Ishigaki Island
Ishigaki Island (or 石垣島 'Ishigaki-jima') is an island west of Okinawa and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago. Much of the island and surrounding waters, including Mount Omoto and Kabira Bay, are protected as part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park. Ishigaki Island, like the rest of Okinawa, takes cultural influences from both Japan and China due to its location between China and mainland Japan.
Open Water Swimming
Steven Munatones swam 38 km in 10 hours 16 minutes in an unprecedented marathon swim between Iriomote Island, Ishigaki Island and Taketomi Island televised on Japan's NHK-TV on 22 October 1993 with Professor Ishikawa of Kagawa University onboard as a researcher, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Famer Yuko Matsuzaki onboard as the observer, and Joseph Munatones as his crew chief. Munatones started on Fusaki Beach on Ishigaki on a 38 km crossing between Ishigaki, Iriomote Island and Taketomi Island that took 10 hours 16 minutes to complete the Okinawa Triangle Swim. From Fusaki Beach on Ishigaki, Munatones swam northward past Kohama island to land on the eastern side of Iriomote Island at low tide. From Iriomote, he swam eastwards towards Taketomi Island and then northwards to Ishigaki to finish at the start on Fusaki Beach.
External links
- Unique Japanese Words That Open Water Swimmers Can Appreciate
- From Beaches in Okinawa to Vortex Pools in Tokyo, NOWS Events Are Cool
- Blue or Green? What Are The Colors Of The Sea?
- 生き甲斐 - Living Well Around The Open Water
- The Coastal Framework Of Copacabana Beach
- The Shark Diver Controversy In Ocean Swimming
- Living Well Around The Open Water
- World Open Water Swimming Association
- Hanging Around Hammerheads
- How Technology Changes Things In The Open Water
- Mini Channel Swimming Around The World
