Hafen
Amami Oshima

Settle in for a panoramic driving tour around the island, stopping along the way at attractions that highlight Amami’s extraordinary natural beauty. As you travel to Cape Ayamaru on the northeastern tip of the island, you will notice that dense forests almost entirely blanket the landscape. It makes for a wonderfully serene backdrop, especially in the coastal areas where trees rim the turquoise water. From the cape, you will enjoy a sweeping view of Amami and Kikaijima Island, if it is a clear day. Not far away, you will find Amami Park, a natural setting overlooking the sea. Besides enjoying the beauty, you can learn about the local environment and history by browsing exhibits in the Amami-no-Sato building. The museum next door is the perfect complement as it showcases the work of artist Tanaka Isson, Japan’s so-called Paul Gauguin. He spent the last decade of his life painting the birds and flowers on Amami.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Enjoy the panoramic view from Cape Ayamaru, one of Amami’s loveliest seascapes.
• Browse exhibits showcasing the island’s culture and natural beauty at Amami Park.
• Behold the paintings of Tanaka Isson, an artist that captured Amami’s flora and fauna.

Discover how the natural resources on Amami are maximized to create products that are revered far beyond the island. The silk produced there is particularly valued and has been for more than 1,300 years. As you will see at Oshima Tsumugi Village, the silk manufacturing involves dozens of processes that take up to six months to complete, resulting in distinct textiles with remarkably detailed patterns. You will notice while driving around the island that Amami is almost completely covered with trees, including sago palms. These iron-rich plants are used for dying silk and often eaten despite being toxic if not properly prepared. You will learn about the multi-step process to remove the toxins at Ankiyaba. Bananas are also grown there for their natural fibers, which are used in textiles. The brown sugar from the island’s abundant sugar cane is a key ingredient in making shochu, a unique distilled liquor that you will sample after touring a brewery.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Watch a remarkably complex silk manufacturing process that produces distinct textiles.
• Discover how sago palms and bananas trees are harvested for various industries.
• Tour a brewery that makes the distilled liquor shochu and sample the product.

Marvel at Amami’s natural beauty from vantage points that offer unique perspectives of the landscape and seascape. Coral reefs teeming with marine life surround much of the island, and you will observe the underwater wonders from the comfort of a semi-submersible vessel with a glass bottom. You can expect to see schools of brightly colored tropical fish darting in and out of the reefs. You might even spot sea turtles graceful swimming by. From the inland Yuidake lookout on the island’s highest point, you will enjoy a far-reaching view of the sea, the densely forested hills leading to it and well beyond. Many of the ecosystems on Amami are protected, none so strictly as the mangrove forest at Kuroshio-no-Mori. While there, you will learn about how the mangroves benefit the shoreline and provide much-needed habitat for endangered species that include an endemic sweetfish and the Lidth’s jay, an exquisitely plumaged songbird.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Observe Amami’s marine life while cruising in a glass-bottom, semi-submersible boat.
• Admire the panoramic views from the Yuidake observatory, the island’s highest point.
• Look for endemic species at the environmentally protected Kuroshio-no-Mori mangroves.