ABOUT
About this spot
Yubu Island is a small island in Taketomi Town, Yaeyama District, Okinawa, about 0.5 kilometers off the east coast of Iriomote Island. It covers 0.15 square kilometers, has a circumference of about 2 kilometers and rises only 1.9 meters above sea level. Across the Yonara Channel to the east lies Kohama Island. The whole island is a botanical garden called the Subtropical Plant Paradise, covered with nearly 40,000 palms and other subtropical plants, and is one of the main attractions around Iriomote. The sea between Iriomote and Yubu is very shallow, and the famous way to cross is by water buffalo cart, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes from the Iriomote side. When the tide is low and the water calm you can also walk across. In the early modern period people from Taketomi and Kuroshima built temporary field huts on Yubu to farm rice paddies on Iriomote, and families settled after the war. In 1969 Typhoon Elsie flooded the whole island, and the garden opened in 1981. Inside you can walk among palms and other subtropical plants, see a bougainvillea garden and a butterfly garden with the golden-chrysalis Common Tiger butterfly, and eat at the restaurant. Open 9:15 to 16:30; the last cart from Iriomote leaves at 15:45. Service may be suspended in bad weather such as typhoons, and opening can be delayed by the tide. A walk through the garden alone takes about an hour.
Last updated October 22, 2026