This Japanese Island is Closer To Taipei Than Tokyo. A New Ferry Makes it Easier to Visit

You can now fall asleep on a ferry in Taiwan and wake up in Japan.

On the surface, the Yaima Maru offers a perfect slow-travel escape — a passenger ferry equipped with saunas, karaoke rooms and a top-deck cafe.

Launched in Taiwan last month to the sound of drums and a traditional lion dance, the 21,000-ton civilian vessel connects the northern Taiwan port of Keelung with the island of Ishigaki, in southwestern Japan's idyllic Okinawa prefecture.

But as Beijing ramps up military pressure around Taiwan and Japan shores up its own southwestern defenses, the route has drawn scrutiny — not least because the vessel has been officially earmarked by Tokyo to assist in emergency evacuations if regional tensions erupt into open conflict.

For tourists, however, the ferry offers a chance to explore a unique destination far from the Japan most are familiar with. That's because Ishigaki sits about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away from Tokyo, but only 270 kilometers (168 miles) from Taiwan.

"Many people think Japan is quite far away," says Tiger Hong, general manager of the Wagon Group, which operates the ferry. "So the moment when they realize how close it actually is, they are really shocked."

Currently, only one airline in Taiwan operates a direct flight to Ishigaki — which takes just an hour — while others require transferring at Okinawa's main air hub of Naha.