Motobu Town

Earth god's plot, set off by coral rock.

Sesoko Toteikun

Photo by Kugel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Shiokawa

From the limestone bedrock,highly salty groundwater flows out.

Shiokawa in Sakimotobu is a spring where groundwater with a high salt concentration flows out of the limestone bedrock, and it was designated a national Natural Monument in 1972. A paper records plants and animals of sea, brackish and fresh water near the spring, and considers that inland groundwater and seawater mix underground before flowing out.

15 May 1972: national Natural Monument
Salty groundwater from limestone bedrock
Sea, brackish and fresh water life

02 ／ Ryukyu indigo making

Cut leaves are soaked, slaked lime is added,and the indigo dye is stirred and drawn off.

Ryukyu indigo making in Izumi was selected as a national Conservation Technique in 1977. Materials the preservation society gave the Council for Cultural Affairs list soaking cut leaves, adding slaked lime and stirring, and drawing off the dye. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that it is a different species from mainland indigo, used in most of Okinawa's traditional textiles.

1977: national Conservation Technique
Soaking leaves, adding lime and stirring
A different species from mainland indigo

03 ／ Ufuyumi and Shinugui

A festival to thank the gods for catchesand harvests and pray for health next year.

The Ufuyumi and Shinugui festival on Sesoko Island is a town-designated cultural property. The town museum records that it gives thanks to the gods for good catches and harvests and prays that the village will be prosperous and healthy next year, and that it is held every year from the 18th to the 24th of the 7th lunar month, after Obon.

1997: town designation
18th to 24th of the 7th lunar month (town museum)
Thanks for catches and harvests

Living here

About 2 hours by express bus from Naha Airport.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

Motobu has no railway, and its gateway is Motobu Port. The town says the prefecture-managed port can be called the departure hub for routes to the surrounding islands and the center of the northern ports. The Yanbaru Express Bus airport line takes 120 to 125 minutes from Naha Airport to Motobu Port in its timetable, and times are described as approximate.

People living here: 12,530people
Area: 54.37km²
Households: 5,351households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —5 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Motobu Town in Japan26.657°N 127.898°E

to NahaHighway bus120min

Travel times follow やんばる急行バス公式『時刻表（北部方面）』PDF（https://yanbaru-expressbus.com/wp-content/themes/ykb/download/time/time-d.pdf 。公式ページの『時刻表』から2026-10-07に取得。同一内容の 251101-time-d.pdf に『2025年11月1日から有効の時刻です』とある）。空港線（YKB888・那覇空港国内線〔2番のりば〕→県庁北口→…〔高速〕…→名護バスターミナル前→本部港→…→運天港）。那覇空港発→本部港着：5便 10:10→12:10（120分）・7便 11:30→13:30（120）・9便 12:30→14:30（120）・13便 14:10→16:15（125）・15便 16:30→18:35（125）・17便 17:30→19:35（125）・19便 18:40→20:45（125）・21便 19:40→21:40（120）。23便（20:30発）は本部港を通らない表示。県庁北口発→本部港着は 110〜115分（1便 6:40→8:30 ほか）。『発着時間は目安です』と書かれ、公式の運行情報に渋滞・事故による遅延の知らせが多数ある（2026-10-06 の20・22・23便も遅れ） (checked 2026-10-07). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 2 municipalities.

Territory of Motobu Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

11.9km

今帰仁村, 名護市

Motobu Town isthis kind of town.

01Sesoko Toteikun, on Sesoko Island, is a national Important Cultural Property (building); the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a facility for an ancient Chinese earth god, and town materials say it is said to have begun when a wooden image of the farming god was invited and enshrined
02The string-operated lion dance of Izumi is confirmed at three places, with Kawakami in Nago and Jana in Nakijin, and has been selected as a national intangible folk cultural property for which records should be made
03The town tree, the fukugi, is described by the town as still watching over residents in Bise's house groves, and bullfighting is introduced as one of the traditional performing arts Motobu takes pride in

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Motobu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