Outer islands Travel Video Guide

Outer islands Travel Itinerary

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The beaches on Okinawa's main island can't compare with the gems lying offshore among the dozens of outer islands that make up the rest of the prefecture. Here, you'll find not only superb, white sands and limpid water, but also magnificent diving - both skin and scuba - which is among the best in Asia . Most of these islands also escaped damage during the battles of 1945, and there are no American bases here, so you'll see much more evidence of Ryukyu culture and the old traditions. Not that they're completely unspoilt; even here the paradise image is punctured by eyesore developments and a good deal of rubbish along the shore, while July and August brings plane-loads of holidaymakers.

Fortunately, there's plenty of choice and, outside the main holiday season, few tourists. One of the most accessible islands is Zamami-jima , just a short ferry ride west of Naha, which offers great beaches and diving and has

recently become a centre for whale-watching. For a real sense of escape, however, you need to head further south, to Miyako-jima and the Yaeyama group, including the emptier, more mountainous Ishigaki-jima and nearby Iriomote-jima , often described as Japan's last wilderness. In all these islands, it's the scenery and water sports that provide the main attractions, but Iriomote has the added distinction of its unique wildlife population and lush, almost tropical rainforest.

Your Tips For Outer islands

• Northern Honshu Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  When the famous poet Matsuo Basho set out on his travels along the "narrow road to the deep north" in 1689, he commented, somewhat despondently, "I might as well be going to the ends of the earth. - Japan
  

• Around Tokyo Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  Tokyo is hemmed into its coastal location on the Kanto plain by a ring of mountains and volcanoes, featuring temples, parks and a couple of bustling towns and cities. - Japan
  

• Kansai Japan Travel Videos
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  In a country so devoid of flat land, the great rice-growing plains of KANSAI , the district around Osaka and Kyoto, are imbued with an almost mystical significance. - Japan
  

• Hokkaido Japan Travel Videos
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  Many Japanese see HOKKAIDO as an idyllic, unspoiled frontier - the perfect place to escape from industrialized Japan and get back in touch with nature. - Japan
  

• Central Honshu Japan Travel Videos
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  Located roughly midway along the Japanese archipelago, the seven prefectures of CENTRAL HONSHU , known as Chubu , offer a wide choice of terrain and travel possibilities. - Japan
  

• Okinawa Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  The prefecture of Okinawa comprises more than one hundred islands, stretching over 700km of ocean from Kyushu southwest to Yonaguni-jima, almost within sight of Taiwan. - Japan
  

• Kyushu Japan Travel Videos
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  Lying off the south end of Honshu, Japan's third largest island, KYUSHU , is surrounded by a spray of smaller islands which trail off in a long arc across the East China Sea. - Japan
  

• Shikoku Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  It has beautiful scenery, a laid-back atmosphere, friendly people and several notable sights, yet SHIKOKU , Japan's fourth main island, is usually at the bottom of most visitors' itineraries - if it appears at all. - Japan
  

• Tokyo Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  On the edge of the Orient, TOKYO - the last great conurbation before the yawning chasm of the Pacific Ocean - is one of the world's most perplexing cities. - Japan
  

• Western Honshu Japan Travel Videos
  Japan Travel Itinerary
  Also known as Chugoku , meaning "middle country", Western Honshu used to be at the centre of the Japanese nation, lying between the country's earliest settlements in Kyushu and the imperial city of Kyoto. - Japan