🇯🇵 ⛴ Japan | Yilan to Yonaguni Ferry

From another thread:

Try this thread for info: Ishigaki Island (250km east of TW) - cruise ships 2011

:slight_smile:

Yonaguni Island. It is geographically closer to Taiwan than Ishigaki, but since it does not have an international airport or harbour - meaning there is usually no immigration and customs staff on the island - it is administratively farther away from Taiwan than Ishigaki: usually one will have to go to Ishigaki and from there to Yonaguni. The odd charter flight between Taiwan and Yonaguni (for example, when a few dozen school children go on an exchange trip) requires prior arrangement with the authorities, and yachts and private boats are normally not admitted but have to come to Ishigaki first for clearance. If there is a diving boat charter from Yilan, maybe they go to the diving spot only and don’t go into the harbour to let people set foot on the island? Tell us more about that (private) boat from Yilan… :slight_smile:

[quote=“bob”]The new boat from Yilan to Japan goes to Wēishān Dǎo.
Does that mean anything to anybody?[/quote]
Well, there is no Japanese island in the Taiwan-Okinawa region with any of the kanji in the name that i could find for wēi and shān, except the 八重山 island group that has 山 shān and which is pronounced Bāchóngshān. And there is no boat going to Japan that i’ve ever heard of - as i explained it would have to be a place with immigration and customs service. On the other hand, there is the island you just went to, Turtle Island, which in Chinese is 龜山島 Guīshān Dǎo and which in terms of pronunciation should really be written Guēishān Dǎo – suspiciously close to Wēishān Dǎo (=uēishān dǎo) if you ask me… :wink: The information you have is quite puzzling. Can you get the kanji (hanzi) for that island’s name?

Actually, there are no pyramids anywhere in Okinawa, not underwater and not above water. :slight_smile: The place you are thinking of, the island with the under water rock structure that shows some human modifications and is wildly popular with scuba divers is Yonaguni Island, in Chinese 與那國島 Yǔnàguó Dǎo and in Japanese 与那国島 Yonagunijima.

Unless there is a twenty grand trip to turtle island I think it has to be someplace different. It is billed as a diving spot so maybe it doesn’t land and you avoid the immigration hassle that way.

Found this on yonaguni…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonaguni

and…

city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/Int … sland.html

The water sure looks nice.

Anyway, I’ll get the wife to look it up in Chinese and send it along. Might take a couple of days.

Twenty grand? :astonished:
Yeah, and surely they wouldn’t advertise a trip to Turtle island as a trip to a Japanese island. :wink:

Yes, that is a possibility - and it would make sense to use a made up name in order not to give away their “trade secret”… :wink:

Does anyone have an update on this? I’ve always dreamed of reaching Tokyo from Taiwan without flying. It looks like it’s impossible to get from Ishigaki to anywhere without flying, but I’d at least like to get to Yonaguni from Taiwan. Seems crazy to have to go to Ishigaki first. Does anyone know if it’s possible now, I mean if they’ve introduced permanent customs since this thread was last active? Surely there could be a vending machine where you put your passport in and it takes a photo, fingerprints etc.

I would have thought that if they need to see a dentist or other city services it would be fastest and cheapest and easiest for them to come to Taiwan? I’d hoped to hitch a ride the other way, but I can’t if there’s no customs there.

[quote=“JesseD”]Does anyone have an update on this? I’ve always dreamed of reaching Tokyo from Taiwan without flying. It looks like it’s impossible to get from Ishigaki to anywhere without flying, but I’d at least like to get to Yonaguni from Taiwan. Seems crazy to have to go to Ishigaki first. Does anyone know if it’s possible now, I mean if they’ve introduced permanent customs since this thread was last active? Surely there could be a vending machine where you put your passport in and it takes a photo, fingerprints etc.

I would have thought that if they need to see a dentist or other city services it would be fastest and cheapest and easiest for them to come to Taiwan? I’d hoped to hitch a ride the other way, but I can’t if there’s no customs there.[/quote]

The issue here is that an international border and parochial thinking stand in the way of common sense.

But there are two ways you can travel from Taiwan to Ishigaki Island or Okinawa island by ship (boat):

Star Cruises runs ships between Keelung and Ishigaki as well as Keelung and Naha from April to October; trip frequency is 1-3 per week. You might get relatively cheap passage on a given trip if they have empty rooms left close to the scheduled departure.

