Iriomote Island looks nothing like the Japan you see in the movies. Most of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed island is covered by dense jungle and mangrove swamps, while national parkland occupies a third of Iriomote’s landmass. The island – the second-largest of all of the islands in the Okinawa archipelago – is also where you’ll find Urauchi River and Pinaisara Falls: Okinawa’s longest river and largest waterfall, respectively. Iriomote, it’s safe to say, is unlike anywhere in Japan. Not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that for almost 500 years, this island was nowhere in Japan.
Between 1429 and 1879, Iriomote and the entire Okinawan archipelago belonged to the Ryukyu Kingdom, a chain of subtropical islands that started in Taiwan and finished more than a 1000-kilometre north-east in Kyushu: the most southerly of Japan’s main islands. You’ll still find the word Ryukyu throughout Naha, the sunny, cosmopolitan capital of Okinawa Island. While most of Japan is still shivering its way through March, Naha and its tanned locals are embracing the spring sunshine. An impeccably dressed gentleman rides his bike along the Meiji Bridge. Families walk the streets wearing matching tees spruiking Okinawa’s beloved Orion Beer.
After dark, the bars and restaurants of Sakaemachi Arcade – a warren of alleyways and roller doors similar to Shinjuku’s Golden Gai – throb with energy as tables pound bottles of awamori, Okinawa’s traditional shochu, distilled from indica rice brought here by Thai traders (one of the south-east Asian seafarers whose movements helped shape Okinawa). At Dancehall Sakaba Thankyou, owners Shota and Naoko Gakiya rep their hometown by playing Okinawan reggae and cooking goya chanpuru (stir-fried bitter melon), mimiga (pig’s ear salad with peanut vinegar) and other local dishes that speak to China’s influence on Okinawan food. Then there’s cult Italian eatery Bacar, where owner Daisuke Nakamura (an alum of legendary Tokyo pizzeria Savoy) serves exemplary wood-fired pizza and uniquely Okinawan-Italian mash-ups – such as Buongiorno gozaimasu casarecce in a ragù of tuna bloodlines (an offcut gathered from seafood restaurants) that have been conserved sott’olio style.
In short, Naha reiterates the truism that isolation breeds creativity. It’s also the launchpad for exploring the archipelago’s 160 islands, with domestic flights and ferries coming and going across Okinawa Island. Of the many ways travellers might see and do Okinawa, the fanciest has to be a journey with French luxury cruise operator, Ponant. While Japan is a long way from Ponant HQ in Marseille, every boat in Ponant’s fleet is a floating embassy for Gallic culture. Announcements aboard the ship are made first in French, then in English. There are Clarins beauty products in the spa, as well as in elegantly appointed staterooms (virtually every cabin on every ship has a private balcony). French songs make up much of the karaoke playlist.
Unsurprisingly, you will also eat and drink splendidly aboard a Ponant ship. Think: sprawling breakfast and lunch buffet; Pierre Hermé macarons for afternoon tea; plus six-course dinners that respect the classics (beef Rossini with sauce Périgueux, say) as well as “push the boat out” (marinated scallops with passionfruit sauce and caviar). The 24-hour room service menu, however, is all about comfort. If every hotel served Ponant’s dishy white-toast club sandwich around the clock, the world would be a better place. Equally fortifying is the juicy burger with chips: the perfect 2am pick-me-up after a night of dancing with fellow guests and crew. Or so I’ve heard. Champagne and French wines are included with your ticket price, while a reserve list includes superstar Bordeaux First Growths at (comparatively) cheap duty-free prices.
While the charming restaurant staff won’t look twice at anyone starting their day with bubbles, going easy on the breakfast fizz feels wise. At least if all Ponant itineraries are as packed as the eight-day Japanese subtropical islands expedition I joined earlier this year aboard Le Jacques-Cartier: a 92-room, 184-guest ship with enough razzle-dazzle to convert any cruise sceptic. (The sauna overlooking the sea doesn’t hurt.) During his welcome speech, captain Christophe Dupuy warned passengers that the next seven days were going to be “high tempo”. He wasn’t wrong.
On day one, we cycle around Iheya Island and spy the sugarcane fields, ornate kamekoubaka (turtleback) tombs and flat-roof houses (all the better to withstand the typhoons that regularly pummel Okinawa) that will become commonplace during the rest of the journey. Another day starts with morning whale watching off Zamami Island followed by an afternoon spent snorkelling at nearby Gahi Island, a deserted white-sand paradise. Excursions are led by naturalists: an Avengers-style line-up of international guides with an infectious curiosity and wanderlust. The team’s MVP on this trip, however, is Ryo Ijichi: the Japanese-born, American-raised expedition leader and driving force behind Ponant’s expansion into subtropical Japan.
For six years, our man visited islands throughout Okinawa and met with local communities to convince them that welcoming a cruise ship of engaged, respectful travellers would be good for their islands. In typically understated Japanese style, Ijichi downplays his fixing abilities but the power of his little black book is formidable.
Sometimes it means being able to commandeer all three buses on a remote island for the day to run multiple bilingual tours. Sometimes it’s convincing local chefs such as Naoki Naksone of Kume Island ramen shop Yanguwa to close for lunch and transplant his entire restaurant so that the ship’s guests can sample his vaunted noodles smoky with wok-fried bean shoots. And sometimes it’s about being allowed to land early at Taketomi Island, so Ponant guests can explore the historic village in quiet mode before the hordes from larger ships descend on the island and shatter its tranquillity.
But Ijichi’s biggest coup, unquestionably, is securing permission for Ponant to land its zippy Zodiac tender boats on these smaller islands: islands that, formerly, were off-limits to larger cruise ships. (Previously, Japanese laws only allowed big cruise ships and clunky tender boats to dock at islands with large natural harbours and jetties.) Eliminating this red tape not only opens more of Okinawa to Ponant guests: it also gives guests a chance to get to know the Okinawans themselves.
“We need to show people that there are beautiful oceans, beautiful beaches and beautiful scenery, but I also want guests to meet beautiful people,” says Ijichi. “That’s why these interactions between guests and locals are so warm. They’re not just doing it for money. They’re doing it because they’re proud of what they do.”
The Matsumiyas of the World Salt Exploration Museum on Noho Island are clearly proud of their efforts to celebrate global salt culture and make salt using the island’s pristine seawater. Daiju and Momo Shirakami – the impeccably coiffed husband and wife behind Ishigaki Island café and boutique Canaan Coffee – go about their day-to-day with purpose and grace. And there’s pride and enthusiasm in the way the members of Iheya’s taiko drumming troupe play for those visiting their island home.
Our final Japanese stop is Yonaguni: an island whose 1600 residents are divided across three main villages. While there’s no high school or university here, Yonaguni does have Cape Irizaki, Japan’s western-most point. On a clear day, you can see across the East China Sea to Taiwan, where the cruise will, sadly, end. The island is also home to the Yonaguni pony, one of Japan’s eight native horse breeds. Perhaps most surprising though, is learning that Yonaguni can also lay claim to Seberang Jaya: a tiny eatery renowned across Japan for its Malaysian-Thai cooking. The rich flavour of the red curry chicken plus an unmistakably Chinese-style cabbage soup certainly adds weight to these claims. As I race my way through lunch, I’m grabbed by that feeling once again on this trip that I’m not in Japan anymore.
Ponant’s 2025 and 2026 Japan cruises start from $9880 per person for eight nights, departing various ports throughout Japan. Book via the Ponant website.
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