Namatanai is a town on the island province of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. It is the second largest settlement on the island and connected to the largest and provincial capital of Kavieng

Kavieng

Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....

 (264 km to the north-west) by the Boluminski Highway

Boluminski Highway

The Boluminski Highway is the main land transportation route on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. It runs from the provincial capital of Kavieng for 193 km down the east coast of the island to Namatanai...

. In 2005, Namantanai was estimated to have a population of 1300 people.

During German New Guinea

German New Guinea

German New Guinea was the first part of the German colonial empire. It was a protectorate from 1884 until 1914 when it fell to Australia following the outbreak of the First World War. It consisted of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups...

, Namatanai was an important station. Today the Namatanai Hotel sits on top of the old German Station house. On 28 January 1943, Japanese troops on the Goya Maru landed at Namatanai and searched the station but found no Australian troops and departed. On 15 June 1943, Chinese man, Leong Cheung, was publicly shot in town. Namatanai has a small airfield

Namatanai Airport

Namatanai Airport is an airfield serving Namatanai, in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. It resides at an elevation of above mean sea level and has a runway designated 12/30....

with the IATA code ATN.

Every August the town hosts the Namatanai Mask Festival.