How do remote islanders buy groceries and daily necessities?

If you live on a remote island without a supermarket or convenience store, buying food and daily necessities will be a little difficult.
In terms of time, and physical…

How hard it is

• Since it takes at least half a day to get on and return by the boat, it takes time.
• There are few choices because the destination of the boat is also remote island.
• Everything is the island price, so prices are high.
• The freshness of everything is not so good.
• You can’t buy immediately because you’ve run out of soy sauce… etc.

Etc.
Therefore, I often get the question “How do you buy groceries and daily necessities?”
Today I would like to answer that question.

【contents】

1. On weekends, go to Ishigaki Island shopping center for shopping by boat (and bus)
2. Use the co-op delivered by freighter every Thursday
3. Use online shopping such as Amazon, Yodobashi, BicCamera
4. If you absolutely need it, you can buy it at a small store on the island.
5. You may given vegetables, fruits, fish, etc. from your neighbors.

1. Go to Ishigaki and buy at shopping center

Since there are only individual shops on the islands of Taketomi, most of the islanders on the remote islands go to Ishigaki for shopping.
This is because Ishigaki Island has shops that have expanded from the main island of Okinawa and Honshu.

• Supermarket
• Convenience store (Family Mart)
• Sports gym
• 100 yen uniform shop (Daiso)
• Home Center (Makeman)
• Baby goods store (Nishimatsuya)
• Clothing store (Shimamura)
• Fast food chain stores (McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mos Burger, etc.)
• Coffee (Starbucks)

I would like to introduce you to the situation of such purchase.

Transportation from Taketomi Island to Shopping Center on Ishigaki island

It takes 10 to 15 minutes by ferry boat from Taketomi Island to Ishigaki Island.
The fare is 380 yen for a round trip based on the remote islands of Taketomi Town.
(As of June 7, 2020, 3 round trips, 7:30 am, 13:00 pm, 17:00 pm)
→ Articles about timetables of ships [Ferry connecting remote islands of Yaeyama]
→ Timetable of Anei Kanko/Yaeyama Kanko Ferry

It takes about 15 minutes by bus and 10 minutes by taxi from the Ishigaki remote island terminal to the shopping center.
→The bus can be either a regular bus (190 yen one way) or a free shuttle bus from San-A (private ticket required).
→ There is a taxi at the remote island terminal, and there is a convenient app Didi for calling in the city.

The useful stores for shopping on Ishigaki Island

If you want to buy one or two weeks in bulk, or if you want to buy a large one, use a store that offers “shipping”.

What is shipping
After paying at the cash register, the store will pack the boxes and load them on the desired ship.
Fresh food can be delivered on the same day on a passenger ship, and food and large items that can be stored at room temperature can be carried on a freighter the next day or later.
At your own island port, you can unpack your luggage or take it out of the container of your freighter and drive it to your home.

Shipping precautions
・You cannot store your own items or items from other stores.
・Items whose expiration date has expired, items that easily catch fire, or broken items cannot be stored.
・There is a final reception time depending on the time zone of the ship to be loaded.

Shop	Shipping	Open
San-A Ishigaki City	○	9:00 – 22:00
Maxvalu Yamaima store	○	24 hour
Daiso	ー	10:00 – 22:00
Makeman	○	9:30 – 20:00
Edion	○	9:00 – 22:00
Drag11	ー	10:00 – 24:00
Donki	○	8:00 – 26:00
Kanehide	○	9:00 – 24:00
JA Fermer’s Market	○	9:00 – 19:00
Yamada Book Store	ー	9:00 – 20:00

Pick up your boxes on the island where you live

There are many trucks lined up at Taketomi Port.
The boxes to be picked up at the port will be carried on this dolly to the car.
If you board a passenger ship, we will go to the harbor and cooperate with other people to remove it from the ship in time with the arrival of the ship.

With the cooperation of the shop and the shipping company, you can shop for food and daily necessities even on remote islands.

2. Use the co-op delivered by freighter every week

In addition to shopping on Ishigaki Island, we also make groups with neighbors and use mail order from the co-op. In particular, it is helpful to order the following items at the co-op.

• Frozen food, ice, etc.
• Short-life items such as eggs, milk and tofu
  
  
  

3. Use online shopping such as Amazon, Yodobashi, BicCamera

Since there are limited choices in Ishigaki Island and the Co-op, we use online shopping for items that cannot be bought, items that are cheaper if you buy in bulk, or items that are large.
Although the shipping fee may be a remote island fee, we will search for a uniform free shipping service nationwide and place an order.

4. If you absolutely need it, you can buy it at a store on the island.

There are several private stores on the island, so you may be able to purchase daily necessities and basic seasonings.

5. You may be given vegetables, fruits, fish, etc. from your neighbors.

Some islands grow vegetables and fruits in the vegetable garden, and some have dragon fruit, papaya, island bananas, etc. as their garden.
Many hobbies are fishing.
From such a person, we may ask you to divide.
I don’t have anything in return, so I bake bread and sweets and give them as a thank-you note.
Mozuku, Asa (seaweed), etc. are taken a lot in the season and stored in a freezer.

Summary

As mentioned above, it is a little difficult, but the seniors living on the remote islands have been struggling to establish a way to buy things.
If you can use such a mechanism well, you can live on an island without a supermarket or a convenience store, so I am thankful.
In the event of a typhoon, the boat will also be canceled, and you will not be able to buy it, and it will be out of stock at the Ishigaki supermarket.
Therefore, many people on the island have multiple large stockers and refrigerators.