Minamidaitō Village

Minamidaitō is a village on an island of the same name in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. Other than its tiny neighbor Kitadaito, the nearest land is Okinawa island, about 400 km (240 mi) to the west. The island is known as Minamidaitō-jima (南大東島) and the village is Minamidaitō-son (南大東村). The name is also sometimes written as Minami Daito, or Minamidaitou. With 1400 inhabitants, it has about twice the population of nearby Kitadaito.

Minamidaito island was probably first discovered by the Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Later in 1820, it was found by a Russian sail ship Borodino and named South Borodino Island. The sharp cliffs surrounding it completely made it inaccessible to humans, until in 1900 a Japanese pioneering team from Hachijō Island became its first inhabitants, using it to grow sugarcane. Minamidaito continues to produce sugarcane as its main source of revenue; it also runs factories for refining the sugar and producing a unique brand of rum called Cor Cor.

As a tourist destination, Minamidaito is one for the adventurous - flight tickets are not cheap and ferries are few, but the fascinating ethnic nature, culture and hospitality of the place can easily make it worth the cost, even just for a weekend visit. Everything about Minamidaito is unique, from the unique cultural blend between Okinawa and its ancestral Hachijo to its unique fauna and flora. It is also home to Japan's largest weather station and Japan's shortest airline flight.