Mount Nosokodake Ishigaki

Mount Nosokodake Ishigaki

This is the view, looking north, from Mount Nosoko, sometimes referred to as Nosokodake, and also known as Nosoko Mape, on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa.

It is somewhat unusually shaped with a very steep peak.

Topped with a rocky outcropping, there are fantastic 360 degree views .

At 282 meters, it is not very high, but is still the second highest mountain on Ishigaki, after Mount Omoto, which at 525 meters in height is also the highest mountain in all of Okinawa.

A road goes up to about 200 meters altitude and from there, a sometimes steep trail takes you up to the apex.

The name Nosoko Mape comes from a local folk tale and song about a girl called Mape from nearby Kuroshima Island and her forced separation from her fiancee when half of the islanders were forced to move to the area around Nosodake in 1732 in order to "develop" the land to raise enough tax revenue to pay the Japanese Satsuma Clan who invaded Okinawa in the early 17th century.

The previous post in this series on Okinawa was on some of Ishigaki's lovely beaches.

Buy Ishigaki Bath Salts from Okinawa