Hatoma Island
About the Hatoma Island Camera
Hatoma is a very small island in the Yaeyama group, about 5.4 kilometres north of Iriomote and part of Taketomi Town. It covers under a square kilometre and had a population of 65 as of mid-2022, which makes it one of the smallest permanently inhabited islands in Japan carrying a live camera of its own.
The island is almost circular and flat around the rim, with a single low hill at the centre called Hatoma Nakamori, topped by the island's lighthouse. The village sits on the south side; the north was cleared long ago for farmland. Wild goats live on the island, and Hatoma Nakamori has been a Taketomi Town natural monument since August 1972.
What the camera mostly shows is water and weather, and that suits the place. Hatoma sits inside reef, so the near water shifts through pale turquoise to deep blue depending on light and depth. With no through traffic and no crowds, changes here are slow: tide, cloud, the colour of the sea. In typhoon season the same view becomes a useful read on how hard the Yaeyamas are being hit.
Highlights & Nearby
- •Watch for: reef colour shifting with light and tide, passing boats, weather over the Yaeyamas
- •Nearby: Iriomote Island, Taketomi, Ishigaki (ferry connections)
- •Note: ferries to Hatoma are limited and are suspended in rough seas, so a choppy picture usually means no sailings
