What Can You Do on Amami Oshima? Mangrove Canoes, Night Tours, Tsumugi and Keihan

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

This guide is for visitors who want to know what to do on Amami Oshima beyond looking at the scenery. It uses six English pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), several written for the Ministry of the Environment's national park pages. All pages were read on 2026-10-04.

The pages describe what is offered but give few prices. We do not quote any.

The short answer

JNTO's national park page lists three ways to meet the island: mangrove kayaking at Kuroshio-no-Mori Mangrove Park, night tours to see rare animals, and the traditional craft of Oshima tsumugi silk. It adds the island's food and music, and diving or snorkelling in the sea.

Mangrove canoes

Kuroshio-no-Mori Mangrove Park has a resource centre and viewpoints, and kayak touring is available, according to JNTO. A JNTO feature says the park provides English-language canoe tours of the mangroves and that canoe tours are offered five times a day. A guide quoted in the feature says that at high tide you wind through tunnels of mangroves, while low tide offers a chance to observe crabs and other small creatures in the tidal pools. Another JNTO page says you can stroll the forest there to see the white "black heron" and the Ryukyu scops-owl.

Night tours

The feature says that many of Amami Oshima's native animals are nocturnal and that the park runs guided night tours of the forest. Guides drive visitors slowly and quietly through the forest and point out wildlife. Night tours are available for groups of two or more and take place twice a day. The animals you might spot include the Amami rabbit, the Ryukyu scops-owl, the Amami spiny rat and Ishikawa's frog.

The feature says the guides rely on sounds and vibrations to find animals in the dark. Spotting a rabbit is a highlight. Keep your voice low and follow the guide, since the animals are rare and the habitat is protected.

Oshima tsumugi

JNTO says Oshima Tsumugi Village offers anyone the chance to observe and experience the traditional process of making Oshima tsumugi, an exceptionally fine silk pongee textile naturally dyed in mud, which originated on the island more than 1,300 years ago. The national park page says a traditional mud-dyeing technique called dorozome gives the kimono fabric its unique softness. The conservation centre has a gift shop that sells items from a local brand using dorozome on its fabrics.

Food and drink

The national park page says not to miss keihan, a local dish made by pouring chicken broth over chicken on a bed of rice. The main ingredients are egg, ginger, green onion, shiitake mushroom and dried seaweed, and there are many local variations. The JNTO feature adds that toppings of island fruits such as pickled papaya or tankan citrus peel give it a distinctive flavour. Amami also has its own shochu made from brown sugar, called kokuto shochu, and the page says flying fish are a hallmark delicacy of the island.

Music and festivals

The national park page says the culture of the Amami Islands shows influences of both Ryukyu and Japanese culture because of the Satsuma domain. Elements include shima-uta, the island song folk music, the hachigatsu odori, an August dance festival performed in August of the lunar calendar, and a harvest festival.

Sea and beaches

JNTO says divers visit to see the colourful coral and tropical fish, and that the northern part of the island is a resort area with white sandy beaches. The Oshima Strait is described as popular for diving and sea kayaking. The ranger in JNTO's interview says she snorkels in the Oshima Strait and calls it particularly beautiful, and mentions that divers might spot a type of puffer fish discovered in 2012, whose males make a round pattern in the sand to attract females.

The conservation centre

JNTO says the Amami-Oshima World Heritage Conservation Center has life-sized dioramas of forest vegetation and animals such as the Amami rabbit, murals, and projection screens showing the island's mountain streams and mist-covered forests. English descriptions are provided alongside the exhibits. Closing days are listed as every Thursday on weekdays and the year-end and New Year period.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Prices, group sizes and booking rules for canoe and night tours.
• Whether the tour schedule of five canoe tours and two night tours a day is current.
• Opening hours of the tsumugi village and its workshop programmes.
• The best season for each activity.

Related guides

• How Do You Get to Amami Oshima and Reach the Other Amami Islands?
• What Is Amami Oshima? World Heritage Forests, the Amami Rabbit and Mangroves

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Explore Amamigunto National Park (JNTO) — (mangrove kayaking, keihan, shochu, culture, diving)
2. Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima Islands (JNTO, 2020) — (canoe tours, night tours, keihan toppings)
3. Amami Oshima Island (JNTO) — (tsumugi village, kayaking)
4. Amami-Oshima World Heritage Conservation Center (JNTO) — (exhibits, closing days, gift shop)
5. Meet a Ranger Amamigunto (JNTO) — (snorkelling, Oshima Strait)