Okinawa in 1990s: Ishigaki manta boats · 445

A Ryukyu chain of parks and limestone: Kerama National Park, Ishigaki manta water, the Blue Cave at Cape Maeda, and a temperate-to-subtropical season. Okinawa Prefecture is a Ryukyu island chain southwest of mainland Japan whose recreational water includes Kerama Islands National Park (2014), Ishigaki's manta sites, the Blue Cave at Cape Maeda on the main island, and remoter Miyako and Yonaguni options.

Wow factor is high for a Japanese prefecture, a step below equatorial places in this atlas. Accessibility is middling-high: domestic flights and a few shore entries (Maeda), plus boats that wait on wind. Seasonality is moderate-high: a summer mass window and a winter that is still a wetsuit. Risk is moderate: cave overhead at Maeda, current at Kerama and Ishigaki, not wreck-penetration scores.

This chapter is a place atlas, not a certifying agency, not medical advice, and not a live briefing. Japan Coast Guard, national-park rules and the day's wind override any sentence here. Destination pages are season and access notes — not a booking engine. Visa, park fees and live weather beat brochure months.