Okinoshima Coastline Scenery

What?
Nomenclature for the Okinoshima Islands (隠岐の島) is difficult. This group of islands off the coast of Shimane Prefecture (島根県) consists out of 4 different islands. The smaller three (Nishinoshima (西ノ島), Nakanoshima (中ノ島) and Chiburijima (知夫里島)) are called the Dozen Islands (島前), the biggest of the 4 is called Okinoshima (隠岐の島) as well as Dogo Island (島後) . On such small and remote islands, the best thing to do is to adjust to the island pace of life, but of course there are some other attractions as well. Being an island, Okinoshima has its fair share of dramatic coastal scenery. Most famous and promoted are the Shirashima Coast (白島海岸) and the Jodogaura Coast (浄土ヶ浦海岸). It’s not all natural though: there are the Funa-goya boat houses (屋那の松原の船小屋群), the Fukuura Tunnels (福浦トンネル) and the whole island is also a Walhalla for lighthouse lovers.
Where?
Okinoshima can be reached from Sakaiminato (境港) in Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県) by ferry, but is part of neighboring Shimane Prefecture. Alternitavely and more easily, Okinoshima can also be reached by plane from the ironically named Osaka International Airport (大阪国際空港), the domestic airport known as Itami Airport (伊丹空港 - which is located not in Osaka but Hyogo). Many of the places listed in this blog entry are accessible by bus, but planning accordingly will take as much of your time as it will take the bus to get you there. The distances are too big for a bicycle, so pretty much the only way to get around is by rental car .
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Visit Oki Islands

During my 4 day trip in Okinoshima I drove around a lot. I had in my mind the spots that I wanted to see or things that I wanted to do, and if I had the energy and time left I would drive to some interesting point along the way. As the interior of the island is very mountainous, most of those stops were located along the coastline.

As already mentioned here, my very first stop on Okinoshima were the Funa-goya traditional wooden boat houses. These are little garages for boats, but I was told they were not being used anymore. Yet I found myself here again 3 days later.
To my surprise there was one garage actually being used. It doesn’t change anything of the fact that these boat stalls are in shackles, but I do think there is some charm here. I also learned that these kind of boat shacks are only used on the Japan Sea side, because – and I did not know this until I visited the Oki Geo Museum – the tides in the Sea of Japan are barely noticeable. Anyway, with Mount Takada in the background I did think this was a nice 5 minute stop.

On my second day I was pretty tired of kayaking and hiking, but I did make a short detour to the Yuhigaoka Park and the adjacent Saigo-Misaki Lighthouse. The park is actually a big patch of pasture, which is nice if you have a frisbee, or a ball and want to play some football with friends. Or if you just want to lay in the grass enjoying some good weather. But as such, I think it’s nice for the locals, but not so much for visitors trying to find a photogenic spot. I did find the Saigo-Misaki Lighthouse particularly beautiful, with a kind of Portuguese feel to it. And even though the surrounding area had some dramatic coastline scenery, as it wasn’t very well maintained there weren’t many spots from where you could enjoy it.
This maintenance problem is a recurring one, I noticed on my third day.

After climbing the highest peak of the island, I decided to return to my hotel cruising along the eastern side of Okinoshima. This side is most exposed to harsh winds and has some fantastic coastal scenery… if only you could see it.
I stopped at Jodogaura Bay because several short trails would lead you to beautiful viewing platforms. Unfortunately, the whole east side of Okinoshima is neglected.
Only one of 4 walking routes at Jodogaura bay was still open, and while the sign clearly said that “the viewing platform is accessible”, the road towards it was decrepit and abandoned, and the viewing platform itself was overgrown, so there was no single view.
There is still one view to be had right next to the parking lot, but that’s the exception on the east coast. I also stopped my car at the Kuroshima Island Viewing Platform, but again, the was path was overgrown and I didn’t have a single good vista.
I understand it is difficult to maintain these spots, especially with few visitors dropping in, but especially the Jodogaura Coast seemed to me to have benefitted from a walking course like the one I adored at the Uradome Coastline.

The same roof as the Sakaki-ke Residence.

Saigo-Misaki Lighthouse, the prettiest of all the lighthouses.

The path you see on the other side is sealed off at the start.

Triangular rocks in the Jodogaura Bay.

And on my last day, yet again my plans were thwarted by bad maintenance.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand it’s difficult to maintain these paths as the people who made them grew older and there is no one to follow in their footsteps. And you can take that literally, because also tourists barely go beyond the viewing platforms next to the parking lots.
But when you visit one of the main tourist spots, after which even of the big ferries is named, you kind of expect more.
I planned to go the northernmost point of the island, get some decent vistas over the Shirashima Coast from the viewing platforms next to the parking lot, and then I wanted to walk all the way down to viewpoint closest to the cliffs and sea.
From above I could see this viewpoint. It seemed well maintained and even the road towards it seemed a beautiful grassy zone. But when I took the nature trail that should have led me there… I again felt the need to swing a stick up and down all along the way to wack my way through thousands of spiderwebs – just like on Takadayama.
But this time it was worse. The route wasn’t as overgrown as at the Jodogaura Coast, but there were so, so much spiders. Even with my stick I felt like Frodo at one point, my whole middle wrapped in cobwebs… Yesterday at the Jodogaura Coast I foolhardily continued to the viewing platform only to notice there was nothing to see. I knew the platform today was free of vegetation, but couldn’t bring it up to continue. So I turned back halfway only to regret it when I climbed to the lighthouse and saw from afar what I could have seen from closeby.

On my way back from Shirashima, I stopped along several small towns along the westcoast. They are picturesque fishing towns, but all look quite the same. In the last one that I visited – Kamo – I had a delicious lunch though in the most remotely located restaurant called Musubi House. They deserve mention for their location alone, but they also served a very hearty set meal.

One other point along the coastline that I visited were the Fukuura Tunnels. I noticed these hand carved tunnels on the first day when the boat heading for the Candle Rock passed there. I saw somebody walking in them and was planning to do the same, but they are actually off limits. Of course, it’s up to yourself whether you would take the risk to walk through them – and honestly the risk didn’t seem so big to me – but it’s an island of course, and I didn’t want to be known as that foreigner ignoring the no entry sign. And while I was pretty much alone anywhere on the island, here near the northern entrance of the tunnels, there was a fisherman enjoying his free Sunday.

In general I really enjoyed driving around on Okinoshima. There are many places – especially on the east coast – where you can just stop along the way and take in some beautiful scenery from the road. It is unfortunate though that most paths and observation decks along the coastline are in a pitiful state. An exception to this is the Nagu-saki bay which I visited on my first day. Maybe the tourist office which had quite a lot employees should try to figure out why the difference.