２週間待機で５回挑戦。アトラクション型上陸ができる島は世界でもここだけ？沖縄県：南大東島・北大東島。シンガポールからの一人旅（島の漫画取材）
Please turn on Japanese subtitles for viewing. (Due to a COVID infection, my voice has become hoarse.) Hello. In 2023, I traveled to about 250 islands in Japan in five months. I also make videos about the islands. I’m a Japanese manga creator with a unique perspective.
This time, I’ll introduce Ondotou Island in Okinawa, Japan. It’s possible that less than 10% of the Japanese population has been to this island. However, more than 90% of Japanese people know the name of this island. That’s right. In the Japanese weather forecast, we unconsciously remember the existence of Ondotou Island every day.
Especially during typhoon season, Ondotou Island is frequently mentioned. I have never learned about Ondotou Island in school classes during my student days. However, Ondotou Island is a part of the subconscious mind of most Japanese people.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that this island is one of the most difficult to land on among the inhabited islands with regular ships in Japan. I stayed in Okinawa for three weeks to visit this island.
The time it took to travel around the Tokara Islands in Kagoshima was almost the same. I hope this video of the challenging-to-reach island is helpful for everyone. Daitojima is located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It consists of Kitadaito Island and Minamidaito Island.
Access is by ferry or airplane. This time, I used the ferry to visit both islands in a one-night, two-day trip covering about 872 km. Especially this time, the ports and itinerary were irregular. I believe this is a valuable video.
If you simply want to go to the island, there is also an airplane. However, I want to draw ferries and ships because I draw islands in manga. There are unique features of the island in the crew, port conditions, and so on.
Again, among the inhabited islands with regular ships, this island had the highest cancellation rate. I arrived in Okinawa on August 27, 2023, and faced four consecutive postponements from the next day. The fifth attempt was confirmed to depart.
Departure information is usually released on the morning of the day, around 8 AM, on the Ondotou Kaisen website. This time, the departure port was not the usual “Tomari Futo Passenger Terminal” but “Naha Shinko Futo.”
I received a paper with the bus timetable to this port at the office of Ondotou Kaisen in Naha, Kagoshima, but that information was incorrect. It may have been corrected now. I prioritized the actual bus stop timetable for judgment and arrived at this port accordingly.
A crane is used for landing on Ondotou Island. Passengers don’t disembark by themselves, unlike on other islands. Or rather, it’s impossible due to the terrain. Using the challenging docking terrain as a unique feature is also considered an intangible cultural asset. Pets are not allowed on board.
I don’t prefer typical resorts, so I didn’t have a leisurely trip this time either. I’m interested in the daily lives of the people who actually live there. There were no rental cars or bicycles at the port, so it was a challenge.
Moving on the ferry is by staircase. There are vending machines for drinks and instant ramen. There are no showers. Japanese summers are hotter than in Singapore, and many Singaporeans don’t want to go to Japan during that time. I also don’t want to go to Japan in the summer.
The Kanto region, where Tokyo and Yokohama are located, sometimes reaches temperatures close to 40 degrees, making it scorching hot. Hokkaido was also hot that year, and there was no escape.
But Okinawa was cooler than those places. Except for highlands, Okinawa seems promising as a summer resort. Direct entry from Naha Airport during the summer is also recommended. I boarded at 4 PM on this day and departed at 5 PM. I arrived at Minamidaito Island around 7 AM the next day.
I didn’t disembark there but disembarked at the next Kitadaito Island. I returned to Minamidaito Island on the ferry four hours later and disembarked. I disembarked from Minamidaito Island around 2 PM. This was the course for this trip. I spent one night on the ferry. The sleeping position is assigned by Ondotou Kaisen.
The air conditioning noise in the sleeping area on the outbound ferry was very loud, and I couldn’t sleep well. On the return ferry, I requested a position away from that sleeping area, and they accommodated my request.
Like other ferries, it’s cold at night even in summer. On this ferry, I could use one blanket for free. In a certain Aomori ferry, blankets are charged.
This place confused me with its layout that made me wonder if it was a dance bar, but nothing like that happened. No pole dancing is allowed here. There is a microwave and hot water available. By the way, in a ferry in the Jashima village in Kagoshima, there is no microwave.
