Living It Up in Ishigaki: A Foreign Life on a Remote Island in Okinawa

At 30, I knew it was now or never to chase my dream of living in Japan, finding love, and building a new life. Armed with a working holiday visa and dreams of a fresh start, I landed a job as ground staff on the remote Ishigaki Island. What I didn't expect was to work at Japan's smallest international airport, where everything from check-in counters to baggage handling was done the old-fashioned way. With quirky colleagues, an unforgettable mentor, and a company that stretched its workers to the limit, my Ishigaki adventure began-filled with cultural discoveries, unexpected challenges, and moments of quiet magic by the Okinawan ocean.