Best hotels in Yaeyama Islands

10 minutes by ferry from Ishigaki, Taketomi Island sits in Okinawa's Yaeyama archipelago and is home to just 400 people, a handful of red-roofed hamlets, and now a fourth village built specifically to match the others. HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island had to follow the same building code as its neighbours: Ryukyu limestone walls, coral-sand paths, terracotta roofs guarded by squat little shisa lions. Inside, though, it's all soft linens, deep soaking tubs and a 46-metre pool shaded by banyan trees. Chef Tatsuo Nakasu cooks Okinawan seafood through a French lens, and after dark, the island's Dark Sky status means the stars do most of the talking. Slow travel, done properly.

Ishigaki sits at the southern tip of Japan, where the Yaeyama Islands trail off towards Taiwan and coral reefs turn the sea into something closer to stained glass. On a forested cliff at the island's less-crowded northern end, JUSANDI is a five-villa retreat named after yusandi, the local word for sunset, and it takes watching that sunset seriously. Architect Norihiko Dan built the place in whitewashed curves that somehow don't look out of place against the palms and Ryukyu limestone. A three-minute walk through the forest delivers you to a blue cave that feels more like a secret than a tourist stop. It's become something of a honeymoon institution here, for good reason.

Nestled at the southernmost point of Japan’s Okinawa region, ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort is a haven of natural beauty. Boasting endless horizons of azure water, the luxury resort offers direct access to Maesato Beach, while indoor and outdoor pools mean you can swim all year round. The restaurants serve delicious Japanese and global dishes, and the spacious Maesato Ballroom is ideal for conferences and banquets.

Hoshino Resorts Iriomote Hotel sits where the jungle simply refuses to stop – 4,850 species crammed onto a UNESCO-listed island, with Tsukigahama Beach as your front garden and the elusive Iriomote cat somewhere out there in the dark. Kayak the mangroves at dawn, chase waterfalls by day, and in June and July, cruise out to watch sagaribana flowers bloom and vanish before sunrise.

No in-room TVs, no toothbrushes left lying about – small, deliberate nods to the wild you came for. Evenings mean stargazing and sparkling wine on the sand. Come for the jungle, not the pool.