Tourists to be asked to pay 300 yen entrance fee to Taketomi Island to be used for environmental preservation
September 7, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
(Taketomi Island, Taketomi) September 1 marked the start of a new system in which tourists visiting Taketomi Island of Taketomi Town are asked to voluntarily pay 300 yen as an island entrance fee, and tourists on their way to Taketomi Island could be seen purchasing island entrance tickets one after another.
On the same day, a commencement ceremony was held at the Ishigaki Port Outlying Island Terminal on Ishigaki Island and on Taketomi Island.
The island entrance fee can be paid at ticket machines installed at the Outlying Islands Terminal and at the Taketomi Port Terminal.
The island entrance fees paid will be used for activities to maintain and preserve the island’s scenery and nature, and some will be allocated to a movement to buy back land.
At the ceremony, town mayor Kojun Nishiomasu made a call for support, saying, “I want to work together with all of you to make Taketomi Island the best place in Japan.
I want to ask for the support of many people.
” Taketomi Community Center director Shousei Uchimori greeted participants saying, “I want to endeavor to create an environment unique to Taketomi Island in which humans and nature can coexist.”
“I hope they use it to protect the old-style island streetscape,” said Ryoichiro Sakamoto, 38, of Gunma, as he paid the island entrance fee at the Outlying Island Terminal prior to traveling to Taketomi Island.
(English translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)
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