Ishigaki Yaima village, Open-air museum and theme park in Ishigaki, Japan.
Ishigaki Yaima Village is an open-air park in Ishigaki where four traditional Yaeyama houses have been moved and restored: the Makishi and Kishaba houses, both built in 1923, the Morita house from 1909 and the Ohama house from 1907. All four are registered tangible cultural properties. Two further reconstructed buildings, the farmer's house and the fisherman's house, display sugar-cane pressing with a buffalo-driven mill and traditional fishing gear.
The park opened on 11 March 1981 as the Yaeyama Folk Village, run by Meitetsu Real Estate of the Nagoya Railroad group. After the operator withdrew, the Uechi Group took over the business and has run it through Ayapani Co., Ltd. since 1 May 2003. It was renamed Ishigaki Yaima Village on 1 October 2008, once four old houses had been relocated and restored.
In the relocated houses visitors can try playing the sanshin, colouring a shisa figurine, making sata andagi or posing in Ryukyuan costume. The restored farmer's house demonstrates pressing sugar cane with a wooden mill turned by a water buffalo, while the fisherman's house displays traditional fishing gear and a stuffed sea turtle.
By car it is about 30 minutes from Ishigaki Airport and about 20 minutes from the Ishigaki Port Remote Island Terminal. By bus, take the Toku-un Bus Kabira Resort Line from Ishigaki Bus Terminal for 30 minutes and get off at the Yaima Village Entrance stop. The park is open from 9:00 to 17:30, with last entry at 17:00, and closes only for typhoons or similar conditions.
The grounds are home to around 60 squirrel monkeys that roam freely in designated areas and interact with visitors during feeding sessions. These curious animals are an unexpected highlight for many who visit.
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