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Iriomote Ishigaki NP, Okinawa
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On Kondoi’s shore, Nīran Stone marks where gods from Niraikanai, the world beyond the sea, are said to moor with crop seeds. On the 8th day of lunar month 8, island priests welcome them in Yuunkai with song.
At low tide, an offshore sandbar appears at Kondoi, nicknamed the “phantom island.” The water can remain only ankle-deep far from shore, letting visitors wade across a sandy stretch that the rising tide later hides.
Kondoi’s coast was part of Taketomi’s pantry: islanders traditionally gathered beach plants and shellfish, and collected aosa seaweed, mozuku, octopus and small fish from nearby shallows and reefs.
The turquoise view opens onto a remarkable reef neighborhood: Taketomi’s surrounding waters hold more than 360 reef-building coral species. Kondoi and nearby Kaiji are designated second-class special zones of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park.
A local video reported a sea turtle laying eggs at Kondoi in 2019. Across Taketomi, residents have confirmed nesting by loggerhead, green and hawksbill turtles—three different visitors to the island’s sandy shores.
Many day-trippers leave on the last ferry, and Kondoi quiets after 17:00. Island residents also come at dusk with onigiri to watch the sunset, a local habit described by a leader of Taketomi’s conservation foundation.
Kondoi shares its shoreline with Taketomi’s free-roaming island cats. The local nature foundation calls them mayā and notes that they wander around the beach, harbor and village.
In 2022, Taketomi schoolchildren collected drift plastic between Kondoi and neighboring Kaiji Beach, then turned it into 40 turtle-shaped keyrings for an ethical shop—a beach cleanup transformed into a hands-on reuse project.
Behind Kondoi’s broad sand, a coastal forest still survives. Taketomi’s local plan names Hernandia among the beachside trees and describes woodland and sand together as one connected coastal landscape.
