What Is Ishigaki Yaima Village?
Ishigaki Yaima Village (石垣やいま村, Ishigaki Yaima-mura) is an open-air village on a hill at Nagura in Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture, built around Meiji- and Taishō-era houses moved out of Ishigaki town, and it first opened in 1981 as the Yaeyama Minzokuen folk park.
Four of its main houses are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan. The Former Makishi and Former Morita Family Residence main houses were registered on December 5, 2007; the Former Ohama and Former Kishaba Family Residence main houses followed on November 17, 2015. All four belong to Ayapani Co., Ltd., the company that runs the village. That is why the official names come in two flavors: the first pair still carries the old park name, Yaeyama Minzokuen, while the later pair carries the new one.
Yaima is the local word for Yaeyama, the island group at the far southwestern end of Japan. The village sits above Nagura Bay, right next to Nagura Anparu, a mangrove wetland listed under the Ramsar Convention.
From Folk Park to Ishigaki Yaima Village
According to the operator's company history, the Nagoya Railroad company opened Yaeyama Minzokuen in 1981. In 2003 the Uechi Group took over and set up Ayapani Co., Ltd., and in 2008 the park was renamed Ishigaki Yaima Village.
The houses arrived in two waves. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1980 as the year the Makishi house was moved here and 1984 for the Morita house; Ishigaki City's guide says both came from the Okawa district of town. The Ohama and Kishaba houses were moved in 2008, and the Agency describes both as homes that originally stood in central Ishigaki. None of the four, in other words, grew up on this hillside. They are town houses given a second life in the countryside.
One date does not line up. The operator's history puts the registration of the Makishi and Morita houses in 2008, while both the Agency database and Ishigaki City's list of cultural properties give December 5, 2007. This page follows the Agency.
Comparing the Four Houses at Ishigaki Yaima Village
All four are single-storey timber houses under tiled roofs, laid out in the Yaeyama manner: a row of front rooms called ichibanza, nibanza and sanbanza, back rooms (uraza) behind them, and a veranda wrapped by deep Amahaji eaves on the outside. The Ohama house dates from 1907, the Morita house from 1909, and the Makishi and Kishaba houses from 1923. Their building areas are 152 m² (Morita), 145 m² (Ohama), 123 m² (Makishi) and 118 m² (Kishaba).
The Agency reads each one differently. The Morita house is a large example of a traditional samurai-class (shizoku) home. The Ohama house has a known construction date and modern touches. The Makishi house is the living wing of a former clinic-and-residence, opened up by leaving out intermediate posts. The Kishaba house has an irregular plan, with its entrance at the back, and a busy, broken-up roof. Walk them in date order, Meiji first and Taishō last, and you can watch the old pattern bend to fit town life.
At Ishigaki Yaima Village you can step up into the rooms rather than just looking in from outside. The village also has a fisherman's house and a farmer's house, but these are reconstructions of ordinary rural homes; only the four main houses above are registered. Each has its own page with details of its structure and what to look for.
Visiting Ishigaki Yaima Village: Hours, Fees and Access
Ishigaki Yaima Village is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with last entry at 5:00 p.m. It opens every day of the year, though it may close for typhoons and other bad weather. Admission is 1,200 yen for adults (junior high school age and up) and 600 yen for children aged 3 through elementary school, with 10 percent off tickets bought on the official website. Your ticket lets you come and go as often as you like that day. The operator suggests allowing about an hour for the outdoor exhibits and the mangrove boardwalk.
By car the village is about 30 minutes from New Ishigaki Airport and about 20 minutes from the Ishigaki Port Remote Island Terminal, and there is parking for about 100 cars. Local buses stop at Motonagura, a 1-minute walk away, and at Yaimamura Iriguchi, a 7-minute walk. Services are sparse, so check the return times on the Azuma Bus timetable before you set out.
Personal photography needs no permission. The house rules ask visitors not to film other guests, not to climb the stone walls and not to fly drones. A folk song show is staged in the Makishi house four times a day (10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.), and the Ohama house hosts Ryukyuan costume dressing. If you want a quiet look at the rooms, plan around those times.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Yaeyama Minzokuen Former Makishi Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006670
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Yaeyama Minzokuen Former Morita Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006671
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Ishigaki Yaima Village Former Ohama Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010905
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Ishigaki Yaima Village Former Kishaba Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010906
- Ishigaki City: Designated and Registered Cultural Properties in Ishigaki (Japanese)
- https://www.city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/soshiki/bunkazaisisihennsyuka/bunakazaikinanbutu1/1_1/573.html
- Ishigaki City Board of Education: Cultural Properties of Ishigaki City (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/material/files/group/41/ishigaki_bunkazai_2021-update.pdf
- Ishigaki Yaima Village: Official Website (Japanese)
- https://www.yaimamura.com/
- Ishigaki Yaima Village: About the Village, Admission, Access and History (Japanese)
- https://www.yaimamura.com/aboutus/
- Ishigaki Yaima Village: Sights (Japanese)
- https://www.yaimamura.com/look/
- Ishigaki Yaima Village: FAQ (Japanese)
- https://www.yaimamura.com/faq/
- Ishigaki Yaima Village: Photography and Filming Rules (Japanese)
- https://www.yaimamura.com/appointment/
Last verified: 2026.10.05
Basic Information
| Name | Ishigaki Yaima Village |
|---|---|
| Location | 967-1 Nagura, Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture |
| Owner | Ayapani Co., Ltd. |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (4) |
| Coordinates | 24.40394, 124.14440 |
