Life and Rituals in the Yaeyama Islands (Photos)

Junior high school students performing at a sea god festival on Ishigakijima.

Water buffalos on Taketomijima. The animals were brought to the Yaeyama Islands from Taiwan when it was a Japanese colony.

Children returning home from school on Ishigakijima.

A boat rests off Hatomajima. Fishers catch fish and octopuses within the shallow reef.

The Funauki district of Iriomotejima has just one elementary student (pictured) and one junior high school student.

An utaki sacred space on Taketomijima.

A harvest festival on Kuroshima. According to local beliefs, gods bring fertility from the Niraikanai paradise on the other side of the sea.

The barber’s shop on Taketomijima only opens for a few days every month.

Following a festival on Iriomotejima, performers sing folk songs and play the sanshin (a traditional instrument similar to the shamisen).

Dragon boats representing west and east race each other in a harvest festival on Hatomajima.

This boy sweeps sand off the path every morning on Taketomijima.

In this ceremony during an Iriomotejima festival, participants sing as they carry paddles.

A high school girl holding a sanshin at an Ishigakijima harvest festival.

Parrotfish caught near Hatomajima.

A traditional house on Haterumajima.

Hatomajima, as seen from the air on the way to Yonagunijima.

This Iriomotejima festival is designated as an important intangible folk culture asset.

A traditional settlement on Taketomijima.

A baby goat, born around two week earlier, on Hatomajima.

A girl practices the sanshin beside the sea on Hatomajima.