Iriomote Island is the most remote of the Yaeyama group, with 90 percent of the island covered by virgin subtropical forest, mangroves along the Urauchi River and several major waterfalls. It is home to the critically endangered Iriomote wildcat as well as about 2,000 people and has been called the “Galapagos of the Pacific” (or the Orient, the East, or Japan).

We did visit one beach on Iriomote Island, Hoshizuna, meaning “star sand,” a close-up of which I’ll post later. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really beach weather.

Subtropical yard, Taketomi Island, posted earlier: