Tonaki Village

Ryukyu-era farmland is partly preserved.

Jiwari farmland, Tonaki Island

Photo by Kugel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Sunken house plots

House plots are set below the road,enclosed by stone walls and fukugi trees.

Tonaki Island is prone to typhoons, so house plots are set lower than the road and enclosed by walls of table coral and coral limestone, with fukugi trees planted between the inner wall and the house as a grove. A document the village prepared for the Agency for Cultural Affairs says the grove serves as a fire barrier as well as a windbreak.

Plots set below the road level
Grove for wind and fire protection
Walls around, fukugi planted

02 ／ Water Sports Day

Since the first one in 1919,an all-island sports day in the sea has continued.

The village says the first Water Sports Day was held in 1919 and that, apart from four interruptions, it has been held every year. Not only schoolchildren and kindergartners but islanders turn out in force for underwater tug-of-war, ball games in the sea and cheering. The village presents it as a sports day at the beach that is rare even nationwide.

First held in 1919
Underwater tug-of-war and ball games in the sea
Islanders turn out in force

03 ／ Chikishi and charm stones

At the end of T-shaped roads,stone charms and chikishi are placed.

A document the village prepared for the Agency for Cultural Affairs says the island's flat land is entirely sandy, so roads stay white sand. At the end of T-shaped roads are placed stone charms against evil and chikishi (strength stones). It adds that, with stone walls, fukugi groves and red-tiled roofs, they form one townscape.

Roads stay white sand
Placed at the end of T-shaped roads
One with walls, groves and red tiles

Living here

An island village, 115 minutes by ferry from Naha's Tomari Port.

about 1,000 people
Rural district town

Tonaki is an island village centered on Tonaki Island, where the settlement lies, and has no railway. Its gateway is Tonaki Port. By the Kume Shosen timetable, the ferry leaving Tomari Port in Naha at 9:00 arrives at 10:55, on its way to Kumejima.

People living here: 346people
Area: 3.87km²
Households: 224households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 1 clinic

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

Children waiting for childcare: —0 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.

Tonaki Village in Japan26.372°N 127.141°E

to NahaKume Shosen115min

Travel times follow 久米商船（事業者公式）『航路・運航スケジュール』（http://www.kumeline.com/route/ 。2026-10-07 に読んだ）：那覇（泊）→渡名喜島→久米島（1月1日〜12月31日）の1便は那覇 9:00発 → 渡名喜島 10:55着（115分）→ 11:10発 → 久米島 12:30着。2便（那覇14:00発・月曜運休）は久米島17:00着で渡名喜島を経由しない（表の渡名喜島の欄は『ー』）。上り（久米島→渡名喜島→那覇）の1便は久米島9:00発 → 渡名喜島10:20着 → 10:35発 → 那覇12:30着（115分）。4〜10月の金・土曜は久米島14:00発の2便も渡名喜島に寄る（渡名喜15:20着・15:35発・那覇17:30着。久米商船のお知らせ『令和8年4月〜10月「渡名喜島経由」増便について』、最終更新2026-03-04）。月曜は2便が運休で、1便のみ。事業者のお知らせの最新は2026-10-01（船員の募集）で、運賃は2026-10-01から約15%の改定（お知らせ 2026-08-17）。 (checked 2026-10-07). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 0 municipalities.

Territory of Tonaki Village

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

4.4km

Tonaki Village isthis kind of town.

01In its description of Tonaki Prefectural Natural Park, which covers nearly the whole island, Okinawa Prefecture lists farmland of the Ryukyu Kingdom era's land allotment system, partly preserved, as an important historical heritage
02The island's settlement was selected in 2000 as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, an agricultural village on an island, and the fukugi of its house groves was designated the village tree in 1992
03The Okinawa Tonaki Dialect Dictionary, published in August 2021, records about 17,000 words of the island's own speech, according to a prefectural magazine

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tonaki Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