You don’t have to look to the sky to see stars in Japan’s Okinawa, just visit the islands of Taketomi, Hatoma, and Iriomote, where star-shaped sand sprinkles the beaches!

One of the many islands that form part of Okinawa is called Taketomi-jima, and on its northern shores there is a small beach known as Hoshizuna-no-Hama, which literally translates to ‘Star Sand Beach’. If you closely look at the sand on this beach, you will see that the sand comprises of tiny star-shaped sand grains that are very rare to find in any other part of Japan. Let us uncover the secret behind the star sand of Japan.

What are these star-shaped grains?

The tiny star-shaped grains are not precisely sand but exoskeletons of tiny pointy shells of microscopic beings called Foraminifera. They live in the seagrass at the bottom of the sea and they measure barely a millimeter across, which makes them look really tiny. The exoskeletons make them look like stars with their 5 or 6 pointed spines. These allow them to move from one place to another and also serve as storage of diatoms, a major group of algae, which is the food they survive on. When these protists die, they leave their exoskeletons behind and are pulled in by the tide, forming a star-sprinkled shoreline.

Where is the star sand found?

Okinawa is a large administrative division comprising over 150 islands in the East China Sea. The star-shaped sands, however, can only be found on select beaches. The most famous spots are Hoshizuna Beach on Iriomote Island, Kaiji Beach on Taketomi Island, Aharen Beach on Tokashiki Island, and the entirety of Hatoma Island. Tourists love taking strolls on these white ‘sands’ and watching their feet get encrusted by the starry remnants.

The best time to find them

If you want to find a lot of these star creatures and their exoskeletons, it is best to see them pile up after a typhoon. They will have loosened up from the seabed, and the massive waves caused by strong winds wash them ashore. But if you are at the nearby Iriomote Island, you can easily spot them everywhere. Look closely and carefully in shallow waters as there are so many of them thriving at this part of the beach.

The local legend

A local legend has it that these tiny pointy star-shaped creatures are the offspring of the North Star and Southern Cross. It was said that their children were born in the sea of Okinawa, but a serpent swallowed them all leaving only their skeletons behind. These scattered skeletons in the ocean soon reached the shores of Taketomi-jima.

The Star Sand Beach in Okinawa is a must-visit destination if you literally want to get star-struck. Enjoy the starry beach full of life!