Tuesday 22 July 2014
Ishigaki is a Japanese island west of Okinawa Honto and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago. The island is served by New Ishigaki Airport, the largest airport in the Yaeyamas. Much of the island and surrounding waters including Mount Omoto and Kabira Bay are protected as part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park. Ishigaki Island, like the rest of Okinawa, is culturally influenced by both Japan and Taiwan due to its location, about 300 km off the north eastern coast of Taiwan (Republic Of China). A tsunami of record height hit Ishigaki Island in 1771. The island provided the scene for the arrest of one of the perpetrators of Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack, Yasuo Hayashi, 21 months after and 2000 km away from where the crime took place. Ishigaki Port will be expanded so that five large Japanese coast guard patrol boats can be stationed there. The JSDF is also considering deploying short range anti-ship missiles on the island. Source
