# 黒島 — ハートのかたちの、牛の島。

> Unofficial island context guide. This is not an official publication, tourism authority, ferry operator, or accommodation provider. The two inns mentioned are catalog-level candidates only, with details unverified.

- Subject: Kuroshima Island — the heart-shaped "Heart Island" of Taketomi Town, where cattle outnumber people: the tide pool of Nakamoto Coast, the 354-meter old Iko Pier, the Kuroshima Research Institute, and quiet nights (described poetically, with no star-visibility claims)
- Area: Taketomi Town, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
- Role: Provide verified island context before a traveler decides how to spend a day or a night on Kuroshima
- Verified: 2026-07-19 (web_search_result_corroboration: via web-search result titles and summaries, at summary level; the source pages themselves are not readable from this environment)
- Relationship: Independent project; not affiliated with or approved by Okinawa Prefecture, Taketomi Town, the tourism association, Okinawa Story (OCVB), the inns mentioned, or any public authority
- Language: HTML page is Japanese (canonical) with an 8-language UI layer (ja/en/zh/ko/fr/ru/id/ms via ?lang=); this file and the JSON context are written in English by design, for machine consumption

## Use for

- Kuroshima, in Taketomi Town, is called the Heart Island because its shape seen from above resembles a heart (Taketomi Town; Okinawa Story)
- Around 220 people live on the island against more than 3,000 cattle — "more cattle than people" (Okinawa Story)
- The crossing from Ishigaki Port is about 25-30 minutes by high-speed boat (tourism association: about 25 min; Okinawa Story: about 30 min)
- Nakamoto Coast is the island's most popular beach, known for clear water; the swimming window is the two hours around low tide and a life jacket is recommended (tourism association); it is about 10 minutes from the port by bicycle, and at low tide the inside of the reef becomes like a natural pool (Okinawa Story)
- The Iko Pier is an old pier of about 354 m where boats to and from Ishigaki once called, registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2005 (tourism association)
- The Kuroshima Research Institute offers learning about sea-turtle ecology (Okinawa Story)
- Stay: two inns are listed ONLY as catalog-level candidates corroborated in search results — Minshuku Nakatasou (official site kuroshima.net) and Minshuku Kuroshima (Okinawa Story listing) — facilities and prices unverified; the tourism association's stay list is a directory. Booking and details go to official sites or the phone
- Journey-time questions go to the island-time series: ../koyomi/ (when), ../koro/ (crossings), ../ame/ (rainy days), ../yoru/ (night)

## Do not use for

Current ferry schedules, fares or operation status; sea conditions, tide times or swimming-safety judgments; inn facilities, prices, availability or booking (the inns are catalog-level candidates, details unverified); stargazing or night-sky visibility claims (the page's night passage is deliberately poetic and asserts nothing); weather promises; or endorsement claims.

## Editorial scope

All facts are summary-level statements confirmed on 2026-07-19 via web-search result corroboration (web_search_result_corroboration — result titles and summaries). Shape/name statements summarize Taketomi Town and Okinawa Story; population-versus-cattle, the research institute and parts of the Nakamoto description summarize Okinawa Story; the boat time summarizes the tourism association and Okinawa Story; the swimming window, life-jacket recommendation and the Iko Pier summarize the tourism association. The two inns are catalog-level candidates whose details are unverified. Scenery descriptions, the poetic night passage, and passages on how to spend the day are editorial.

## Resources

- Machine-readable context: ./ai-context.json
- Discovery service: ../
- Island calendar: ../koyomi/
- Ferry routes: ../koro/
- Rainy day: ../ame/
- Night: ../yoru/
- Other island guides: ../taketomi/, ../iriomote/, ../kohama/, ../hateruma/
- Taketomi Town, Kuroshima Island (Heart Island): https://www.town.taketomi.lg.jp/about/kuroshima/
- Okinawa Story, Kuroshima (more cattle than people; Nakamoto Coast; research institute): https://www.okinawastory.jp/about/yaeyama_area/kuro
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Kuroshima (about 25 min by high-speed boat): https://painusima.com/3379/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Nakamoto Coast (two hours around low tide; life jacket): https://painusima.com/133/
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, Iko Pier (about 354 m; registered in 2005): https://painusima.com/884/
- Minshuku Nakatasou, official site (candidate; details unverified): http://kuroshima.net/
- Okinawa Story, Minshuku Kuroshima listing (candidate; details unverified): https://www.okinawastory.jp/stay/600003330
- Taketomi Town Tourism Association, stay list: https://painusima.com/category/effect/tomaru/