A monument stands in Hisamatsu hamlet, Miyako for the five fishermen who, during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, braved 90 miles of rough sea to row to Ishigaki Island by sabani (canoe-like boats) to dispatch a cable to mainland Japan to report the approach of a Russian battle fleet. The story of the five heroes has been the pride of the people of Miyako because of their courage and loyalty to the nation.

On the morning of May 25, 1905, Ushi Okuma, captain of the ship on the regular Miyako-Naha run, after spotting black ships belching thick smoke in the horizon, immediately guessed they were the famed Baltic Fleet of Russia headed for Japan and turned his ship back to Hirara Port in Miyako.

Skipper Okumafs news was relayed to the military authorities on Miyako, but there were no cable facilities; the nearest island with such facilities was Ishigaki, some 90 miles to the southwest. The officials then recruited fishermen of Hisamatsu, for nobody could beat them in boat races. Volunteers for the dangerous sabani ocean-crossing were Zen Kakinohana, his brother Kiyoshi, his cousins Kama and Matsu Yonaha, and from an adjacent hamlet another Kama Yonaha. Leaving Hisamatsu early the next morning, they covered the distance to Ishigaki in roughly 20 hours.

By chance, however, a Japanese patrol boat, the Shionano Maru, was cruising the southern waters of Japan and had also sighted the fleet, alerting Admiral Heihachiro Togofs flagship just one hour before the Miyako report reached the commander.

Hours later, a great sea battle took place in the Tsushima Straits between Korea and Japan, ending in an overwhelming victory for the Japanese Navy.

The Japanese Government later cited the five men for their bravery and loyalty to the nation. The sabani they crewed was purchased and exhibited in the Naval Memorial Museum.