The
Yaeyama Islands (八重山諸島
Yaeyama-shotō, also 八重山列島
Yaeyama-rettō,
Yaeyama:
Yaima Okinawan:
Eema) are an
archipelago or group of islands in the southwest of
Okinawa Prefecture,
Japan, and cover . The islands are located southwest of the
Miyako Islands, part of the
Ryukyu Islands archipelago. The Yaeyama Islands are the remotest part of Japan from the main islands and contains Japan's most southern (
Hateruma) and most western (
Yonaguni) inhabited islands. The city of Ishigaki serves as the political, cultural, and economic head of the Yaeyama Islands.