Kerama Shotō National Park

The Kerama Islands lie in the East China Sea just west of Okinawa Island, visible from Naha on clear days. Four of them, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aka and Geruma, are inhabited; the rest are uninhabited islets and rocks surrounded by coral reefs. The park covers the islands and a large surrounding sea area, making it one of Japan's few national parks whose value lies chiefly under water.

Designated on 5 March 2014, Kerama Shotō was the first entirely new national park in Japan for 27 years. Its selection reflected a new emphasis on marine protection: the waters of Kerama combine outstanding transparency, dense and varied coral communities, a humpback whale breeding ground and nesting beaches for sea turtles. Local dive operators had already agreed rules to protect the reefs, and the coral waters were listed as a Ramsar wetland in 2005.

The islands also carry a painful memory. On 26 March 1945, US forces landed here at the start of the Battle of Okinawa, and hundreds of civilians on Tokashiki, Zamami and Geruma died in mass suicides under the pressure of the Japanese military.

The Kerama Islands are the tops of a drowned mountain range. Their western sides generally rise in steep cliffs, while the eastern shores slope gently into sheltered bays with white coral-sand beaches. Between the islands, narrow channels and shallow lagoons form a sheltered sea where coral reefs grow in exceptional variety.

The 'Kerama blue' comes from the absence of large rivers carrying sediment and the strong currents of the open ocean that keep the water clear; visibility often exceeds 30 m. Currents around the islands also carry coral larvae spawned here to other reefs of Okinawa, making Kerama an important source for their recovery.

Around 250 species of reef-building coral have been recorded in the Kerama waters, together with a great diversity of fish, sea turtles and seasonal visits by humpback whales. On land, the islands carry Ryukyu pine woods, subtropical scrub and coastal thickets of screw pine, with a few endemic animals such as the Kerama deer.

In the age of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Kerama Islands lay on the sea route to China, and their men were known as skilled sailors on the tribute ships. Later the islands prospered through bonito fishing and the production of dried bonito.

The Battle of Okinawa began here: on 26 March 1945 US forces landed on the Kerama Islands to secure an anchorage, and in the days that followed hundreds of civilians died in forced mass suicides. Memorials on the islands recall these events. Since the late 20th century, whale watching and diving have become the mainstay of island life, and residents have developed their own rules for sustainable use of the reefs.