Okinawa

Not Quite Japan, Not Quite Anywhere Else

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The Ryukyu Kingdom existed for five centuries as an independent maritime trading state, sitting between China and Japan and doing business with both. Its castles — gusuku — are built in a style that owes nothing to mainland Japanese architecture: lower, rounder, fitted from coral limestone without mortar, surrounded by sacred groves called utaki. Shuri Castle in Naha, the Ryukyu capital, burned down in 2019 and is being rebuilt; the reconstruction is documented publicly and is itself worth visiting — a living demonstration of traditional Ryukyuan craft.

Okinawa was also the site of the Pacific War's bloodiest land battle. From April to June 1945, 200,000 people died on and around the island — a third of the civilian population. The southern tip of the island, now called Peace Memorial Park, contains the names of every person who died, military and civilian, from every country. The park is not sad in the way war memorials usually are; it is extremely quiet, overlooking a sea of extraordinary colour, and it changes the rest of the trip.

Naha & Shuri Castle — the Ryukyu Capital

Photo: Aiwa Hu 艾蛙媽 VS. 達樂哥 / Pexels

Naha is the largest city in Okinawa and the entry point for most visitors — Naha Airport handles ANA and JAL flights from Tokyo (2 hours 30 minutes), Osaka, Fukuoka, and Taipei. The city itself is dense and modern, with a monorail (Yui Rail) that runs from the airport through central Naha to Shuri — the one piece of public transit in Okinawa worth taking, because Shuri is on the hill above the city and the castle view from Kinjo-cho Stone Road, lined with old walls and subtropical vegetation, is the closest thing to the pre-war city that remains.

Kokusai-dori ('International Street') is a kilometre of souvenir shops, restaurants, and depachika that runs through central Naha. Skip most of it and cut into the market arcades on either side — Makishi Public Market (rebuilt 2023) is two floors of raw fish, Okinawan pork offcuts, seaweed, and the bitter melon (goya) that appears in everything. The stalls on the upper floor will cook what you buy downstairs, which is the best lunch in Naha.

• Shuri Castle — the Ryukyuan royal palace, currently under reconstruction after a 2019 fire. The main hall (Seiden) is being rebuilt using traditional techniques; the outer structures and gate are open
• Kinjo-cho Stone Road — 500-year-old paved road descending from the castle through old residential lanes; free, quiet, 20 minutes on foot from the castle gates
• Makishi Public Market — the rebuilt 2023 market in central Naha; ground floor for produce and seafood, upper floor for cooked-to-order meals
• Tomari Port — the ferry terminal for day trips to the Kerama Islands (50 minutes to Zamami) and other outer islands; 20 minutes by taxi from Naha Airport

The Outer Islands — Zamami, Ishigaki, Iriomote

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The Kerama Islands, 35 kilometres west of Naha, are a national park of small limestone islands surrounded by water so clear that the colour has its own name: Kerama Blue. Zamami-jima is the largest of the inhabited Keramas — a village of 600 people, a fishing harbour, and beaches so consistently rated among Japan's finest that the comparison feels unfair to every other beach in Japan. Day trips from Tomari Port take 50 minutes by high-speed ferry.

The Yaeyama Islands — 430 kilometres south-west of Naha, closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo — are a different country in all but name. Ishigaki-jima is the transport hub: a small city with an airport receiving direct flights from Tokyo, Osaka, and Naha, and a port for ferries to the surrounding islands. Taketomi-jima, 10 minutes by ferry, is a flat island of 350 people where water buffalo carts carry tourists between traditional Ryukyuan houses surrounded by coral-stone walls and bougainvillea. Iriomote-jima, 40 minutes from Ishigaki, is 90% subtropical jungle — one of the last old-growth forests in Japan, inhabited by the Iriomote wild cat (fewer than 100 remain) and crossed by rivers that are best navigated by canoe.

Okinawan Food — the Diet That Built Centenarians

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Okinawa has more people over 100 years old per capita than almost anywhere on earth, and researchers have spent decades studying the diet trying to understand why. The short answer is: goya (bitter melon), tofu (especially island tofu — firmer and denser than mainland versions), seaweed (mozuku, hijiki), sweet potato, and pork cooked long enough to dissolve the fat. The long answer is that the diet is one factor among several — physical activity, social connection, the concept of hara hachi bu (eating until 80% full) — but the food is genuinely different and genuinely interesting.

