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Iriomote Ishigaki NP, Okinawa
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At about 55 m, Pinaisara is Okinawa Prefecture’s highest waterfall. Its name combines pinai (“beard”) and sāra (“something hanging down”)—a fitting description of the white stream against the green mountain.
Pinaisara spills from a vertical cliff more than 200 m wide, yet the waterfall itself divides into just 2 slender streams. Huge boulders gather beneath its roughly 55 m drop—a striking contrast of massive rock and delicate water.
Local tradition describes Pinaisara as a sacred place where a water deity with a white beard resides. The story echoes the waterfall’s name and its long, pale stream, which looks like a beard from a distance.
The route to the falls passes from Funaura Bay’s tidal flats and mangroves through wetlands and subtropical evergreen forest to a freshwater stream. In a short stretch, visitors encounter several of Iriomote’s distinctive environments.
In the Hinai River mangroves, the amphibious mudskipper hops across the mud instead of staying underwater. Its local Yaeyama name is ton ton mii—a cheerful little sound for a fish on the move.
Along the Hinai River, fallen mangrove leaves feed snails, mud clams and crabs; their scraps help nourish plankton, which in turn feed fish sheltering among the tangled roots. The forest’s litter becomes part of a living food web.
Since March 1, 2025, the Hinai River field that includes Pinaisara Falls has had a limit of 200 entrants per day. Visitors need advance approval and a registered guide—a local conservation measure for one of Iriomote’s busiest nature areas.
