Ryoji

Ishigaki Island is a subtropical island in Japan with untouched nature. The dense forest is surrounded by beautiful beaches with tropical fish in the sea.

The traditional folk dwellings in Okinawa are built with “Coexistence with nature” and “internal and external harmony” in mind.

Traditional houses are usually surrounded by stone walls with coral and limestone which are useful as part of typhoon wind breaker. Another feature of the “red tile” is that it is stucco to prevent it from being blown away by typhoons. The gate leading to the house does not have a gate. Instead, a screen called “Himpung” (screen) made of limestone is placed behind the gate. As well as preventing direct wind blow, it also serves as a blindfold, creating an image of the visual boundary between the outside (village) and inside (premises). However, when you enter the site by walking around Hinpung, you will find a wide open space that is unthinkable in other areas, which is a characteristic of private houses in Okinawa.

Gajumaru is the name of the tree, also known as Chinese banyan, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, etc. It is commonly spotted in Okinawa. This big one is along the main street of Ishigaki Island. But this tree is not grown in other parts of Japan. Personally I like it very much. Whenever I see them, I feel I am on vacation!

There are many remote islands in Ishigaki Island. Among them, in Takeshima, an ox-drawn carriage is a tourist attraction. It’s the same as walking speed, but it’s just right to enjoy the time flowing slowly.

Ishigaki Island is the main island of the Yaeyama Islands located in the East China Sea approximately 2,000 km southwest of Tokyo. It is the third largest island in the prefecture after the main island of Okinawa and Iriomote Island. It is famous for its warm, subtropical marine climate unique to southern countries and the high transparency of the sea. In particular, it has a very high encounter rate with manta rays, and is visited by many divers from all over the world.

“Eiheiji Temple, ” which is visited by many people throughout the year, received two stars in a travel guide ‘Michelin Green Guide Japon’ published in France, and is a temple that attracts attention both in Japan and abroad. It is the head temple of the Soto sect and was founded in 1244 by Dogen Zenji as a training hall for Zen meditation. Surrounded by a 680 year-old cedar tree, the grounds are dotted with over 70 buildings, including the “Shichidogaran”.

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is a natural history museum mainly devoted to dinosaurs, located in Nagaoyama General Park in Muraoka-cho, Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture. Along with the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Canada and the Autonomous Dinosaur Museum in China, it is known as one of the three largest dinosaur museums in the world and represents dinosaur museums in Japan.