• Goya champuru — bitter melon stir-fried with tofu, egg, and Spam (the American military presence left its mark on the pantry). The definitive Okinawan dish and the one that tastes nothing like what you expect
• Okinawa soba — thick wheat noodles in a pork-and-bonito broth, topped with braised pork ribs (soki) or thinly sliced belly. Closer to ramen in texture, nothing like mainland soba
• Rafute — pork belly braised for hours in awamori (Okinawan rice spirit), soy sauce, and sugar until the fat dissolves and the meat falls apart. The canonical Ryukyu banquet dish
• Awamori — Okinawa's distilled rice spirit, aged in clay pots; older expressions (kuusu, 3+ years) are worth comparing to whisky. The base spirit for tiki cocktails before anyone called them that
• Sata andagi — round fried doughnuts sold from street stalls; crispy outside, doughy and lightly sweet inside. The Okinawan convenience food that has spread to mainland Japan but never tastes the same there

Beaches and Diving

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Cape Maeda on the west coast of the main island holds the Blue Cave — a sea cave whose mouth sits just below the waterline, and where sunlight refracts through the water to illuminate the interior in electric cobalt blue. It is one of the most photographed dive sites in Japan and one of the most accessible: shore entry, calm conditions, 5–8 metres depth. The cave is surrounded by reef, and the combination of the cave interior and the outer wall makes it a full morning in the water.

The main island's west coast has the best beaches: Emerald Beach inside the Churaumi Aquarium grounds is the most consistent, with calm clear water and managed facilities. Manza Beach in Onna Village is long and reef-edged. Sunset Beach in Chatan is next to the American Village shopping district and combines a good beach with an easy dinner. For serious diving, the Kerama Islands and Ishigaki offer wall dives, manta ray aggregation sites (Ishigaki's Manta Scramble from June–November), and the underwater wreck at Miyako-jima.

• Blue Cave (Cape Maeda) — most accessible dive/snorkel site on the main island; shore entry, 30 min from Naha by rental car
• Kerama Islands — the benchmark for Okinawan snorkeling; day trip from Naha's Tomari Port (50 min by high-speed ferry to Zamami)
• Ishigaki — Manta Scramble — manta ray aggregation point; Jun–Nov, best chance of seeing oceanic mantas in Japan
• Miyako-jima — world-class wall diving and the Zero fighter wreck; direct flights from Naha (45 min)

Getting to Okinawa and Around

Okinawa is not on the Shinkansen network — there is no rail connection to the mainland. Every journey starts with a flight. ANA and JAL both operate dense schedules from Haneda and Narita (Tokyo) to Naha; the flight takes 2 hours 30 minutes. Peach Aviation (LCC) runs the same route more cheaply from Narita. From Osaka (Itami or Kansai) the flight is 1 hour 50 minutes; from Fukuoka, 1 hour 25 minutes. Book as far in advance as possible — Okinawa flights in July–August and Golden Week sell out months ahead.

• Within Naha — Yui Rail monorail runs from the airport to Shuri (27 minutes). For everything else, rental car or taxi
• Main island beyond Naha — rental car is the only practical option. The bus system exists but runs slowly and infrequently. International driving licence required
• Kerama Islands — Tomari Port (Naha) → Zamami-jima by high-speed ferry: 50 minutes; by slow ferry: 2 hours
• Yaeyama Islands — direct flights from Naha to Ishigaki (55 min, ANA/JAL/Peach); from Ishigaki, ferries to Taketomi (10 min) and Iriomote (35–40 min)
• Miyako-jima — direct flights from Naha (45 min) or from Tokyo Haneda (2 hours 50 min)
• JR Pass is not valid in Okinawa — no JR rail here; IC cards (Suica, ICOCA) are accepted on Yui Rail

Okinawa rewards renting a car for anyone staying more than two nights on the main island. The Katsuren Peninsula, the northern Yambaru forest region, and the coastal roads between the beaches are all unreachable by public transit. Traffic on Route 58 (the main north-south road) is heavy in summer; leaving Naha before 8 am or after 7 pm makes a significant difference. Driving is on the left, the same as the mainland.