Miyako Island · East endNo.662★★★Open in map →
Cape Higashi-Hennazaki
— Miyako's eastern spit and climbable lighthouse
A narrow limestone spit running off the eastern end of Miyako Island, with open water on both sides for its whole length. A lighthouse stands at the tip, and the designation of National Place of Scenic Beauty covers the headland.
- FromMiyako Airport (rental-car and taxi desks)
- ~40 minRental car or taxi from Miyako Airport
- Cape Higashi-Hennazaki
Where it is
4 more notes in Okinawa · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The car park lookoutthe first view down the spit, with both shorelines visible from one spot
- The Easter lily slopesopen limestone ground where white teppo-yuri lilies come out in spring
- Mamuya's gravea rock-shelter tomb near the point, tied to a Miyako legend of a doomed attachment
- Hennazaki Lighthousea ninety-seven step spiral stair up to a gallery above the point
How to actually get there
- Miyako Airport → Higashi-Hennazaki car park (rental car or taxi, roughly 35 to 40 minutes east).
- Car park → the lookout at the landward end, where both shorelines come into view at once.
- Lookout → the point, passing the lily slopes and the rock shelter known as Mamuya's grave.
- The point → the lighthouse gallery, up the spiral stair, then back along the same route.
- Rental car or taxi from Miyako Airport
- Miyako Airport →(east across the island by road, roughly 35 to 40 minutes)→ the Higashi-Hennazaki car park. Rental-car desks are inside the terminal and taxis wait outside. There is no scheduled bus to the cape, so settle the return leg at the same time as the outward one.
- Return to the airport or Hirara
- The same road back takes about the same time. If you came by taxi, agree the pick-up before the driver leaves — the car park is a long way from the nearest rank, and it empties quickly once the light goes.
About the place
Higashi-Hennazaki is a ridge of Ryukyu limestone that reaches about two kilometres out from the eastern end of Miyako Island, and it is narrow enough that both shorelines stay in view for the whole length of it. Raised coral makes the ground: a flat top pitted with hollows and small caves, dropping away to the sea on either side. A paved walking route runs out to the lighthouse at the point, and a car park with toilets and a seasonal kiosk sits at the landward end. The headland is a National Place of Scenic Beauty, and it also appears on the national list of a hundred notable urban parks.
How to enjoy it
The lighthouse opens for a morning session from 9:30 until noon and again after 13:00, with the closing hour set by the season and by whether it is a weekday, and admission stopping a little before that. Walk out first and climb second, so that you already know the shape of the spit by the time you step onto the gallery.
Background & history
The lighthouse was first lit on 27 March 1967, while Okinawa was still under American administration; its present name dates from the transfer of the lights to the Japan Coast Guard after the 1972 handover. Older than either is the story attached to a rock shelter near the point, known as the grave of Mamuya, a woman of local legend whose attachment to a Miyako chieftain ended badly. The wind-shorn plant community on the limestone top is protected as a prefectural natural monument.
Before you go
- Cash
- The headland, the car park and the walking route are free. Climbing the lighthouse costs 300 yen for junior-high age and above, taken at the door; primary-school children and younger go free. Bring cash, as the kiosk at the car park is seasonal.
- Before you go
- Lighthouse hours differ between summer and winter and admission stops shortly before closing. The spit is exposed on both sides, Miyako sits in the typhoon track from summer into autumn, and the route is no place to be in strong wind. There is no lighting after dark.
- Another way
- Coming from central Hirara rather than the airport, the drive east follows the same road network and takes a little longer; the cape is at the far end of the island whichever direction you start from.
- After you get off
- Miyako Airport is the transfer point, not the trailhead — the cape is at the opposite end of the island and no walking route connects the two. From the car park at the landward end of the spit, the paved route out to the lighthouse is level and short, with the sea in sight on both sides the whole way.