{"id":77042,"date":"2021-02-25T21:48:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T12:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?p=77042"},"modified":"2021-12-15T00:49:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T15:49:51","slug":"japanese-new-year-okinawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/japanese-new-year-okinawa\/","title":{"rendered":"Spending the New Year on the Small Island of Taketomi in Okinawa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When my mother decided to visit me in Japan at the end of the year, she asked for one thing: that we could go somewhere that would not be too cold. I immediately told her that it was very easy, we just had to go to Okinawa<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the first time I traveled to the Ryukyu islands (\u7409\u7403) and I had to plan the itinerary for this two-week trip and to find the best places to spend the new year. After visiting the island of Okinawa<\/a> (\u6c96\u7e04), we went to Taketomi Island<\/strong> (\u7af9\u5bcc\u5cf6) where I booked a room in a minshuku<\/em> (\u6c11\u5bbf). A quiet New Year’s Eve on a small island lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in company with our Japanese hosts<\/strong>. Did I make the right choice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Looking<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Taketomi Island, a Small Island Filled With Tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taketomi Island is located off Ishigaki Island<\/a> (\u77f3\u57a3\u5cf6), in the south of the Ryukyu Archipelago. It takes around 15 minutes by boat to reach the island from Ishigaki port. With its 5km\u00b2, Taketomi is a very small island mostly covered by fields and forests, and the last census<\/a> counted 351 inhabitants in the small village of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Taketomi's<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Ryukyu Islands have not always been part of Japan. The Ryukyu Kingdom was independent<\/strong> until its annexation by the Japanese Empire in 1879. Therefore visitors coming to the Ryukyu Islands can discover a very unique culture<\/strong>. What makes Taketomi Island different from the other Ryukyu locations is its very well preserved architecture that cannot be found anywhere else in Japan<\/strong>. From time to time, you can come across buffalo-drawn carts<\/a>, a traditional transportation mode in ancient times that became one of the island’s touristic attractions. It gives even more charms to these traditional dirt streets lined with stone walls protecting the village’s wooden houses with red roofs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n