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Japan Japan forest

Yanbaru

Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0

99% trees around it and 601 species recorded.

92Forestyas Score

ForestDense canopyWildFungiWorld Heritage

  • trees within 3 km99%
  • wild within 10 km98%
  • species recorded601
  • Altitude209 m

The forest around

99% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 99%Grassland 0%Built-up 0%Trees 99%Water 0%Cropland 0%Built-up 0%Trees 85%Grassland 0%Water 14%Cropland 1%Built-up 0%Trees 49%Grassland 1%Water 48%Bare ground 0%Cropland 1%Built-up 1%99%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km99%
  • 1–3 km99%
  • 3–6 km85%
  • 6–10 km49%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees99%
  • Grassland0%
  • Water0%
  • Cropland0%
  • Built-up0%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

601 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Diplazium dilatatum
Diplazium dilatatumDiplazium dilatatum49 records丘崈 · CC0
Ophiorrhiza japonica
Ophiorrhiza japonicaOphiorrhiza japonica45 recordsKENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0
Strobilanthes flexicaulis
Strobilanthes flexicaulisStrobilanthes flexicaulis43 recordsPing an Chang · CC BY-SA 4.0
Abrodictyum obscurum
Abrodictyum obscurumAbrodictyum obscurum41 recordsDenis.prévôt · CC BY-SA 3.0
Rhynchotechum discolor
Rhynchotechum discolorRhynchotechum discolor39 recordsKeisotyo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rhododendron tashiroi
Rhododendron tashiroiRhododendron tashiroi33 recordsΣ64 · CC BY 3.0
Eurya
EuryaEurya japonica29 recordsKENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0
Selaginella doederleinii
Selaginella doederleiniiSelaginella doederleinii29 recordsKeisotyo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Coryphopteris angularilobaCoryphopteris angulariloba59 records
Dryopteris koidzumianaDryopteris koidzumiana51 records
Amauropelta miyagiiAmauropelta miyagii43 records
Arachniodes amabilisArachniodes amabilis39 records

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

92out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 99%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 98%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 601Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 209 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking from January to February.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan19°17°68 mm
  2. Feb20°17°62 mm
  3. Mar20°18°91 mm
  4. Apr22°20°143 mm
  5. May25°23°228 mm
  6. Jun27°26°309 mm
  7. Jul29°28°138 mm
  8. Aug30°28°173 mm
  9. Sep29°27°195 mm
  10. Oct27°25°140 mm
  11. Nov24°22°87 mm
  12. Dec21°19°78 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Yanbaru.

Forested region of northern Okinawa

Yanbaru is a forest in Japan, 209 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 99% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 98% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

601 species have been recorded around it: 444 plants, 53 fungi, 103 birds and 1 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Diplazium dilatatum, Ophiorrhiza japonica and Strobilanthes flexicaulis.

The best time to walk is from January to February.

Yanbaru forest visitor center 01
Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at OKA airport (Naha)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Yanbaru seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 1visitor centres within 6 km
  • 2car parks within 3 km
  • 20campsites within 10 km
  • 10places to stay within 10 km森宿 山甌, やんばるくいな荘, HIBISCUS and 7 more
  • 3restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Yanbaru.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas16 mountains within 25 km
Mount Iyu446 m · 2.3 kmMount Yonaha503 m · 3.4 kmTerukubi Yama8.7 kmYukutsuba-yama12 kmTsuha Yama14 kmMount Hedo248 m · 19 kmTano Dake21 kmMount Nago345 m · 25 km
Islandyasthe island
Okinawa1,208 km²
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 km
Hiji Falls4.9 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Hand sanitizer in Yanbaru forest visitor center
Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Yanbarukuina observatory
Captain76 · Public domain
Cyathea Lepifera (tata aka T)
Photo courtesy of: tata_aka_T · CC BY 2.0

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q8048278) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species14,380 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Cascadyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here