KohamaMountain.jpg, View to Mount Ufudaki File:Ufu-daki Kohamajima Okinawa Japan01s3s4440.jpg, Mount Ufudaki File:KohamaKohaguraso.jpg, Traditional architecture: ''Kohaguraso'' File:KohamaHighSt.jpg, High Street of Kohama Village File:KohamaSchool.jpg, School in Kohama Village File:KohamaMuseum.jpg, Museum File:KohamaSugarRoad.jpg, Sugar Road File:KohamaTori.jpg, Tori on the beach in the east of Kohama-jima

References

External links

*
Taketomi Islands
(official site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohamajima Islands of Okinawa Prefecture Yaeyama Islands