Yaeyama Islands
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The Yaeyama Islands (八重山諸島 Yaeyama-shotō Yaeyama: Yaima Okinawan: Ēma) are an archipelago in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The remotest and most southwestern inhabited islands of Japan, the Yaeyamas are closer to Taiwan than to Okinawa Island, much less the Japanese mainland.
The islands form the southern part of the Ryukyu Islands. The administrative division of Yaeyama District covers all of the Yaeyama Islands except Ishigaki and the disputed Senkaku Islands.
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[edit] Culture
The Yonaguni language is the indigenous language of Yonaguni, and the Yaeyama language is the indigenous language of the rest of the islands. Japanese is widely spoken as a second language.
[edit] Rites Particular to Yaeyama
14 July: Mushaama Festival. On Hateruma Island, this harvest festival is celebrated during Obon. Its notable features include a parade of the local fertility god Miruku and his children (the local children), shishi ("lion") dances, and staff dances.
