Miyako-jima
Miyako- jima (Japanese宫 古 岛; old name of the island: Typinsan ) is a Japanese island with an area of 159.26 km ².
It is the main island of the Miyako Islands, the eastern half of Sakishima Islands, and the fourth largest island in the prefecture of Okinawa. The distance to the Yaeyama Islands in the south west is about 250 km, the main island of Okinawa prefecture of the same name about 300 km. The coastline is 117.5 km.
Miyakojima is also the name of one city ( 51 865, of February 1, 2014) on the island ( not to be confused with the city of Miyako in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan ). It was summarized from the five existing municipalities. However, the community also extends over the neighboring islands.
Topography
The flat island (the highest elevation is 114.8 m) with the approximate shape of an isosceles triangle is composed of limestone. The island not cross streams, but leads the rock freshwater. The east coast is characterized by steep cliffs, while the west coast is flat.
Climate
In the summer months, daytime temperatures will be around 30 ° C, something in the winter months among them.
Like all Ryukyu Islands until September often ravaged by typhoons from May Miyakojima.
Economy
The island has lived since time immemorial from sugar cane cultivation and fishing ( Katsuo, Bonito ).
Today, tourism is the main source of income sandy beaches, several hotels, stylish dining facilities and souvenir shops for local pottery ( Miyako- yaki ) make the island, not least among younger Japanese, a popular holiday destination.
Culture
The Miyako- language belongs to the Ryukyu languages.
When Pantu hard (パーントゥ) in the ninth month of the old lunar calendar go three covered with earth and mud men around with a stick and wooden mask and smear on their way people, houses, machinery etc. These "mud character" promised protection in the coming year.
The island is supposed to be in a very high-energy geomantic field and is therefore visited next to the divers also of salvation seekers and Japanese New Age followers, of which there think they can see some of the former Atlantis. In a large megalithic garden in the middle of the island to meet the adepts according several global energy lines.
Attractions
Particularly interesting are the eastern tip of the island, Higashi - Hennazaki (东 平安 名 崎), and the north-western tip, Nishi- Hennazaki (西 平安 名 崎), close to those since 1992, a 1425 m long bridge over shallow waters to the offshore island Ikemajima (池 间 岛) leads.
German theme park
On 11 July 1873, German savers R. J. Robertson stranded on a trip from Fuzhou ( China tea trade ) during a typhoon on the reef in front of the village of Ueno. Some residents sat out in a heavy swell in small Sabani - boats and were able to rescue eight crew members. After a good month stay, the six sailors, the Chinese cook and the Chinese Kajütjunge took the onward journey to Keelung (Taiwan). As a vehicle used was a junk, which Captain Hernsheim from the highest mandarin to the Okinawa islands (then Loochow Islands) had been suitable. The then German Emperor Wilhelm I thanked him for the brave, philanthropic act with a commemorative stele, which stands in the harbor of Hirara today. The inscription on the stele erected in 1876 in German and Chinese, as the island was under Chinese influence, until it was in 1879, Okinawa Prefecture slammed.
According to the diary of Captain Eduard Hernsheim the book was published in 1881 The sinking of the German Schooners " RJ Robertson " and the record of the castaways on the island " Typinsan ". Since 1936, when the 60 - year anniversary of the unveiling made the monument into a symbol of German - Japanese friendship (博爱 记念 碑hakuai kinenhi, dt memorial stone of philanthropy ), there is a relationship between the island and Germany.
The German name for the island Typinsan was formed in the 18th century in reference to the Chinese name tai pin shan (Chinese大平 山, large flat mountain '). The same volume of poems by the German poet Alexander Freud was born on Typinsan.
On the occasion of this history, the theme park Ueno German Culture Village (うえの ドイツ 文化 村Ueno doitsu Bunkamura ) was built in 1995 in Ueno. In addition to various attractions such as a children's home, original pieces of the Berlin Wall and a palace in the style of the 18th century, a medieval German castle stands in the subtropical sky: Located on the Middle Rhine Mark Burg, after their owner a sale, removal and reconstruction on Miyakojima not agreed, with the support recreated end of the 1990s faithfully and is now above the coral reef Miyakojimas.
Gerhard Schröder visited the German cultural village in Ueno during the G8 summit in Okinawa (21-23. July 2000) a visit. The road from the airport to the cultural village was named after him.
Traffic
Daily flights from Miyako Airport are offered by taramas, Ishigaki, Naha, Kansai and Tokyo.
Waterway consists of the inhabited islands of the Miyako Island group.
Rental cars are available.