The Yaeyama Islands (八重山諸島 Yaeyama-shotō) are an archipelago in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The remotest and most southwestern part of Japan, the islands are closer to Taiwan than to Okinawa Island, much less the Japanese mainland.
The islands form the southern part of the Sakishima Islands. The administrative division of Yaeyama District covers all of the Yaeyama Islands except Ishigaki and the disputed Senkaku Islands.
Culture
The Yonaguni language is the indigenous language of Yonaguni, and the Yaeyama language is the indigenous language of the rest of the islands. However, both languages are in decline and are being increasingly supplanted by standard Japanese.
Islands
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