Ishigaki Island's Cafe Taniwha

Welcome to Cafe TANIWHA!

No glitz, no slick, no pretentions, and not mentioned in "Lonely Planet". Cafe Taniwha is a place to hang out and make friends, a place where locals get their daily fill, travelers their bearings, and aspiring musicians their feet wet. The down-to-earth menu, with rarely more than two choices (and in some cases only one) each of coffee, tea, chai, beer, wine, awamori, coktail, juice, hot sandwich, curry, pizza, spaghetti, salad, and cake is for people who, even if they have just arrived from outer space, are not looking for gourmet cuisine in an elevated setting but for hearty meals and drinks, a relaxed atmosphere, music, information, and human company...

How to get here

Cafe Taniwha is located right at the center of the universe, so you might be surprised that it is not mentioned in "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The reason is simple: Ford Prefect could not foresee the future, and not long after the book had been printed a new planet earth popped into existence (don't ask me how or why - "mysterious universe" and all that jazz). Anyway, like the old earth, the new planet also has a fair number of islands, and it is on one of those islands, Ishigaki Island, that Cafe Taniwha was opened about 10 years ago.

No, really - how to get here

Lots of people seem to have trouble finding the center of the universe, and even some of the people who come as far as Ishigaki Island seem to get lost while looking for our little place, but since we'd hate to see anybody pass us by we thought we'd better give some directions. The first step is easy: simply pick the most notorious planet in the universe, Earth (probably known under some other name in your corner of the universe), and take one of the many hydron ferries that get you there in about as short a time as you are away from Earth in lightyears (you won't get any older during your trip, so never mind how long it actually takes). Once you have arrived on Earth, make your way to one of the three larger islands in our neighbourhod, Luzon, Taiwan, or Okinawa. (Of those three, the closest to us is Taiwan - if you look at a map, you'll find a group several smaller islands scattered from about 100km to 400km east of Taiwan - and while the westernmost one in that group, Yonaguni (which really deserves a page to itself) is only 100km away, the one you would be looking for, Ishigaki, is about 250km away (see the arrow at the bottom of the map).

The nitty-gritties of transportation

Some things you may want to know about if you are planning to come here: there are basically three methods you can choose from and three obvious directions (now, you may think you'd like to come here in your own para-hydron shuttle, but we strongly advise against it, since we have neither a landing pad nor a re-fueling station for anything but human-made flying devices). Combining three methods with three directions in all possible ways should give you nine options, but, as you will see in a moment, in reality there are only six ways to get here at this time (and to be honest, only two of those are really suitable for the average space traveler).

So what are the available options? Well, for those on a rock-bottom low budget the obvious thing to do might be to swim here. But we need to warn you: although we believe that it would take an average swimmer about two and a half weeks from Taiwan and maybe four weeks from Okinawa (the swimming time from Luzon might be 6 weeks or more), we don't think that anybody has ever managed to get here in that manner. So let's move on: the next option is to take a seagoing vessel of some sort, but for reasons not yet fully understood, the only boats you can take here are yachts, which tend to come here at unscheduled times and not usually from a location where you hang out.

That leaves you with only two realistic options: you buy a ticket for a seat in a clunky and noisy human flying device ("airplane") from either Taiwan or Okinawa.

                    Flights between Taiwan and Ishigaki

No degree in linguistics required

As you approach you will notice in the south of the island a population center with maybe 35,000 inhabitants (pretty much all of whom are earthlings), and in exactly that area you will find Cafe Taniwha, where you can order a meal and a drink in any language known in the universe - but your best bet is using Japanese or English, since these are the languages the owners are most comfortable with.

Ear food (wax extra) and soul food

At Cafe Taniwha there's always music - you can hear Salsa from Cuba, Maori warrior songs from New Zealand, blues or jazz, classical temple music from India, traditional songs from our own islands - usually from CD but on many weekend nights live.

And then there are the parties... Add to that relaxed chat (local gossip! hehe...), simple but yummy meals, and of course, beer. (^^)

Taniwha and the sea

At Cafe Taniwha you will find nautical charts on the walls, and those charts, like that name of the cafe itself, are from New Zealand.

"Taniwha", spirits well-known to the Maori, can be found in the ocean, in lakes, and in waterfalls, and the owners of Cafe Taniwha ("Fusa" and "Kuri") became acquainted with more than one Taniwha when they - together with their 3 school-age children - traveled on a sailboat in the waters of New Zealand.

The kids have flown the nest, but the boat is still around, and if you visit at the right time you might get a chance to join in on one of the local sailing excursions that happen from time to time - or you could end up taking part in the annual yacht race between Ishigaki and Taiwan!

But that is not all: Cafe Taniwha is not only a popular hang-out for members of the local yacht club, but you will on occasion also encounter people there who've come to Ishigaki on a sailboat from far-away and exotic places like Holland, Honolulu, or Hokkaido.

