LOVE ♥ Okinawa Heart Spot - From Heart Rock shown in Commercials to Secret Spots

LOVE ♥ Okinawa Heart Spot - From Heart Rock shown in Commercials to Secret Spots
Kiora
Kiora 
Updated
| 6 min read

Kouri-jima’s Heart Rock suddenly rose to fame as a popular tourist attraction when it appeared in a commercial with the popular idol group Arashi. I’m sure many of you saw the commercial and are planning to go there sometime. The heart-shape naturally formed is quite romantic, after all. But if you look, there’s still more than that. Okinawa’s Heart Spots!! Your navigator, a self-proclaimed heart hunter (!?), Kiora will today introduce the Love & Cute heart spots in Okinawa.

Kouri-jima’s Heart Rock! Rises to Fame Thanks to Arashi

love ♥ okinawa heart spot - from heart rock shown in commercials to secret spots | kouri-jima’s heart rock! rises to fame thanks to arashi

Kouri-jima’s Heart Rock is everyone’s go-to destination right now for Okinawa. The 5 members of Arashi made the site famous when they appeared in an airline company’s commercial. They’re sure a popular bunch, this Arashi! Every day more and more tourists want to see Arashi fans and the Heart Rock on this little beach on this little island with only a circumference of 8km.

Kouri-jima is an island that just became accessible to the Okinawan main island by the opening of the Kouri Bridg, which runs over the sea, in 2005. This remote island is thus accessible by car for you to spend plenty of time relaxing at the extraordinarily clean beach. The legend of Adam and Eve remains on this island, and so it is also called Kuijima (Lover’s Island). There are two heart rocks that can be seen from the same place, making this a very romantic spot. It was thought of in the past as a “sacred place for lovers” and has been popular but there’s been an explosion of popularity thanks to the commercial. There are many people who park on the street, and many days where traffic gets congested. Please use a paid parking lot for your car. And if you go early in the morning, it will be quite empty.

Well, I’d like to take up the next popular Okinawan Heart Spot. Whether you look to the earth, the sea, or the sky, there are still more hearts on Okinawa to be found.

Miraculous Heart Born From a Combination of Cities and Towns

love ♥ okinawa heart spot - from heart rock shown in commercials to secret spots | miraculous heart born from a combination of cities and towns

Nanjo, Okinawa is located on the main Okinawan island about 30 minutes by car from Naha City. It’s a lush city full of historic landmarks and locations sacred in legends on how the Ryukyu islands were created with an ocean cafe overlooking the beautiful blue coastline and beach.

Nanjo is a new city born on 1/1/2006 as a union of 4 neighboring towns and villages. Purely by chance, this union also made this town take on the shape of a heart. On their 5th anniversary this unexpected heart geography became the brand for Nango, now known as “Heart City.”

In Nanjo, I suggest making a trip where the heart embraces “Nanjo Style.” Beginning with Okinawa’s foremost sacred site, Sefa-utaki, it’s a journey of healing as you visit the sacred sites within the city. There’s Chinenmisaki Park overlooking the beautiful coastline and morning yoga on the pure white sandy beach where the gods created the world, according to Okinawan legend. This is a town with a lot of heart for those who wish to enjoy a slightly different trip to Okinawa.

Paradise of Cows and Sea Turtles, ○○ of Hearts!?

love ♥ okinawa heart spot - from heart rock shown in commercials to secret spots | paradise of cows and sea turtles, ○○ of hearts!?

The next Heart Spot has sea turtles for its keyword!? This isn’t to say that somehow their shells look like hearts. Much like the City of Hearts, Nanjo, this island, untouched and left natural, where sea turtles come to lay their eggs and where there are more cows than people has its heart-shaped geography as its selling point.

The name of the island is Kurojima. It’s one of the Yaeyama Islands. It’s a small, remote island with the circumference of about 12km with population of 200 people and 2,000 cows. It has the greatest coral reef in Japan, which surrounds the island, and is surrounded by the best ocean waters for snorkeling and diving with colorful tropical fish. If you’re calm enough, you might even meet a turtle while you swim.

This island also has entertainment at night. You can get a perfect view of the starry sky with so many stars it looks like rain. The Yaeyama Islands, including Kurojima, are not effected by the atmospheric current and so it’s said that it’s the “best night sky in Japan” because the atmosphere doesn’t get in the way of the shining stars. From the southern tip of Japan you can see the Southern Cross, difficult to see on Honshu (the main island of Japan), the bright Canopus, and Rigel Kentaurus.

Access to Kurojima is a 30 minute ferry ride from Ishigaki-jima. Since you’re crossing by sea you can’t see the island’s heart shape but it has many repeat visitors as a heartful island that heals both the mind and body.

Cute Form of a Sea of Hearts

love ♥ okinawa heart spot - from heart rock shown in commercials to secret spots | cute form of a sea of hearts
Source: SHIGIRA RESORT

Next up is the heart of Miyako-jima. Here there is a heart rock that is always underwater and can only be seen when the tide ebbs. Erosion from the waves has given it a naturally-made and adorable heart shape. It’s located at the premises of the Ueno German Culture village. Get the right timing for the ebb tide only lasts about 3 hours. Since this means you can’t see it anytime, be sure to check out the tide table on the Miyako-jima tourism association’s website under the below. You can walk to this spot from the closest resort hotel, Hotel Breeze Bay Marina. You may be able to enjoy the sight during both the early morning and evening so this is the best hotel to use so you’re within walking distance.

And Miyako-jima has one more heart spot. In the north of Miyako-jima, cross the Ikema Oohashi bridge that continues up Ikema-jima and on your left-hand side you can see Ikidzu Beach, which also has a heart rock carved into the shape. Here too, what you see changes based on the tide. It’s been featured on some television dramas too!

Be sure to visit the 2 heart rocks on Miyako-jima as you cross through Okinawa’s blue oceans.

This Heart Leads to Niraikanai (World of the Gods)!!

this heart leads to niraikanai (world of the gods)!!

Lastly, I will introduce to you the heart rock that is high above the Pacific Ocean and can look above into the heart sky. This location has many historic landmarks for Ryukyu legends and history. It’s the ruins of the castle Tamagusu, in the heart terrain of Nanjo. It’s Okinawa’s oldest site for a castle, considered to have been built by Amamikiyo, the Ryukyu goddess of creation.

You want to make sure you pay attention to the castle gate carved out of large fieldstone. It’s said that Niraikanai (the goddess of the world) communicates from here in the eastern-facing opening. You can also see Kudakashima, which is believed to be the island of the gods. Do you see the heart shape in the castle gate? Just by chance, the cloud floating in the blue sky beyond is also heart-shaped.

This site hasn’t been officially declared as a heart. But it’s a Kiora-authorized secret spot. It seems it’s still unknown as to whether this shape was intentional or natural. For those of you who want to see further mystical spectacles, be sure to come in the early morning during the summer solstice. The morning sun fits through the castle gate as it rises in the east and you can witness as it mysteriously shines.

Go to these Heart Spots and Smile

The ♥ is a symbol of the heart. I’m sure there must be many women who use ♥ when they encounter something happy or cute, whether it be in emails or letters. And the heart shape can somehow make us smile. Don’t you feel better when you order a latte art at a cafe and it has a heart in it?

You may say, “Again?” when there’s another “Sacred Spot for Lovers” found because nature has coincidentally created a heart-shaped pattern. But looking at these somehow lifts the spirits for these are power spots!! So why don’t you try to go to these heart spots as a heart hunter on your next Okinawan trip?

Disclosure: Trip101 selects the listings in our articles independently. Some of the listings in this article contain affiliate links.

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