The beautiful seas and mountains of Amakusa await you at the cycling event "Amakusa Loop! Amaichi Gran Fondo 2026," which will take place over two days on December 12 (Saturday) and 13 (Sunday), 2026! This year marks the 70th anniversary of Unzen-Amakusa National Park's designation, and it is a special event celebrating the recognition of "Amaichi" as the first national cycle route in Kyushu. Come and enjoy the bounties of the sea and mountains at this cycling event! ■Event Overview ・Event Name: 70th Anniversary Event of Unzen-Amakusa National Park's Designation - Amakusa Loop! Amaichi Gran Fondo 2026 ・Date: December 12 (Saturday) and 13 (Sunday), 2026 ・Location: Amakusa City, Kamiamakusa City, and surrounding areas of Reihokumachi ■Schedule and Course Details 【DAY 1】 December 12 (Saturday) Amakusa Islands, Shimoshima Area Event 1: 140km (Capacity: 150 participants) / Entry Fee: 13,000 yen Event 2: 80km (Capacity: 200 participants) / Entry Fee: 10,000 yen Event 3: 40km (Capacity: 50 participants) / Entry Fee: 5,000 yen 【DAY 2】 December 13 (Sunday) Amakusa Islands, Kamijima Area Event 4: 140km (Capacity: 150 participants) / Entry Fee: 13,000 yen Event 5: 80km (Capacity: 200 participants) / Entry Fee: 10,000 yen Event 6: 40km (Capacity: 50 participants) / Entry Fee: 5,000 yen *A discount of 2,000 yen will be applied for consecutive entries over two days. *A discount of 2,000 yen will be applied for elementary and junior high school students. ■Participation Qualifications ・Participants must comply with event regulations and traffic safety rules. ・Participants must be in elementary school or older (one guardian per elementary school student must accompany them). ・Participants must be confident in completing the entire course within the time limit without getting lost. ・Participants must be able to adhere to the etiquette of using the national park. ・Participants must have a love for nature. ■Application and Details For more details and entry methods, please check the official event website. (Search for "Amaichi Gran Fondo!") We sincerely look forward to your participation!

[Event Notice] 📍 Izanami Village, Okinawa Prefecture Reiwa 7 Public Cleansing Festival (ku-jinushimii) — Once a year, the Tamaguden, which is unlocked only on this day, can be viewed ✨ Date and Time: Thursday, April 3, Reiwa 7 (10:00 AM) Location: Nationally Designated Important Cultural Property Tamaguden Organizer: Izanami Village The public may participate, so you can witness this valuable ceremony and see inside the Tamaguden, which is unlocked only once a year. https://www.izena-kanko.jp/detail.jsp?type=TopicsTopPage&id=104381&funcid=2&editMode=...

📍Izena Island, Okinawa Prefecture The largest uninhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture, offering a survival experience Build a raft using only items found on the uninhabited island and escape within 48 hours! A close-knit group of six took part as a graduate school graduation trip! They wanted to test their limits, create memories with friends, and try their survival skills. Paddling the raft to the finish and reaching the goal gave them an incredible sense of achievement. It became the best graduation trip! The impromptu tour finished safely! Thank you for also collecting large trash from the uninhabited island / Currently / We are recruiting participants nationwide for three tours in May, July, and September! https://www.mujinto-yanaha.com//

Okinawa is still quite chilly! The temperature on Izanami Island reached a high of 22°C today which feels cold to locals, but when the sun comes out it’s pleasantly warm enough for short sleeves. While sorting photos, I discovered the coral reefs around Izanami Island! As a remote diving paradise, it still holds many unknown spots✨✨ It’s a real hidden gem✨✨ This summer, how about trying a private diving trip around Izanami Island?✨✨

Shōen of Izena Festival 📍Izena Island, Okinawa Prefecture Rinkai Fureai Park Stage In 2025 the festival is scheduled for the three-day holiday in August! The schedule will be released around June.

Heart-shaped coral reef ❤️ 📍Izanami Island Coastal Park, Okinawa Prefecture Appears around a tidal height of 100 centimeters on sunny days A three-minute walk from Nakata Port Terminal on Izanami Island

Ferry Izena Shōen Board one of Okinawa’s largest car ferries, with a capacity of 350 passengers, and enjoy a comfortable voyage to Izena Island Just a one-hour ride from Nakijin Village’s Unten Port 😊 For more details, visit the website linked in our profile!