In 2023, I boarded ships nearly 100 times, so I created a comparison table of ferry facilities. There were only about 10 passengers on the outbound trip, besides me, perhaps due to the continuous cancellations. On the return trip, there was only one other person besides me.
This is the scene of disembarking at Minamidaito Island. At the port, two reporters, likely from a TV station, were filming this scene. The thrill was greater when disembarking than boarding. In the case of rain, passengers disembark without using umbrellas, getting wet in the rain. It was raining on my day.
Containers and cars are all moved from the ferry to the island by crane. The leader’s marker is purple. The helmet has a unique shape, like a shampoo hat, perhaps for sun protection. By the way, it shakes quite a bit. Motorcycles are left exposed.
Like Minamidaito Island, mooring operations are carried out using a boat. This is a very rare operation for regular ships in Japan. It was worth coming from Singapore for coverage. You can’t see this sight on other islands in Japan! ! ! !
They have already taken off their life jackets! It seems like they are used to the sway. It became clear to me in this short time that the port requires many workers. The person in the center is the leader on the land side.
They gathered on this deck during disembarkation. During boarding, it’s in a different location. It’s my turn! ! I was waiting first, but an older man got on ahead of me. I was very disappointed by that. Actually, it shakes quite a bit. It’s scarier than I imagined. We arrived on the ground.
There is no ticket office for Minamidaito Island at this port. A man who seemed to be an employee of Ondotou Kaisen said to another passenger, “Please take this person to the sales office,” and I’m grateful.
By the way, it’s about 3.8km from this port to the ticket sales office. It takes about an hour on foot. After buying the ticket, I had to return to this port, so it took a round trip of 2 hours. You don’t confirm which port to disembark until just before disembarking.
The port where I disembarked this time was a rarely used place for bad weather conditions for both Kitadaito and Minamidaito Islands. There were very few people around. In fact, on the return trip, I only passed one person who was standing on the premises.
This is the playground of the Kitadaito Village Kitadaito Elementary and Junior High School. There were middle school students doing club activities. Since I didn’t have time for coverage this time, I only filmed the playground and finished. Did theft occur on this island?
It’s cheap… Despite being so far from Naha, the selling prices are ridiculously lower than other islands. The original Calpis is 415 yen including tax. The chocolate-flavored Calorie Mate is 228 yen including tax. The half-size version is 128 yen including tax. Huh? What’s going on? Cheaper than inhabited islands in Tokyo?
I learned later from a person in Minamidaito Island that they are adjusting it according to the income of the island’s residents. I feel like I glimpsed the challenges of this island. Not only during the war but also Japan seems to have made only Okinawa residents endure.
Especially, people in the primary industry are the ones keeping everyone alive. In recent years, there are also individuals earning from farming, but there are still many people in difficult environments. Very neatly finished fields! It’s a subtropical climate, but this island is water-deficient, and it has less rain than Tokyo.
Remains of the employee bath. Rainwater was collected, boiled with a boiler, and used as a bath. Executives of the company apparently used a different bath. Remains of Warehouse No. 4 Remains of the Kitadaito Island Phosphate Mine. At its peak, there were migrant workers even from Taiwan.
Remains of the Old Nishiko Unloading Site and Ship Unloading Site Remains of the Kitadaito Island Phosphate Mine. Due to frequent foreign material contamination in deliveries, its reputation declined, and it closed in 1950. Kotohira Shrine. With toilet and parking. The stone walls of this island are also splendid. Very beautiful.
During the war, the Japanese soldiers on this island were originally carpenters. They, along with the residents of Kitadaito Island, built this shrine. There are two torii gates. Unusual. There is also a shrine in Kagoshima Prefecture on the mainland with two torii gates. Nishiko Park
I’ll return to Ezaki Port. Since it’s about 1 hour on foot, I will significantly cut the footage. Ezaki Port Rest Area There is no vending machine for drinks. I experienced mild heatstroke, so I sat on the ground.
I waited here for almost an hour until departure. The rest area and the port are too far apart. Arrived at Minamidaito Island. Due to poor health, I couldn’t film. Guided by a person working at the port to contact the office on Daito Island.
