Okishima

**Check the last boat before you get on the first one.** Up to twelve return sailings, fewer in winter and on Sundays. There is very little accommodation. **Eat by reservation.** The island's few places to eat mostly need booking, and turning up hungry at 1:00 PM is a common mistake. Some will do a lake-fish lunch with notice. **No cars, and the lane is narrow.** Residents use electric three-wheelers. Walking is the only option and the village is dense. **It is a working fishing village.** Nets, boats and drying racks in front of houses. Photograph people's property with the same care you would anywhere someone lives. **Two hundred and fifty people and a lot of cats.** The cats are semi-feral and fed by the village, which is why the island has a following that has nothing to do with the fishing. **Okinoshima Shrine and the hill walk.** A path climbs to a viewpoint over the lake in about 30 minutes, which is the only elevation on the island and the only place to see it as an island.