The beach with the most beautiful sunset 🏖️ 📍Izenama Beach Izanami Island, a remote island in Okinawa Prefecture A one-hour ferry ride from Unten Port in Nakijin Village

Just gazing out at the sea, lost in thought ✨ 📍Izanami Beach A remote Okinawan island where you lose all sense of time

📍Gitara Observatory Spectacular view from here ✨ Futamigaura Beach, selected among Japan’s 100 Best Shores

Izanami Beach 🏖️ The campsites on Izanami Island, a remote island in Okinawa Prefecture, are all free of charge 😊 (Please take your trash home with you)

History and Cultural Heritage of Izena Island during the Ryukyu Kingdom Era ■ vol.3 “Sakata” Born into a farmer’s family, Machigani (also read as Matsukane) was industrious from childhood and devoted himself to rice farming and other agricultural work. One year, the island suffered a drought and the water in every paddy dried up, yet only Machigani’s rice field remained full of water. One story says that the island’s young women, who admired Machigani for his diligence and good looks, carried water to his fields every night. In reality, his fields were terraced, and a spring gushed from the upper terrace so that water continuously flowed down to the lower paddies, preventing them from drying out. While the other young men’s fields were larger in area, they lacked water and relied on prayers, Machigani’s smaller field prospered and the rice ears ripened. This suggests he was clever and resourceful. However, the island youths who envied his popularity accused him, saying “The reason his water never runs out is that he is stealing from other paddies,” and they heaped false charges of water stealing on him, criticizing him in chorus and even plotting to get rid of him. This is the “misunderstanding” described in vol.2. Feeling his life was in danger, Machigani decided to leave the island. This terraced field remains almost in its original form and still produces a continuous flow of water. It is now managed by the village board of education, and each year the island children’s association experiences rice planting through harvest there. (Suspended during the COVID-19 period.) At this site, a monument engraved with poems remains, composed by the miyārabi (island maidens) of the time who sang about Machigani after he left the island; the monument reveals that Machigani was both admired and loved by the island’s young women. Content of the monument “We wish we could have seen Machigani working more, wearing his short garment.” This poem expresses the maidens’ romantic longing for Machigani and their loneliness after his departure. *Machigani (Machigani) = the name of Shō En during his youth on Izena Island. *Kanamaru = the name Shō En used after leaving the island. *Shō En = the name he took when he became king. *Miyārabi = young women, maidens

History and Cultural Heritage of Izena Island from the Ryukyu Kingdom Era Vol. 2 “King Sho En’s Garden” — The Story of How a Farmer Became King of Ryukyu At 24, Matsugane (the future King Sho En) leaves the island. Pointing toward Okinawa Island, he holds an eeku (the local word for an oar) in his right hand. A bronze statue imagining his stance from that time stands there. Matsugane was driven away from the island because of a misunderstanding with the locals. Taking his wife at the time and his young brother, he crossed the sea in a small boat and reached the Ginama area in Kunigami, the northern part of Okinawa Island. He lived there for a while with his brother and wife and was cared for by local people, but after some time he set off for Shuri with his brother. He became a retainer of Prince Eiso, who was the younger brother of King Sho Kinpuku, the fifth king of the First Sho dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Around then he began using the name Kanamaru. Bright and hardworking from the start, Kanamaru soon gained recognition for his talents. Prince Eiso strongly recommended Kanamaru to King Sho Kinpuku, and in 1447 Sho En began his career as a servant with the low-ranking post called akadachi. Here Kanamaru demonstrated his abilities and rose through the ranks until he wore the yellow headband that signified high official status. In 1454, when Prince Eiso acceded as King Sho Taikyu, Kanamaru gained further favor and was appointed jitō (local lord) of the Nishihara magiri (district) in 1454. Five years later, at age 45, he assumed responsibility for the kingdom’s finances and foreign affairs, putting him on the verge of the Sanshikan, a ministerial post equivalent to a modern cabinet minister. However, fate shifted with the death of King Sho Taikyu. The seventh king, Sho Toku, proved a tyrant and plunged the country into sorrow. Kanamaru pleaded with him, but the king would not listen, so Kanamaru resigned and withdrew to his estate in Uchima. After King Sho Toku’s death, a coup by royal officials removed the crown prince, ending the First Sho dynasty. The officials then recommended Kanamaru as the next king. Convinced, he accepted and at age 54 became the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom under the Second Sho dynasty, known as King Sho En. Bronze sculpture by Mutsu Naka (Naka Mutsumi), a Japanese板版画 artist Kurayoshi Takara, Professor Emeritus, University of the Ryukyus *Both are notable figures from Izena Island.* *Matsugane (Machigani)* — the name used by Sho En during his youth on Izena Island. *Kanamaru* — the name Sho En used after leaving the island. *Sho En* — the name he took when he became king.

