Miyakojima, Okinawa


Miyakojima is a city in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, located on the Miyako Islands. As of 2025, the city had a population of 53,035.
WWW city.miyakojima.lg.jp

History

The modern city of Miyakojima was established on October 1, 2005, from the merger of the old city of Hirara, the towns of Gusukube, Irabu and Shimoji, and the village of Ueno. As a result of the merger, Miyako District only has one remaining village.

Geography

Since the city was created by merging several towns that were located on different islands, the city of Miyakojima consists of multiple islands. The islands administered by the city include:
Several of the islands are connected by bridge.
Ogami-jima is the only island that is not connected by bridge and must be reached by boat.

Administrative divisions

The city includes forty-one wards repartited into the five former municipalities.

Gusukube

  • Aragusuku
  • Bora
  • Fukuzato
  • Higa
  • Nagama
  • Nishizatosoe
  • Shimozato
  • Shimozatosoe
  • Tomori

Hirara

  • Higashinakasone
  • Higashinakasonezoe
  • Ikema
  • Karimata
  • Kugai
  • Maezato
  • Matsubara
  • Nikadori
  • Nishihara
  • Nishinakasone
  • Nishizato
  • Ōgami
  • Ōura
  • Shimajiri
  • Shimosato

Irabu

  • Ikemasoe
  • Irabu
  • Kuninaka
  • Maezatozoe
  • Nagahama
  • Nakachi
  • Sawada

Shimoji

  • Kadekari
  • Kawamitsu
  • Kurima
  • Sugama
  • Uechi
  • Yonaha

Ueno

  • Miyaguni
  • Nobaru
  • Shinzato
  • Ueno

Demographics

As of December 2012 the city has an estimated population of 54,908 and a population density of 268.45 per km2. The total area is 204.54 km2. The city had 24,728 households. This makes it the ninth-largest city in Okinawa Prefecture.

Government

National government

The city, along with the cities of Ishigaki, Itoman, and Tomigusuku, lies in Okinawa 4th district, which elects one representative to the House of Representatives. The current representative is Kosaburo Nishime of the Liberal Democratic Party. The entire prefecture of Okinawa elects two representatives to the House of Councillors. The current representatives are:

Prefectural government

The city forms most of the "Miyakojima constituency" and elects two members to the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly. Representatives are elected for a term of 4 years.

Local government

Mayor

The current mayor of Miyakojima is Kazuyuki Zakimi. He took office on January 25, 2021, after defeating the incumbent Toshihiko Shimoji on the January 17, 2021 election. Zakimi was endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party, while Shimoji was endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.
Previous mayors of the city include:
  • Akira Ishimine. Resigned due to scandal.
  • Toshihiko Shimoji. Defeated in election.

City council

The Miyakojima City Council consists of 24 people. Most formally register as independent but are members of a caucus.
Number of members by formal party affiliation:

Transportation

The city of Miyakojima is served by two airports. Miyako Airport (MMY), the main commercial airport, is located on Miyako Island; and Shimoji Airport, initially a private field, is now a Class 3 facility operated by the prefectural government located on Shimojishima. This nearby island is close enough to be connected by a causeway bridge to the larger Miyako Island.

Economy

Agriculture and livestock are the core financial industries in Miyakojima, with the main exports consisting of sugar cane, tobacco, cattle, and mango. Fisheries and seaweed farms, producing species such as mozuku and sea lettuce, can be found in and around areas like Ikemajima and Irabujima. However, each year more and more land formerly used for agriculture is being sold and converted into residential and retail buildings.
The tourism industry is a steadily growing component of Miyakojima's economy. Traveling to the islands is facilitated primarily through airlines and cruise lines. With the addition of international flights made available through the opening of Shimoji Airport in 2019, flights connecting to Miyako have been increasing – over 730,000 plane tickets entering into Miyakojima were purchased in 2019 alone. Since 2016 cruises have been a significant catalyst to Miyakojima's tourism industry, notably megaships servicing international tourists. Efforts to introduce space travel have also been announced, as PD Aerospace proposes to create a spaceport at Shimojijima airport and begin flights in 2025. The islands are popular tourist destinations because of the clear blue sea and white beaches. There are several golf clubs on the islands.
There are six breweries on the islands and a chemical plant that converts sugar cane into ethanol.

Facilities

Education

There are a total of 3 high schools in the city, including one technical high school and one business high school.
There are 13 middle schools, including one that has been recently closed, and one special school for the intellectually disabled.
There are two schools that are both elementary and middle schools.
There are 15 elementary schools.

Medical

There are two hospitals: one public, and one private.

Museum

There is one museum, the Miyakojima City Museum.

Meeting venues

There are five community centers, one municipal theater, a City Hall, three "Remote Island Promotion Centers", and three "Rural Environment Improvement Centers".

