Okinawa

Okinawa Island plus one smaller island group on a first trip

This is a prefecture of 160 islands, 49 of them inhabited, scattered across about 1,000 km of ocean between Kyushu and Taiwan. A first trip usually stays on Okinawa Island and adds one smaller island group. Allow four days at the least; a week lets you add a second group of islands without spending every day in transit.

• Naha and the south (two days): Shuri Castle was the Ryukyu royal palace; its main hall burned in 2019 and the rebuilt Seiden reopens on 23 November 2026, at first by advance reservation only. Then Kokusai-dōri, Makishi market and the pottery workshops of Tsuboya. The south of the island holds the war sites, including the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman and the Himeyuri Monument.
• Central coast and Motobu (two or three days): the castle ruins of Nakagusuku and Katsuren, part of the same World Heritage listing as Shuri. Continue up the resort coast at Onna to the Motobu peninsula, where the Churaumi Aquarium keeps whale sharks and manta rays in its huge Kuroshio Sea tank. Yanbaru, the forested far north, is the emptiest part of the island.
• Kerama Islands (a day or more): fast ferries from Naha reach Tokashiki in 35 minutes and Zamami in about an hour, for clear water and snorkelling straight off the beach.
• Miyako and Yaeyama: separate flights away. From Ishigaki, boats run to the preserved Ryukyuan village of Taketomi and to Iriomote, an island almost entirely covered in jungle.

Book a rental car early for the main island, since the north is hard work without one.

Direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka also reach Miyako and Ishigaki.

Mild winters, whale watching and beach closures in Okinawa

Even in January the temperature seldom falls below 15°C. The islands are quiet. Whale-watching boats run from January to March. The sea is too cool for many swimmers, and many public beaches without lifeguards close between November and April, but sightseeing and hiking are pleasant.

April is the sweet spot, before the rain. The rainy season comes earlier than on the mainland, in May and June.

High summer is hot and humid, with highs around 32°C from July into September and the sea at its warmest. It is also typhoon season. Storms are most likely in August and September, and the risk stretches from July into October. A direct hit can ground flights and stop ferries for several days, which matters far more on a small island than in a city.

October and November bring the second good window, with a warm sea. Naha's Great Tug-of-War takes place in October: a rope weighing more than 40 tonnes, pulled by crowds from a festival that draws some 275,000 people. Eisa drumming and dancing fill the streets around Obon in late summer.

Gōyā chanpurū, Okinawa soba and the islands' pork-rich cooking

Eat gōyā chanpurū, the bitter melon stir-fry with pork and island tofu, and Okinawa soba, thick wheat noodles in pork broth topped with stewed rib. Okinawan food owes more to trade with China than to mainland Japan, and pork turns up everywhere, from braised rafutē belly to mimigā ear in vinegar. Markets sell sātāandagī doughnuts.

Makishi market in central Naha is the best introduction. Pick your fish on the ground floor and carry it up a level, where restaurants cook it for a small fee. Try umibudō, sea grapes that pop like caviar, with a little vinegar. On the table you will often see kōrēgusu, chillies steeped in rice spirit; a few drops are plenty.

The drink is awamori, distilled from Thai rice and usually 30 to 40% alcohol, drunk on the rocks. Bottles aged three years or more are sold as kūsu. Orion is the island beer, and jasmine tea (sanpincha) is the everyday soft drink. Naha has the liveliest nightlife; Chatan and Kadena, beside the US air base, run bars with live music.

The patterned kariyushi shirt is acceptable even at formal events, and nifēdēbiru is Okinawan for thank you.