JapanIslandUNESCO World Heritage
Amami Ōshima
713 km² rising to 694 m out of the East China Sea.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
713km²
Area
487km
Coastline
694m
Highest point
Mount Yuwan
66,000
People
29°C
Warmest sea
August
680km
To the mainland
When to go to Amami Ōshima
Best for the beach from June to September and in November.
The sea is warmest in August (29 °C) and coolest in February (21 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island within Ryukyu Islands
Amami Ōshima is an island in Japan. It covers 713 km², with 487 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Yuwan, rises to 694 m. About 66,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 680 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there
- Amami Airport (ASJ)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire at ASJ airport (Amami)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Ferries7 ferry terminals on the island
- 680 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From June to September and Novemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Amami Ōshima.
- 51beachesHonohoshi Coast, Yadori Beach and 49 more
- 16viewpointsDaikuma Observatory Point, Cycad Habitat and 14 more
- 8lighthouses
- 7ferry terminals
- 26named peaksMt. Yuwan, Mt. Kanengo, Mt. Takabachi and 23 more
- 4waterfallsMateriya Waterfall, Arangachi Waterfall and 2 more
- 5ruins and archaeological sitesThe Remains of Nanshu Saigo (Site of Saigo and Aikana's House) and 4 more
- 3dive centresDiving Shop Endless Blue
- 2campsites
- 43hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 156restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Amami Ōshima in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Amami Ōshima, each with its own numbers.
1beachCoastya
1waterfallCascadyas
Beach with the warmest sea
28.7°C
Shinokawa Wan
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
1 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Fūchiburu Falls
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 172 m above the sea. 60 % of it is below 200 m.
- 18 %0–50 m
- 42 %50–200 m
- 40 %200–500 m
- <1 %500–1,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Amami41,390 people
- Naze41,365 people
- Seisui8,546 people
- Tatsugō5,992 people
- Uken1,843 people
- Yamatohama1,364 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 18 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 23 | 19 |
| Night low (°C) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 17 |
| Sea (°C) | 22 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 23 |
| Rain (mm) | 81 | 76 | 118 | 164 | 238 | 353 | 157 | 158 | 171 | 134 | 95 | 87 |
| Wet days | 15 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 24 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 2.1 |
| Wind (km/h) | 27 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 25 | 24 | 27 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | −0.2 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +1.4 | −0.2 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.5 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.5 | +0.7 | +0.7 | −0.1 | −0.1 |
| 2022 | −0.1 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | +1.0 | +0.5 | −0.2 | +0.2 | +1.2 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | +0.2 | −0.4 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +1.4 | +1.8 | +1.0 | +1.6 | +2.0 | +0.7 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | +0.1 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +1.2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +2.3 | +1.4 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
TokunoshimaJapan248 km²645 m67 km away
Kikai IslandJapan57 km²211 m61 km away
OkinoerabujimaJapan94 km²240 m129 km away
OkinawaJapan1,210 km²503 m244 km away
YakushimaJapan505 km²1,936 m257 km away
IejimaJapan23 km²172 m234 km away
Kuchinoerabu IslandJapan36 km²657 m254 km away
TanegashimaJapan445 km²282 m299 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q697278) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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