The Iriomote Island in Okinawa Perfecture is called the last unexplored region of Japan. It’s completely covered with mountains, subtropical forests, waterfalls, mangroves where the fresh water meets the ocean, and the Hoshizuna no hama beach, which means star sand beach. It’s not actually sand, but exoskeletons of tiny one-celled organisms called Baclogypsina sphaerulata. It lives among the sea grass and when they die, they leave their star shaped bodies that wash up in large quantities. There are only a few places in the world you can find these stars, the other places are the Kaijihama Beach and Aiyaruhama Beach on Taketomi Island in Okinawa.
