Category Archives: Travel

Tourism is Okinawa’s largest industry. Okinawa prefecture is host to nearly 5.5 million visitors a year who spend nearly 6 billion US dollars annually.Okinawa is the primary resort vacation destination for Japanese travelers. Tourists can enjoy an ancient culture with 9 world heritage sites, a strong crafts tradition in ceramics, textiles, and glass, a lively contemporary music scene, breathtaking empty beaches and crowded old world market places.
Travel on Okinawa and mainland Japan is extremely safe. Okinawans are known for their culture of courtesy. Food, water, and facilities are hygenic.Tipping is not a Japanese custom.
While the tourism infrastructure is extremely well developed, it is primarily targetted to the Japanese visitor.Foreign visitors should not expect English to be spoken in most establishments.Okinawans have a mixed relationship with Americans because of the large and long American military presence on the island.
Okinawa is good place to smile. A smile, a nod and a hello or “kon nichi wa” to an Okinawan invariably elicits a similiar response and changes the experience of being on the island. –editor

Okinawa Explorer, A complete guidebook to Okinawa The best English language guide book for Okinawa by Kenny Ehman ISBN 0-9768462-0-9.
Naha International Airport Primary civilian airport with monorail access to Naha. Airport code – OKA (don’t confuse Naha, Okinawa with Naha, Indonesia)
Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau
Real Time Exchange Rates – Exchange rates for Yen (and other currencies) via Yahoo! Finance.
All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Japan Airlines (JAL)
Japan Air Systems (JAS)
Japan Transocean Air (JTA)
Air Nippon (ANK)
Ryukyu Air Commuter (RAC)
Air Dolphin
Asiana Airlines
China Airlines
China Eastern Airlines
Philippine Airlines

Shopping

Go shopping. Kokusai Street and Heiwa Dori are the heart of shopping in Naha. Kokusai (which means international) Street is the main retail street in Naha. Heiwa Dori branches off from Kokusai St. and is one of the entrances to … Continue reading

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Shurijo Castle

Shurijo Castle, pride of the Okinawan people. Shurijo was the control tower of the Shuri Monarchy, which ruled over the Ryukyu Islands and expanded its diplomatic and trading links to China, Japan, Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia. This … Continue reading

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Okinawa is ichiban!

okinawa is ichiban! Some Interesting Tidbits that Make Okinawa Unique (from Okinawa Magazine, published by the Okinawa Prefectural Government and the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau) the jewel in the pacific: OKINAWA, THE TROPICAL TRAVEL DESTINATION Okinawa is ichiban!  The … Continue reading

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Okinawa Travel Summary

Tourism is Okinawa’s largest industry. Okinawa prefecture is host to nearly 5.5 million visitors a year who spend nearly 6 billion US dollars annually.Okinawa is the primary resort vacation destination for Japanese travelers. Tourists can enjoy an ancient culture with … Continue reading

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Sightseeing Info

Sightseeing Info (information gleaned from various Okinawan travel publications) Museums and Folkcraft Centers Awamori Masahiro Gallery Address: 5-8-1 Nishizaki Itoman-shi Telephone:  (098) 994-8080 Bashofu Hall Address: 1103 Kijoyoka Ogimi-son Telephone:  (0980) 44-3033 Closed Sundays and National Holidays. Ginoza Museum Address: … Continue reading

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5 things to do

1. Visit Shurijo Castle in Naha city. There are 7 world heritage sites on Okinawa. Most of them are gusuku or fortress ruins. Shurijo was the ancient capital of the kingdom of the Ryukyus. It was destroyed in World War … Continue reading

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Hotel advice

Most Japanese hotels charge by the guest rather than by the room, so that most hotel web sites show lower prices for a twin room than a single. This practice is slowly changing but when making a reservation you should … Continue reading

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