Gymnasium/Athletic Center

There are two gymnasiums, three baseball fields, three other athletic fields, and two "physical education centers".

Transportation

Airports

There are two airports: Miyako Airport and Shimojishima Airport.

Ports

There are four ports:
  • Hirara Port
  • Kuruma Port
  • Nagayama Port
  • Sarahama Port
Most boat travel takes place between one of the ports and Futenma port on the Island of Okinawa. There is also travel between Miyako Island and Ogamijima, the only island that is not connected by bridge.

Roads

Part of Japanese National Highway 390 runs across the island. The highway consists of two sections: a section that transverses Ishigaki Island, and the section that transverses Miyako Island. The two sections used to be connected by boat, but boat service was discontinued and now the two sections of the highway are disconnected.
Numerous prefectural roads traverse the islands.

Bus

Bus services are provided by four bus operators, that service a total of nine lines:
  • Chuo Kotsu
  • Kyowa Bus
  • Miyako Kyoei Bus
  • Yachiyo Bus

Media

Newspapers

There are two major newspapers in the city:
  • Miyako Mainichi Shimbun
  • Miyako Shinpo

Broadcast

  • SInce 2018, FM Okinawa can be received in the city.
  • Miyako TV : Opened as Miyakojima Cable TV in 1978.
  • There are FM relay stations of Ryukyu Broadcasting and Radio Okinawa.
  • Until 1992, commercial TV could not be broadcast live in the city because there was no relay station. After the relay station opened, Miyako TV began broadcasting commercial TV.
  • Miyako Television has the Nippon Television Network and the transmission equipment of TV Asahi.

Communication

Mail

Mail collection and delivery is handled by the Miyako Post Office. There are several other smaller post offices that people use to drop off mail.

Phone

The entire city has the same area code: 0980.

Climate

The climate of Miyakojima is a monsoon-influenced tropical rainforest climate, closely bordering on a humid subtropical climate with the average temperature of the coldest month being just above 18 °C. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year; August is the wettest month, and January and July are the driest.

Environmental initiatives

In 2008, the city announced the first "Declaration of Eco Island Miyakojima" with a goal to encourage industrial development and environmental conservation, notably of ground water sources and coral reefs. This initiative was also focused on creating a self-sustaining energy supply primarily through low-cost solar energy.
As of 2009, the city has been certified as an Eco-Model City. A second version of the Declaration of Eco Island Miyakojima was introduced under the slogan "Toward the Future 1,000 Years From Now" in 2018, with an action plan released in 2019. This updated version maintains similar goals with some added initiatives such as the eradication of foreign animal species, namely peacocks, and the reduction of household waste discharge. Under this second declaration, a greater emphasis has been placed on the promotion of these environmental initiatives through actions such as the establishment of an Eco Island Miyakojima brand, the creation of a contests, and the integration of environmental sustainability education into local public schools.
In 2019, the city was awarded a gold medal, also known as the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry Prize, in the New Energy Awards for its efforts in proliferating solar energy throughout the island.

German influence

In 1873, the German ship Robertson was shipwrecked on Miyako Island. The crew were saved and cared for by the local islanders. As a gift for the islanders' kindness, and as an excuse for German warships to enter Ryūkyūan waters, Kaiser Wilhelm I erected a monument on the island in 1876, known locally as the German Emperor's Tributary Monument or the Friendship Monument. After Japan annexed the Ryūkyū Kingdom, Japan used this as evidence of a history of friendship between Japan and Germany.
In 1987, the Ueno German Culture Village opened in Ueno village, Miyako. Internet websites under the name Ueno German Cultural Village can be easily found, however Ueno Village, Miyako Island, no longer exists as a jurisdiction since, as mentioned above, all of the separate cities, towns and villages on the island were merged into Miyakojima city in 2005.

Sister cities

In Japan

Outside Japan

Notable residents

Cultural Properties

Miyakojima City hosts one hundred and twenty-two designated or registered cultural properties and monuments, at the national, prefectural or municipal level.
  • Name

Cultural Properties">Cultural Property (Japan)">Cultural Properties

  • Documents relating to the Motomura Family of the Shōei Clan
  • Documents relating to the Nakasone Family of the Chūdō Clan
  • Former Nishinaka Sugar Cooperative refinery chimney
  • Hirara First Elementary School main gate and stone wall
  • Hisamatsu myāka tomb cluster
  • Industrial Benefactor Memorial
  • Kawamitsu Family's genealogy
  • Motomura Family inscription “報本“
  • Onga Satonushi Pēchin's tombstone
  • Ōno drainage tunnel
  • Shimoji Family's tomb
  • Sword and Ancient Document
  • Tuyumya Tombs
  • West Tsuga Tomb
  • Zuifuku Tunnel