People who come in by private boat need to send certain information to immigration and customs ahead of time and then check in at the immigration and customs offices immediately after coming into port.
(I don’t think you would not be allowed to enter a port in Yonaguni, except in an emergency, since there is no CIQ there.)

Taipei to Tokyo without flying?

Star Cruise from Keelung to Naha (cruise ship), A-Line or Marik Line (daily ferry service, alternating days for each company) from Naha to Kagoshima, train (JR or Shinkansen) from Kagoshima to Tokyo.

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Thanks very much for this information Yuki and Uraodacus! I’ll see if I can get a berth at the last minute, as I could leave with short notice. So Yonakuni is out, but Ishigaki is possible. I’m not a diver, and it doesn’t sound like there’s much else there to visit for, but I kind of liked the idea of going to this tiny Japanese rock so close to Taiwan. But I don’t think it’s worth doubling back for. But it does seem absurd that they don’t allow people to rock in and out to/from Taipei. I wonder where the locals go for major dental work or other big city needs. It would surely make sense to come to Taipei.

And the ferries on to Kagoshima from Naha look doable too.

Thanks again for the info.

Jesse

Take a airplane trip to Palau!

Great diving and sightseeing and quite affordable.

there’s a documentary about to come out called 夢想海洋 (Dream Ocean) about a bunch of people preparing to kayak around the world, and the first step was to kayak to Yunaguni.

One of the lines is “Just paddle for 24 hours straight you’ll be at Yunagumi, it’s closer than Senkaku islands.”

They are crowd funding right now.

webackers.com/Proposal/Display/271

Actually, if you want to go by boat and train from Taiwan (Keelung port) to Japan, you don’t want to take the cruise ship to Ishigaki but the one to Naha - there is no ship going between Ishigaki Island and Okinawa Island any more…

Hey guys… I am currently in Fuzhou, China. I have hitch hiked from Singapore to here … I was in Xiamen trying to organize a boat… left to Fuzhou, then, a boat in Xiamen was worked out so I have to return there… so I have managed to boat hitch to Taiwan … the next step is to get to Japan from Taiwan.

I noticed this documentary clip (any more info about this doco?) … I saw some posts about cruise ships. I am on a pretty tight budget. And in fact, I would and am trying to cross all of Asia, Singapore to Estonia, hitch hiking only. If I have to take ferries I have to… but I want to try not to.

So… Couple questions… the last posts were a couple years ago. Has anything changed? Are there ferries from Hulien, Yilan or Keelung? Can I get a ferry now to Yonaguni, Ishigaki??

Where do the container ships run from? I saw on Wikipedia there is an airport on Yonaguni… that means there is customs there now? Where do all the yachts go from? I am a chef by trade so I could also cook for passage. Also I have a social media following (not huge) but could do some kind of promotion for some kind of tour company…??

I am trying to get some information and anything would help. I read about the yachts and cruises. Do all of these run from Keelung only? Is that the best place for me to try? Or is it worth sinking time into Hulien and Yilan?

Thanks so much for taking the time. This is a very big project, I am very passionate about and appreciate the help. Cheers and Buen Camino.

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No more ferry to Okinawa dude. Your best bet is as a stowaway on a cargo ship. :wink:

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Just as Super_Fire said. Also, I went to the Ishigaki Islands a couple of years ago and researched travel methods; there are no ferries from Taiwan, but some cruise ships will stop (like this one). There are ferries between Ishigaki and the other Yaeyama islands, but that’s it.

Maybe someone else knows about hitching a ride on another type of boat. @urodacus? @yuli? Good luck!

They used to have a ferry? Why did it stop?

I’ve read online that fuel costs were part of the reason.

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I think they also mentioned “all that water”.

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Yeah, fuel costs plus low demand; it was a 20-hour ride to Naha and not really that cheap:

Weekly ferry services operate between the Taiwanese ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung, and the southern Japanese-island of Okinawa. The ferries arrive in and depart from Naha, the capital of Okinawa, often stopping at the Miyako and Ishigaki Islands en route. Fares for the 20-hour journey range from ¥15,600 to ¥29,300 one-way. Please contact the Arimura Sangyo Company for further information.

They have cruises now that go to Okinawa and other places. And yes, you can eat hot-pot on board and other Taiwanese food.