Changing the topic...

Some guests come here for their regular fix of Awamori (the unique Okinawan spirit), while others come here for coffee and cake, a hot "chai" (Indian style sweet tea), or a chilled goya juice (you gotta come down here to find out what that is). And many come to mingle with pretty gals and handsome guys during weekly salsa night (sorry, we only have very few pictures that are not X-rated), while some hardy (nerdy?) souls even come here for a late-night conversation class in Spanish or English.

Changing the topic again...

Last not least, the magic word: beer...!

This homepage (not the cafe) is "under construction", as it were...
This means, things are changing once in a while - in the meantime let's try to get some intercultural drinki.. exchange going here...

(Keep scrolling down for comments and more pictures...)

By the way (just in case you are a "mixi" user), Taniwha is also on "mixi":　
MIXI でも訪問できますよ！　カフェたにふぁ / Cafe Taniwha

住所：　沖縄県石垣市大川188

連絡先：　0980-88-6352

おすすめ：　野菜サラダ、ホットサンド、ピザ、
野菜カレー、チキンカレー、ハンバーグ

営業時間：　（約）１１：３０〜２３：００
　　　　　　（定休日：日・月曜）

サルサー！（火曜日）
ライブ！（主に金曜日や土曜日）

Adress: Ohkawa 188, Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan

Phone (from anywhere in Japan): 0980-88-6352

Specialities: Seasonal Salad (homegrown veggies),
Hot Sandwich, Pizza, Veggie or Chicken Curry, Burger

Hours: from abt. 11:30am to 11pm or so
             (closed Sundays and Mondays)

Tuesday night is Salsa night!
Frequent live performances (usually Fri/Sat)

Comment...! 明るくて親切なｵｰﾅｰ夫妻が美味しい飲み物と料理で出迎えてくれます。木造の店内はとても落ち着いた雰囲気です。 http://ishigaki.shop-guide.tv/eat/cafe/taniwha.php

Comment...! ヨットで南太平洋一周をしていたマスターのカフェ。島内のアクティブでクリエイティブでフレンドリーな人たちが集まるお店で、時として、サークル活動の拠点だったり、ライブ会場となる。ランチもおいしい。 http://ishigaki-info.okitour.net/spot/spot_detail.aspx?SPOT_ID=201084

Comment...! 八重山観光の拠点、石垣島でお美味しいカレーを味わってみませんか（*⌒ー⌒*） by kuro-nekoさん（30代前半） 　石垣島は、八重山諸島を観光する際の拠点となるところですが、ここにあるＣＡＦＥ　ＴＡＮＩＷＨＡさんは、お美味しくて、健康的なカレーを提供してくれるお店です。海関係のご夫妻が経営されているということもあり、とにかく雰囲気が和やかで、一人旅でも気軽に立ち寄れる雰囲気がいいと思いますよ。 　オススメメニューは、「ベジタブル　カレー」で、地元食材である「ゴーヤー」や、カボチャ等の野菜をふんだんに使った、とってもヘルシーな内容となっています。 　暑い石垣島での滞在は、ここのカレーを食べて、元気いっぱいに過ごしていただきたいものですヾ(@⌒Ｏ⌒@)ノ http://www.hotpepper.jp/report/J000635688.html

Comment...! 「TANIWHA」と書いて「タニファ」と読むのだそうだ。意味を調べたところ、「水中に棲む魔物」(ニュージーランド)なのだそうだ。ほほぉ。 こんな店名を付けたのも、オーナーがヨットマンであるからに違いない。店内にも海図が貼られていたり、船グッズが飾られてたりするし。 メニュー的には広く浅くといった感じ。ハンバーグやピザ、パスタなど、妙にほっとするようなフードメニューが並んでいる。 店内の照明が暗めになっている。天気の良い日に入店すると、そのギャップに少し戸惑うかも。そして、帰りに扉を開けた時、外のまばゆさにまた戸惑う。ちょっと不思議な感じのカフェ。 http://www.worldwidecafe.net/cafe_j/taniwha/index.html

Comment...! [...] 長い木のカウンターには何となく座りづらかったので、いかにも手作りらしい木製のボックスシートに座ってハンバーグのランチとコーヒーを注文しました。店奥の壁は写真ギャラリー、入り口の壁は各国から届いた絵葉書で埋めつくされていて、バックパッカー系旅行者たちの情報交換所という趣です。[...] お店を出る時にはオーナーとお客さま全員が「行ってらっしゃい！」と送り出してくれてちょっと感動。なるほど、次に訪れたときに「ただいま」と言いたくなるわけです。ここは個人で旅する人々の情報基地。問いかけさえすれば、八重山の旅のヒントを両手に持ちきれないくらいもらえます。 http://homepage3.nifty.com/cafemania/travel_cafe/ishi_tanipha.html (2004年)