The Sea of Japan had been tranquil but this route, on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, past the Ryukyu Islands and into the East China Sea, is notorious for high seas and typhoons.
After leaving mainland Asia, the path crosses Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curves southeast through the Pacific Ocean where the maximum duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s.
A city of southwest Okinawa, Japan, in the Ryukyu Islands on the East China Sea. It is a port and the commercial center of the islands. Population, 303, '80.