How Do You Get to Amami Oshima and Reach the Other Amami Islands?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture and see how the other Amami islands connect to it. It uses seven English pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), several of which were written for the Ministry of the Environment's national park pages. All pages were read on 2026-10-04.

The pages give flight times and a few ferry times. They do not give bus routes, car rental or taxi information on the island itself, so this guide says little about getting around inside Amami Oshima.

The short answer

JNTO's page on the World Heritage region says Amami Oshima can be reached by plane from Tokyo, Osaka, Kagoshima or Fukuoka, or by boat from Kagoshima or Okinawa. A JNTO page on local treasures says to fly from Haneda Airport to Amami Airport, a flight of 2 hours 30 minutes. A JNTO feature calls Amami Oshima a remote island around a one-hour flight from Kagoshima Airport.

Where the island sits

JNTO's national park page says Amamigunto National Park covers the eight Amami Islands, which stretch from Yoronjima near Okinawa to Amami Oshima, 380 kilometres southwest of Kyushu. The islands are part of the greater Ryukyu Island chain that includes Okinawa, but they belong to Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. Amami Oshima is the largest of them.

JNTO's Amami feature says the island chain stretches from the base of Kagoshima Prefecture to the northern tip of the Okinawa archipelago. Another JNTO page says the four World Heritage regions are scattered over a distance of 1,200 kilometres from the southern tip of Kyushu.

Flights and boats

The sources agree that the plane is the standard way. The sea route from Kagoshima or Okinawa is mentioned in the World Heritage page, but none of the pages gives its duration or its operators, so we cannot compare it with flying. If you plan to arrive by boat, check the schedule with the operator, since the journey is far longer than a flight.

The ranger interviewed by JNTO notes that although the islands are spread out, you can reach all of them by plane or ferry from Amami Oshima, the largest island. She recommends getting a taste of each island to fully enjoy the national park.

Island hopping from Amami Oshima

JNTO's national park page gives a few connections. Kikaijima is a two-and-a-half hour ferry ride east of Amami Oshima. The islands of Kakeromajima, Ukejima and Yoroshima are just across the Oshima Strait from the south end of Amami Oshima, and the strait is a popular diving and sea-kayaking destination. Tokunoshima is the second largest of the Amami Islands, and the JNTO feature says it is a 35-minute flight from Amami Oshima.

For the far end of the chain, a JNTO beach blog says Yoron Island is accessible by plane from Kagoshima in about 90 minutes or from Naha Airport in Okinawa in about 40 minutes. Those times are from a blog and may have changed.

Getting around on the island

The JNTO feature says the northern part of Amami Oshima is pastoral, while mountain forest covers 90 percent of the landscape in the southern and central areas. The national park page says the northern part is a popular resort area with white sandy beaches. The pages also describe heavy rain, about 3,000 millimetres a year in one source and about 2,900 millimetres in another, so pack for wet weather.

The night tours at Kuroshio-no-Mori Mangrove Park are described as driving visitors slowly and quietly through the forest, which means the operator provides the vehicle.

Where the visitor centre is

If you want an orientation, the national park page says the Amami-Oshima World Heritage Conservation Center is at 467-1 Ishihara in Sumiyo Town in Amami City. The same page says it has English descriptions alongside exhibits and lists its closing days as every Thursday on weekdays, plus the year-end and New Year period. Check the official site before you go, since the closing days could change.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Flight schedules, fares and the airlines serving Amami Airport.
• Ferry duration and operators for the sea route from Kagoshima or Okinawa.
• Bus routes, taxi services and car rental on Amami Oshima.
• Whether the Thursday closing day at the Conservation Center is current.

Related guides

• What Is Amami Oshima? World Heritage Forests, the Amami Rabbit and Mangroves
• What Can You Do on Amami Oshima? Mangrove Canoes, Night Tours, Tsumugi and Keihan

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. World Heritage: Amami-Oshima and neighbours (JNTO) — (plane and boat routes, 1,200 km)
2. Amami Oshima Island (JNTO) — (2 hours 30 minutes from Haneda)
3. Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima Islands (JNTO) — (one hour from Kagoshima, Tokunoshima flight, rainfall)
4. Explore Amamigunto National Park (JNTO) — (eight islands, Kikaijima ferry, Oshima Strait)
5. Meet a Ranger Amamigunto (JNTO) — (reaching every island from Amami Oshima)
6. Japan's Best Beaches (JNTO) — (Yoron Island by plane)
7. Amami-Oshima World Heritage Conservation Center (JNTO) — (address, closing days)