Made an IP call using mobile data. It’s on Docomo network. It’s surprisingly cheap. Cooked corn from Minamidaito Island is 230 yen per ear. By the way, in Singapore, cooked corn from Thailand costs about 500 yen per ear. Bananas are in the 200 yen range per bunch! 10 large eggs for 368 yen!?
Despite being an isolated island, these are very reasonable prices, even cheaper than Singapore. All prices are tax-inclusive. “Ooi Ocha” is 110 yen for 600ml, and Sanpin Tea is 130 yen for 500ml. …This is an isolated island, right? I heard that support from the mainland has decreased.
In that case, the selling prices should have been raised to sustain the business. While there are customs duties in Singapore, the prices there are double of these. What does this mean? The prices are the same as the mainland in Japan! I don’t get it anymore. Other inhabited islands in Okinawa have higher prices…
Minamidaito Village Minamidaito Junior High School It was hard to recognize due to backlight. I’m sensitive to bright light. According to the employee, today’s ferry was the first in a while. Different from the port I disembarked from. A port and harbor affairs division employee drove me here.
According to the employee, today’s ferry was the first in a while. The island’s gasoline had already run out, and everyone couldn’t purchase it anymore. Exploring Minamidaito Island Nishi Port. There doesn’t seem to be any particularly accessible place nearby on foot. Borozino Park Being driven to the port.
The instant noodles there are for emergencies. It’s very challenging to make a round trip to buy a ferry ticket for this distance. Due to the unusual situation this time, I was fortunate to be given a ride by car.
Although I couldn’t see much, I managed to take some shots of the middle school on the way, so I think it was the minimum. A part-time farmer’s worker harvested vegetables. It seems to be a gift for other crew members. The corn from Minamidaito Island was very delicious.
Not just a courtesy, it was genuinely very delicious. Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture Tomari Port Passenger Terminal The morning after staying overnight on the ship at 7 a.m. I slept for two hours. I have difficulty sleeping due to an overactive sympathetic nervous system.
It’s 7 a.m., so I decided to take a bus to another island in the afternoon today. I had a chat with the crew members. I got permission to shoot their work clothes as a reference for manga creation. Thank you for your cooperation. Thank you for your hard work today.
It’s clear. There’s no sign, but I’ll move about 100 meters towards the ferry terminal building. There’s a student discount for Daitoujima.
会社員は３週間の有休確保推奨の渡航先です。通常使用する港ではないイレギュラールートを経て、翌日那覇へ帰りました。港には飲み物の自動販売機もありません。必ず那覇で調達しましょう。
港にはレンタカーやレンタルバイクもありません。交渉や依頼をして港にいる人の車に乗せてもらうか、大東海運さんの送迎を依頼する選択肢のみです。運航スケジュールはその日の天候や港の状況で大きく変わります。
乗船券は学生割引適用です。学生証提示で大丈夫でした。
漫画の取材をした島・島国の動画を作成し投稿しています。
投稿者：Singapore在住の日本人漫画クリエイターIra(アイラ)
親は鹿児島＆沖縄県民の組み合わせ。
日本とシンガポールを舞台としたオリジナル漫画を創作中。2024年夏以降公開予定。
TV映像だと地上からの撮影がメインですが、僕はフェリーでの撮影がメインです。
乗船は電話予約のみです（日本語対応）。
大東島への行き方の要約は僕のwebsite記事を参照してください。
沖縄県にある南大東島・北大東島。漫画の取材が目的なので飛行機ではなくフェリーで挑み４回欠航。５回目で乗船できました。南大東島の大東海運の事務員さんに「やっとお会いできましたね」と笑顔で声をかけていただいたことが印象的です。僕の漫画に興味をもってくださった大東島関係者の皆様、ありがとうございます。
日本本土では行われていない”艀”（合っているかな・・・？）もある貴重な有人離島。
BGM:MusMus
#大東島 #船旅 #一人旅 #沖縄旅行 #珍しい
【この島のキーワード】ハイキング、南国、亜熱帯、沖縄、サトウキビ、八丈島