Even today, the water buffalo is the main form of transportation on Taketomi Island.
On the small island Taketomi, where there are no cars, a novel form of transportation has been used for centuries. Meet the beautiful water buffalo that takes passengers on carts around the island. Today, tourists can take a 30-minute buffalo tour of Taketomi Village accompanied by a guide who plays Okinawan music on a sanshin (Okinawan string instrument).
Taketomi Village is a beautiful ryukyu village characterized by one-story houses with dark red roofs and many lion statues believed to protect evil spirits. Closer to Taiwan and mainland China than to Japan, the Okinawa Archipelago was once a sovereign state known as the Ryukyu Kingdom until the 17th century.