From another thread:
Try this thread for info: Ishigaki Island (250km east of TW) - cruise ships 2011
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 donāt go into the harbour to let people set foot on the island? Tell us more about that (private) boat from Yilanā¦
[quote=ābobā]The new boat from Yilan to Japan goes to WÄishÄn DĒo.
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 wÄi and shÄn, except the å
«éå±± island group that has å±± shÄn and which is pronounced BÄchĆ³ngshÄn. And there is no boat going to Japan that iāve 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 é¾å±±å³¶ GuÄ«shÄn DĒo and which in terms of pronunciation should really be written GuÄishÄn DĒo ā suspiciously close to WÄishÄn DĒo (=uÄishÄn dĒo) if you ask meā¦ 
The information you have is quite puzzling. Can you get the kanji (hanzi) for that islandās name?
Actually, there are no pyramids anywhere in Okinawa, not underwater and not above water. 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 čé£å島 YĒnĆ guĆ³ DĒo and in Japanese äøé£å½å³¶ 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 doesnāt land and you avoid the immigration hassle that way.
Found this on yonaguniā¦
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonaguni
andā¦
city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/Int ā¦ sland.html
The water sure looks nice.
Anyway, Iāll get the wife to look it up in Chinese and send it along. Might take a couple of days.
Twenty grand? 
Yeah, and surely they wouldnāt advertise a trip to Turtle island as a trip to a Japanese island.
Yes, that is a possibility - and it would make sense to use a made up name in order not to give away their ātrade secretāā¦
Does anyone have an update on this? Iāve always dreamed of reaching Tokyo from Taiwan without flying. It looks like itās impossible to get from Ishigaki to anywhere without flying, but Iād at least like to get to Yonaguni from Taiwan. Seems crazy to have to go to Ishigaki first. Does anyone know if itās possible now, I mean if theyāve 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? Iād hoped to hitch a ride the other way, but I canāt if thereās no customs there.
[quote=āJesseDā]Does anyone have an update on this? Iāve always dreamed of reaching Tokyo from Taiwan without flying. It looks like itās impossible to get from Ishigaki to anywhere without flying, but Iād at least like to get to Yonaguni from Taiwan. Seems crazy to have to go to Ishigaki first. Does anyone know if itās possible now, I mean if theyāve 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? Iād hoped to hitch a ride the other way, but I canāt if thereās 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 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Cruises)
- A pleasure boat (yacht, etc.)
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 donāt 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.
Thanks very much for this information Yuki and Uraodacus! Iāll 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. Iām not a diver, and it doesnāt sound like thereās 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 donāt think itās worth doubling back for. But it does seem absurd that they donāt 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.
thereās a documentary about to come out called 夢ę³ęµ·ę“ (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 āJust paddle for 24 hours straight youāll be at Yunagumi, itās closer than Senkaku islands.ā
They are crowd funding right now.
Actually, if you want to go by boat and train from Taiwan (Keelung port) to Japan, you donāt 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 moreā¦
Hey guysā¦ I am currently in Fuzhou, China. I have hitch hiked from Singapore to here ā¦ I was in Xiamen trying to organize a boatā¦ left to Fuzhou, then, a boat in Xiamen was worked out so I have to return thereā¦ so I have managed to boat hitch to Taiwan ā¦ the next step is to get to Japan from Taiwan.
I noticed this documentary clip (any more info about this doco?) ā¦ 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 toā¦ but I want to try not to.
Soā¦ Couple questionsā¦ 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 Yonaguniā¦ 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 companyā¦??
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.
No more ferry to Okinawa dude. Your best bet is as a stowaway on a cargo ship. 
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 thatās 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?
Iāve read online that fuel costs were part of the reason.
I think they also mentioned āall that waterā.
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 Ā„15,600 to Ā„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.