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Iriomote Ishigaki NP, Okinawa
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A 5–10 cm plant discovered near Omoto in 2016 has no chlorophyll and gets nutrients from fungi; its purple flowers are just 2 mm wide. It was named Omotoso after the place where it was found.
The Asahina skipper, sometimes called a “living fossil,” lives only on Ishigaki and Iriomote. Near Omoto’s summit, its bamboo-eating caterpillars grow—and the adults appear for just a few weeks in May.
Omoto’s influence reaches the dinner table: Ishigaki awamori called Omoto Homura is made with natural water from the Omoto range and filtered through charcoal made from the island’s casuarina trees.
One proposed origin of Omoto is the Yaeyama word ufutuu, meaning “the island’s great tree.” Old records wrote the mountain’s name in several ways, including 宇武登, 宇木 and 於木.
At 525.8 m, Omoto is Okinawa Prefecture’s highest summit—and it stands on Ishigaki, not Okinawa Island. Even this modest mountain earns the prefecture’s elevation crown.
After a difficult search for a source, Omoto water reached Ishigaki town on May 29, 1953; the breakthrough was celebrated with a costume parade. A 2024 city plan lists 12,200 m³/day from the Omoto source.
Omoto appears in ancient Ryukyuan ritual songs and Yaeyama creation traditions. A folk song from Kohama Island, “Omotodake ayō,” sings of looking west across the sea from the mountain’s summit.
Kabira’s rice-growing traditions have long looked toward Omoto: documented rites sought rain and spring water, while a first-ear ceremony called sukuma welcomed rice ears into the paddies.
A geological switch shapes the landscape from Omoto to nearby Kabira Bay: granite intrusions are concentrated around Omoto and Maedake, while limestone and sand deposits build the coastal scenery.
In June 1945, the Japanese 45th Independent Mixed Brigade moved its headquarters into Omoto’s mountains. A newly built Yaeyama girls’ school was dismantled for building materials before it held a class.
