Hirakubosaki, Ishigaki. Hirakubosaki is at the very northern tip of Ishigaki-jima and is a popular tourist site. This place was very windy. When I went to Hawaii a few years ago, my friend took me to Pali Lookout. It was windy as hell there. For those that have been there....imagine 5 times windier. At one time I had to actually get down to the ground so I would'nt blow off of one of the hills.
A cow at Taketomi-jima.

Kabirawan, Ishigaki.
This izakaya (japanese style restaurant/bar) lets customers pin anything up on their walls. Name cards, money, photos, phone numbers, tickets,....anythinq and everything. I've seen places that pin up money but not as cool as this place.

これってシーサー？

Okinawa shiisa (the home lion-dog guardian...things) are awesome! Some people have one on their roof. Some have a pair at their entrance. Some have 'em inside...And every island has their own style. One unique thing about Ishigaki is their shiisa. They are the most colorful and look friendlier than the other island's shiisa. This place made all sorts of shiisa. Some, I'm sure weren't even that and just figures made up because the creator got bored of making just lion-dogs.

Apologies for taking so long on getting my Okinawa pics up.

This was the very first day of our trip to Ishigaki-jima just about an hour after picking up the rent-a-car. It was the first blue sky to peak out from the clouds. We really lucked out on the weather. It rained the day before and didn't rain 'til the 2nd night at Ishigaki (for about an hour). Other than that though, it was real nice...maybe a bit on the chilly side at times.