The Yaeyama Islands are a long way from anywhere.
By plane
The main airport of the islands is Ishigaki. There are frequent connections to Naha as well as limited direct flights to major Japanese cities like Tokyo. And although there is currently no regularly scheduled international service to neighboring Taiwan, there has been an increasing number of charter flights in previous years, including a trial service with three flights a week between Ishigaki and Hualien, at the east coast of Taiwan, that was offered by TransAsia Airways from November 2009 until October 2010. Whether the service on this route will be re-opened in the spring of 2011 is not yet known, but direct flights between Ishigaki and Taipei, operated by Mandarin Airlines, are scheduled to begin in April of 2011. Interested travelers in Taiwan can get the latest information directly from the airlines' offices as well as from some larger travel agencies, while those in Okinawa can get it from larger travel agencies that are known to handle these flights, such as Okinawa Tourist and Chuo Tourist. The establishment of a year round regular international service is being negotiated at present and would begin at the latest with the opening of the new Ishigaki airport in 2013.
By ship
Since Ryukyu Kaiun took the last passenger ferry out of service in 2006 and Arimura Sangyo went out of business altogether in 2007, there are no scheduled services to Taiwan, mainland Japan or islands outside the Yaeyama group. Between late April to the end of October, Star Cruises (http://www.starcruises.com/ operates cruises from Keelung near Taipei, Taiwan to Okinawa Island, Miyako Island, and Ishigaki Island, but this is not a ferry service.)