Things to Do in Okinawa, Japan

Kumejima

Kumejima: A Sandbar You Reach Only by Boat, 100 km West of Okinawa

An island of about 7,000 people roughly 100 km west of Okinawa Island, reached by a 30-minute fli...

Michi-no-Eki Kadena

A rooftop view over Kadena Air Base

A four-story roadside station beside the fence of Kadena Air Base, the largest US Air Force base ...

Michi-no-Eki Kyoda

Mozuku tempura where the expressway ends

Okinawa's first registered roadside station, on Route 58 just past Kyoda IC where the Okinawa Exp...

Michi-no-Eki Yuiyui Kunigami

Last stop for supplies before the Yanbaru forest

The only roadside station in Kunigami, the northernmost village on Okinawa Island, on Route 58 ne...

Nakagusuku Castle Ruins

Six stone-walled enclosures trace a ridge above central Okinawa at Nakagusuku. This World Heritag...

Nakijin Castle Ruins

Long, curving stone walls cross the wooded hills of northern Okinawa at the former seat of the Ho...

Naminoue Shrine

Naminoue Shrine: Naha's Cliff-Top Shrine Above the City Beach

A shrine on a limestone cliff at the edge of Naha, ranked first among the eight official shrines ...

Okinawa Peace Memorial Park

Mabuni, Where Everyone Who Died in the Battle of Okinawa Is Named

A park of about 40 hectares on the coastal plateau at Mabuni, at the southern end of Okinawa Isla...

Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum

Okinawa's Nature, Ryukyu History and Modern Art in One Naha Building

Okinawa's prefectural museum and art museum share one building in Omoromachi, Naha, opened in 200...

Ryukyu Mura

Old Okinawan farmhouses, eisa drums and a buffalo-turned sugar press

A village of red-tiled farmhouses moved here from around Okinawa, eight of them registered cultur...

Sefa-utaki

Sefa-utaki: Ryukyu's Holiest Forest, a Slippery Stone Path and a Rock Passage You Now See Only From the Front

The holiest site of the Ryukyu Kingdom: a forest on a limestone headland in Nanjo, where a slippe...

Shikinaen

Shikinaen: The Ryukyu Kings' Garden Villa Where Chinese Envoys Were Entertained, Quiet and Shut on Wednesdays

A royal villa and strolling garden on a hill in Naha, laid out in 1799 and used to host envoys of...

Taketomi Island

Taketomi Island: Red-Tiled Village and White Sand Lanes, a Short Boat Ride from Ishigaki

A small, flat island 9.2 km around, where about 310 people live in a village of red-tiled houses,...

Tamaudun

Tamaudun: The Stone Royal Tomb of the Second Sho Dynasty, a Few Minutes From Shuri Castle and Far Quieter

The tomb of the Second Sho Dynasty kings, built around 1501 by King Sho Shin: a walled courtyard ...

Yanbaru

Yanbaru: The Forested North of Okinawa Island, Home of the Okinawa Rail, Two Hours From Naha by Car

The hilly, forested north of Okinawa Island, spread over the villages of Kunigami, Ogimi and Higa...