History and Cultural Heritage of Izanami Island during the Ryukyu Kingdom Era Vol. 1 “Mihoso Place: Birthplace of King Sho En” This is the site of the former residence where the man who would become King Sho En of the First Sho Dynasty—known locally as Nishinumachigani (North Matsukane)—was born in 1415 in the village of Moromi, Izena Village. Three kuba (screw pine) trees, three fukugi (Garcinia) trees, and three stones stand within the grounds. One of those three stones is said to contain his umbilical cord buried within it. This site was constructed while Sho Shin—his son and the third king—was on the throne. Right next to this mihoso house is a well called Shiohira Gaa (Sunjagaa). In Okinawan dialect, gaa means well. The well believed to have been used as the newborn bath for Matsukane, later King Sho En, when he was born in 1415 remains as it was at that time. Because these places mark the site of the house where a future Ryukyu king was born, they are regarded as sacred and stand among Izanami Island’s most important places of worship.

Taking a stroll through a village in Okinawa where the traditional landscape still remains is a lovely idea.

The birthplace of Shō En, founder of the Second Shō dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom: Izena Island Following Shuri’s Tamagusuku, Izena’s Tamaudun is the royal mausoleum and the family tomb of the royal house✨ Location: Izenason It is carefully preserved as a designated Important Cultural Property of the prefecture. Admission is free.

The inhabited island in the background is Izena Island, and the uninhabited island in the foreground is Yanaha Island.

An island where you can see a heart-shaped coral reef ♡

Izanami Island #shima Illumination 2023 is being held again this year! Look forward to it ☆ミ A night where Izanami Island’s starry sky meets the illuminations #shima Illumination 2023 Period: December 9, 2023 – January 19, 2024 Lighting hours: 5:30 PM – 12:00 AM Location: Rinkai Fureai Park, right by Nakata Port

A harvest prayer festival held in four hamlets on Izena Island, Okinawa Prefecture In 2024, the festival is scheduled to take place in each hamlet on July 20, July 27, July 30, and August 3.

＼November events on and around Izena Island／ We're showcasing events both on and off the island! [Off the island] Sat, Nov 11 — Charity performance by the Izena Village Friends' Performing Arts Association. [On the island] Sat, Nov 11 — Tour de Okinawa (Izena Island leg). [On the island] Sun, Nov 19 — 36th Izena 88 Triathlon. [On the island] Thu, Nov 23 (Holiday) — Izena Village Health Fair & Shimazora Flea Market. [Off the island] Fri, Nov 24 — Remote Islands Fair 2023. [On the island] Sat, Nov 25 — Drag Race 2023 in Izena Island. November is packed with events!

The closest Cat Island to Takamatsu in the Seto Inland Sea, Ongi Island.

A small outlying island that made a name for itself as a "drifting post office" at the Setouchi International Art Festival, Awashima. Although it is inaccessible, it can occupy this entire tranquility.

Take the kids on the Shimanami Kaido. It is a cycling journey full of tears and sweat and a sense of accomplishment.

Kafubanta / Kaho Banta on Miyagi Island just before going to Ikei Island from the Katsuren Peninsula in the central part of the main island of Okinawa via the Underwater Road! On this day, it was not good because it was foggy, but on a clear day, the gradation of cobalt blue and emerald green is very beautiful. Because this scenery makes me happy, this place was called "Cape Happiness" in the Okinawan dialect "Kafubanta". The sandy beach you can see below is "Nuchi no Hama", which is also a place where sea turtles come to lay eggs.

View from the Mesenozaki Observatory on Zamami Island in the Kerama Islands. This photo was taken just before the sun sets on the horizon at midsummer sunset. It is famous for its world-class beautiful sea, but it is also a place where you can see such a view.

During a trip on Iki Island, a remote island in Nagasaki. At Sakyohana. Nice entrance clouds and wonderful family in a film style. During the trip, it was not easy to get sunny, but I was floating in the sun. The group in the photo is also enjoying sightseeing. A trivial memory on a remote island one such summer day.

Scenery of Kohama Island Chura Sugar Road cow emerald green Kitanohama Nishi no Hama

Scenery of Kohama Island Chura Sugar Road cow emerald green Kitanohama Nishi no Hama

Scenery of Kohama Island Chura Sugar Road cow emerald green Kitanohama Nishi no Hama