Message from Superintendent of the Miyakojima City Board of Education

To more familiar island, Miyakojima.

In recent years, Okinawa Prefecture has seen a great demand for tourism not only from within Japan but from overseas travelers as well, and improvements and work have been conducted at various tourist attractions on Okinawa Island. Even with the decline in the overall tourism market due to the impact of the lackluster economy, Miyakojima has become a popular destination with tourists visiting Okinawa Island with the start of LCC flights, as a reasonably accessible outer island to add to their trip.
Particularly, tourist demand is on the rise with travelers looking to visit our sanctuaries and sacred sites, or Power Spot Tours, where visitors come to visit our unique culture, and such inquiries about our cultural properties are also increasing.

Ayantsu; Connecting the Past, Present and Future

In response to such demands, we started the Miyakojima City Neo Historic and Cultural Road Improvement Project. Utilizing the special subsidies for the promotion of Okinawa, this project began in 2012 of the Japanese fiscal year, working on the Ayantsu, a touring course that focuses on the cultural properties that are unique to Miyako Island, found at various locations in the city’s former municipalities. Our objective is to revive the wisdom of our forefathers and the cultural assets which have been passed on along the generations, and to create a new tourism resource which will introduce these locations and cultures to our visitors and to widely utilize our heritage.
We anticipate the development of a new perspective in adding history and culture to the already popular assets of people, nature and food, the other points of interest on Miyako Island, an island of tourism.

Introducing a new travel tool

Ayantsu; Miyakojima City Neo Historic and Cultural Road, the application system introduced on this portal site is available through Smartphone and tablets, inviting visitors to tour the courses that have been improved in our project. This application is available in both platforms of Android and iOS, and is able to introduce the courses using GPS functions, and provides the user with descriptions and explanations on the locations through movie contents.
The application offers a fun way to get to know our cultural assets through quizzes found along the courses. Answer them correctly and with AR functions, take pictures with Miya, the mascot character of Miyakojima City.
We hope that this application will be used in various situations, as a new tool for travelers and as a learning activity for children.