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Iriomote Ishigaki NP, Okinawa
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A Culture Agency archive preserves Funauki elders’ memories of Ida’s burrowing “parun” crabs: they listened for them beneath the sand, dug them out, and brought them home for celebrations.
A local Funauki guide explains “Ida” as iri-da, “western rice field”: iri means “west” in regional usage, as in Iriomote. The name preserves a bit of island geography in a compact beach name.
Funauki is only 4 km from Shirahama, yet no road links the settlements; boats are the only connection. From Funauki, Ida-no-Hama is reached by foot—a beach on Iriomote that still takes a sea crossing.
During a 2019 youth field study, snorkelers at Ida-no-Hama encountered a green sea turtle and also recorded bleached coral. Their notes capture both the reef’s wildlife and a visible sign of coral stress.
Japan’s Iriomote eco-tourism plan lists Ida-no-Hama as a second special zone of the national park and an Important Wetland. It also notes a management challenge: boats crossing shallow coral can come close to swimmers.
