Talking Location With author J J Ellis – IRIOMOTE, Japan

23rd September 2019

#TalkingLocationWith...  J J Ellis, author of The Flower Arranger – IRIOMOTE

Japan for many western visitors conjures up images of flashing neon signs, hordes of people in hygiene masks being crushed into overcrowded metro trains, and plenty of bowing and politeness. Not to mention cherry blossoms, temples, and spectacular mediaeval castles.

You get all that in Tokyo, Osaka and other big cities where much of my debut novel, The Flower Arranger (available to pre-order from Amazon now), is set. But for the climax to the novel I wanted to use a location that was wilder, and more dangerous.

I chose Iriomote, a sub-tropical island in Okinawa, as unlike the rest of Japan as you could imagine. It’s nearer to Taiwan than it is to the Japanese “mainland”, and despite being the second-largest island of Okinawa, has no airport, and a population of little more than two thousand people.

You get to Iriomote by flying from Tokyo or Osaka to the smaller but more developed Ishigaki (well worth a visit itself, especially the main town) then taking a fast catamaran ferry.

It’s virtually a one-road island – and in fact the main road only continues for approximately half its circumference. The interior is impenetrable jungle and mangrove swamps. Soon after picking up our hire car from one of the island’s two ports, Ohara in the south, we came face to face with the exotic wildlife when a ten-foot long snake slithered across the road right in front of us, bringing what little traffic there was to a standstill.

We drove north towards the second port of Uehara – passing Yubu island on the way. Later we’d make a special trip there. It’s a 15-minute touristy ride on a water buffalo-pulled cart through the shallows – but well worth doing. The drivers will serenade you with songs played on the sanshin, a sort of three-stringed Okinawan banjo. The islet itself is entirely given over to a botanical garden.

Our destination was the Hotel Nirakanai, a few kilometres outside Uehara, near the mouth of the Urauchi River, which winds its way into the jungle interior. It’s a lovely hotel with a pool and a beach behind, but ask for an upper floor room to be sure of a sea view.

Boat and kayak trips along the Urauchi are highly recommended and a way to get a taste of the interior – home to the critically endangered Iriomote wildcat. Less than 250 survive and needless to say we didn’t get a glimpse – although you can see stuffed versions (animals that have died, often by being run over) at the Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Centre about ten kilometres north of Ohara.

We chose the boat trip which takes you past mangrove swamps to a landing station. From there, you walk along a jungle path for a few kilometres and are rewarded with spectacular views of the Mariyudu waterfalls. You’re unlikely to see a wildcat – even Iriomote residents will only get perhaps a couple of sightings in a lifetime – but watch out for habu snakes. Their bite can be fatal.

In The Flower Arranger, my main character – Kelton Sakamoto (his first name is borrowed from Roy Orbison’s middle name for reasons that become apparent in the book) – follows the same route, looking for a particular flower, the wild Okinawan orchid. (I cheated slightly here – it only grows on the main island of Okinawa – but for me, Iriomote was a more interesting setting).

Flowers that you can easily see on Iriomote include the equally spectacular Barringtonia Asiatica – also known as the Sea Poison Tree. They only emerge at night and are pollinated by bats. Hotels such as the Nirakanai offer night-time tours to see them, but if you get talking to locals they may point them out to you for free. There’s one just across the road from the Umanchu Café run by Ayumi Nishijoh and her partner Toshi Maeo. The café itself looks unassuming – a little shack by the main road in Uehara (opposite the supermarket) – but their food is divine, especially the crab soba. Toshi catches gigantic crabs by hunting in the mangrove swamps, and then serves them up at the café in the evening. I’ve never seen or eaten a bigger, meatier, tastier crab claw. Not to be missed. He also offers guided tours.

Overall, Iriomote is magical place – off the beaten track, but recommended for anyone visiting Japan and relatively easy to get to via a three-hour plane trip to Ishigaki. It’s also an option from Hong Kong – with cheap flights from there to Ishigaki airport.

If you do visit, you might just be inspired to write a novel, as I was with The Flower Arranger.

Thank you SO much to J J Ellis for this piece, feeling totally inspired to visit!!! As I hope are our readers!!

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