Ishigaki jima

Dining on famed Okinawa soba and coffee kakigori. Secret breakfast tofu sets in the heart of inaka.

Hours under the sea at Yonehara beach befriending schools of luminous species. 

Eye-swimming in Kabira bay's turquoise sea and moonscape coral seen through glass-bottomed boats. Stray David Bowie eyed cats beg for a lick of ben-imo soft cream.

Cycling around Taketomi island, counting 'shisa' lined roofs, swerving ox, searching for star shaped sand.

 Dusk snorkelling at Sunset Beach in the company of poisonous yet shy scorpion fish and bikini-matching zebra varieties.

*Ishigaki jima is a short flight south from mainland Okinawa, closer to Taiwan and China, geographically and culturally, than the rest of Japan, and absolute paradise.