ISLE OF THE STARS

Located right off the northern tip of Okinawa but administered by Kagoshima Prefecture, Yoron is a tranquil island of color known for its “Yoron Blue” waters, white beaches and green landscapes. But some of the best parts of this popular travel destination aren’t on or around the island itself but rather high above it. In recent years, to lessen their reliance on summertime tourism, Yoron has embraced its greatest all-year resource: the island’s starry sky, deemed the clearest in the country by the Environment Ministry.

“The starry sky of Yoron is characterized by low levels of interfering light sources as there are no big cities nearby and the island is surrounded by the sea. Also, because there are no tall buildings or mountains around, the sky is more open, so more stars are visible at any given time,” explained Yasuhiro Hashimoto, head of the Night Sky Walking Guides Association, a group of experts better known as “Star Sommeliers.” They’re one of the keys to the growing popularity of Yoron’s unique nighttime tourism.

While Yoron is free of any dangerous fauna, some travelers may feel anxious about navigating an unfamiliar terrain amid the island’s signature darkness. And while information about the best stargazing spots on Yoron is readily available, it all ultimately depends on the weather conditions of the day, making the local Star Sommeliers the best source of information about the island’s literal highlights. Besides directions, some tours also provide telescopes and projectors, as well as accurate astronomical and mythological information thanks to Yoron’s guide certification program.

“We signed a cooperation agreement with the Faculty of Tourism at Wakayama University in 2019 to promote our starry sky,” said Yuichiro Fumoto, a section manager in the town of Yoron’s Commerce, Industry and Tourism Division. “One of the initiatives we agreed on was a training program that would produce guides with a certain level of expertise. Thanks to this, our Star Sommelier tours are now recommended to everyone from beginners to those with some astronomical knowledge.” Wakayama University is additionally aiding Yoron in maintaining this tourism resource by helping them eliminate light pollution.

Much like sommelier, the word pollution conjures up certain images that rarely include the stars. But the reason why stargazing tourism is becoming more and more popular not just on Yoron but all around the world is because modern life is increasingly bright, drowning out the sparkling concerto of the night with electric lights.

“We’re not just focused on creating tours or training guides but also on preserving our star-viewing environment and culture,” Fumoto explained. This includes the automatic monitoring of light levels around popular stargazing sites and changing the angle of public lights to 90 degrees so they don’t point at the sky. Even the color of these light sources is taken into consideration. “We’re replacing our current infrastructure with one that produces orange light that doesn’t scatter much,” he said.

Thanks to these efforts, tourists can now enjoy such sights as “the denser parts of the Milky Way or Jupiter,” Hashimoto said. “Depending on the season, you can enjoy Yoron’s starry sky as early as 7:30 p.m., making it ideal for all travelers, including families with children.” Yoron Island can be reached by plane from Naha in Okinawa or Kagoshima in Kyushu.

This article is sponsored by the Yoron Municipal Government.