Sakishima Islands

group of islands in East Asia

island group

Japanese island group

thumb|right|250px|Sotobanari (Image courtesy of National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan)|Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) is one of the Yaeyama Islands, within the Sakishima Islands, at the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands. It is to the west of Iriomote Island, its nearest large neighbour. It is administered as part of the town of Taketomi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The small island (about 1 km; 1000 yards in diameter), whose name means outer distant island, is vegetated, but has

endangered Japonic languages of Okinawa prefecture, Japan

17th-century Japanese coastal observatory structures