Yubu Island, Botanical garden on Yubu Island, Yaeyama Islands, Japan

Yubu Island is a flat islet in the Yaeyama group featuring themed garden sections where over 30 varieties of bougainvillea, palm trees, and tropical plants grow side by side. The gardens are laid out in an easy-to-follow way, with paths connecting different planted areas throughout the small island.

People from Taketomi and Kuroshima, who farmed rice paddies on Iriomote, kept huts called tagoya on Yubu to avoid malaria. In 1947 settlers moved here permanently, growing pineapple and sugar cane and raising water buffalo. Typhoon Elsie submerged the island on 26 September 1969; in 1971 eleven households moved to Iriomote, leaving three. The botanical garden opened on 1 April 1981.

The name Yubu is thought to come from the local word for a sandbar, "yubu", since the islet formed from sand washed down from Iriomote's Yonara River. Islanders from Taketomi and Kuroshima once kept rice-field huts here, and the Taketomi-style seed-planting festival, Tanedue, was held on the island.

You can reach the island on foot from nearby Iriomote Island by walking through shallow water, with utility poles marking the route and making navigation straightforward. Wear water shoes or sturdy footwear to stay safe on the wet ground.

The island's permanent population was just 8 people as of May 2024, while the botanical garden's water buffalo outnumber the residents. On peak days around 1,117 visitors cross from Iriomote. The buffalo carts that carry them are the island's main attraction.