An interpretation plan for the Hirakubo Peninsula
The Hirakubo Peninsula lies at the northern tip of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa: untouched country, a rich web of living things, and one of the finest night skies in the world. A first step has now been taken towards holding sustainable tourism and the protection of this place together.
In March 2025, with the help of the Ministry of the Environment and of Outfitter Union, we drew up the Hirakubo Peninsula Interpretation Plan, setting out how the nature, culture and daily life of this place should be conveyed.
What is interpretation?
Interpretation is a way of conveying the value of nature and culture so that it is understood and felt. It is not simply the supply of information: through experiences that let a visitor feel, understand and identify with a place, it aims to change what they notice and how they behave.
What the plan is for
- To convey the value of what is here, in depth
Not merely to be looked at. By explaining why a particular view is special, and what people actually do here, we give visitors an experience that stays with them. - To make tourism sustainable
By improving visitors’ conduct and their awareness of the environment, we build a way of receiving tourism that this place can carry. - To rediscover local identity, and take pride in it
One of the plan’s central aims is that people here see afresh what is remarkable about where they live, and are able to pass it on.
From the opening of the plan
The Hirakubo Peninsula, reaching out from the north-east of Ishigaki Island, has an unhurried air quite unlike the busy tourist areas in the south of the island.
From the ridge that runs down its centre you can take in the coasts on both sides and the great reef in a single view, and feel the wind that crosses the island. Pasture and sugar cane spread gently along the foot of the hills. At night the sagaribana gives off its sweet scent and the sky draws out the Milky Way. Each of the five villages has its own beginnings and its own festivals.
What is ordinary on this peninsula is something you will not find anywhere else.
This booklet gathers the nature, culture and working life of the area into a number of stories, drawn from what many people in each village told us. We hope it helps us share what is particular about this ordinary life, and carry it carefully to the next generation.
How the plan will be used
Training local guides
- Interpretation training for people here who know the nature and culture of Hirakubo well.
- Storytelling tourism, told and handed on by local people themselves.
Environmental education for children
- Teaching materials on the night sky and the natural world, developed with the primary and junior high schools.
- Passing on the ability to speak for the treasures of one’s own place.
A bridge between the community and its visitors
This plan is not only about delivering information to visitors. It reflects the voices and intentions of the people who live here, and is meant to build something in which the coexistence of people, nature and culture can actually be felt.
Looking ahead: a new shape for Ishigaki, beginning at Hirakubo
What is being done on this peninsula could in time become a model for the whole island — carrying the knowledge and the beauty of an island that lives alongside nature, carefully, to people beyond it. This plan is the first step.
Hirakubo Peninsula Interpretation Plan — a guide to nature and daily life
The plan (in Japanese) can be read by clicking the image below.