Folk Cultural Properties">Cultural Property (Japan)">Folk Cultural Properties

  • Agiisu of Gusukube
  • Akana-gū Shrine
  • Akazaki Utaki Sacred Site
  • Amagā spring of Tomori in Gusukube
  • Isū-gā Spring
  • Katsu Fishing Stone Wall
  • Kisama Utaki Sacred Site
  • Kusu-nu-kā Sacred Well
  • Kyāza-gā Well
  • Maya Utaki Sacred Site
  • Nanamata Miima-gā Spring
  • Nugana-gā Spring
  • Sukapuyā Utaki Sacred Site
  • Tsunuji Utaki Sacred Site
  • Uipyāmutu Sanctuary
  • Yamagā Upu-kā

Historic Sites">Monuments of Japan">Historic Sites

  • Abu-gā spring No. 1
  • Abu-gā spring No. 2
  • Ama-gā Spring
  • Ana-gā spring
  • Ara-gā Well
  • Bora-motojima Site
  • Dakifu-gā Well
  • Edge Stone of the Well of the Matsumura Family
  • Funaha-gā Spring
  • German Emperor's Tributary Monument
  • German shipwreck site stele
  • Harimizu paved road
  • Harimizu Utaki Sacred Site and its stone wall
  • Ikeda Bridge in Shimoji
  • Kagamihara-baba Hippodrome Site
  • Kanamara-abu Cave
  • Kan'nondō Shrine Sacred Mound
  • Kanzato-gā spring
  • Kawamitsu Ubutunu Old Tomb
  • Kinsūkyā-gā spring
  • Kōjin Migagama Utaki Sacred Site
  • Kubaka Castle Site
  • Kurima-gā spring
  • Kurohama Utaki Sacred Site
  • Mamuya's residence, loom location and tomb
  • Muika-gā spring
  • Nakasone Tuyumya's tomb
  • Nakaya-kanamori's myāka tomb
  • Navy Secret Suicide Boat Storage Shelter
  • Nisumi Utaki Sacred Site
  • Noborudake spirit stones
  • Nudokubi-abu Cave
  • Nugusuku-gā spring
  • Nūshi Utaki Sacred Site
  • Pinza-abu Site
  • Pyāzu Utaki Sacred Site
  • Sabautsu-gā spring
  • Sakishima Beacons: Ikema Lookout Office
  • Sakishima Beacons: Karimata Lookout Office
  • Sakishima Beacons: Kurima Lookout Office
  • Sakishima Beacons: Shimajiri Lookout Office
  • Sakishima Beacons: Uruka Lookout Office
  • Shimajiri Mutuzuma former settlement and Nnaka-gā spring
  • Shimoji Island Giant Rock
  • Shimoji Niiya Risha's tomb stele
  • Stone walls of Shōun-ji Temple
  • Sumiya Site
  • Sumuryā myāka tomb
  • Susabi myāka tomb
  • Takausu Castle Site
  • Tauwainmii-abu Cave
  • Temaka Castle Site
  • Tiizu-abu Cave
  • Uipyāyama Site
  • Upukā Spring
  • Uputaki Castle Site
  • Uuni-no-shū Utaki Sacred Site
  • Usubari-abu Cave
  • Well of Minuzuma Site
  • Yamatobū Large Rock
  • Yamato-gā Spring
  • Yonahashi Stone Tomb
  • Yūkui Sacred Site in Sawada
  • Yusuma-no-shū's tomb

Places of scenic beauty">Monuments of Japan">Places of scenic beauty

  • Cape Higashi-henna
  • Former Nakasone Family Gardens
  • Sawada beach coral reef and lagoon
  • Shiratorisaki reef coastal area
  • South and west reef coast of Shimoji Island
  • Tōri-ike ponds on Shimoji Island
  • Yabiji

Natural Monuments">Monuments of Japan">Natural Monuments

  • Bora limestone terraces in Miyako Island
  • Cape Higashi-henna wind-beaten raised coral coast plant community
  • Deigo trees of the Amagoe-za Sacred Square
  • Karimata plant community
  • Kōjin Migagama Utaki plant community
  • Kuninaka Utaki plant community
  • Kurima Island cliff vegetation
  • Maeyama Utaki plant community
  • Nakahara fossils
  • Plant community around Mae-gā spring and its sacred trees
  • Sea fig hugging an old tomb
  • Shimajiri fault escarpments and marine erosion platforms
  • Shimajiri mangrove forest
  • Shimajiri whale fossils
  • Solanum miyakojimense
  • Tobitori Utaki plant community
  • Tomai Utaki plant community
  • Tōri-ike ponds on Shimoji Island
  • Tsuzupisuki-abu Cave
  • Ubutakinaka Cave
  • Uputaki Park plant community
  • Yabiji