【National Designation：Place of Scenic Beauty/Natural Monument】Yabiji

There are various views on the origin of the name Yabiji. Some say it is because Yabiji is made up of eight coral reefs, and others say it is formed from layers of reefs. There are variations to what it is called depending on the locations. For example, it is called Yabiji on Ikema Island and Shimajiri, and in Karimata, it is called Yapiji. In 1999, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan called for a unified name upon the publication of 1/25,000 scale mapping of Yabiji, and Hirara City (present Miyakojima City) decided to make Yabiji the official name as it was called so in Ikema Island, the closest to Yabiji, and also because municipal events used the name as well. A traditional custom called Sanitsu remains where women gather to drive off bad luck, held when the tidal wave range is the greatest in the year, on March 3 on the lunar calendar (around the beginning of April in the Gregorian calendar). Reaching Yabiji is limited to when the tide is low, and such natural conditions make the location even more alluring.