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Why visiting Okinawa could be better than going to mainland Japan

NAHA- The Ryukyu Islands are possibly as far off from the image of Japan as you can think of. For one, they are known as the Sunshine isles and kimonos are swapped for kariyushi — the Okinawan version of the Hawaiian shirt.

NAHA- The Ryukyu Islands are possibly as far off from the image of Japan as you can think of. For one, they are known as the Sunshine isles and kimonos are swapped for kariyushi — the Okinawan version of the Hawaiian shirt. But this part of Japan has always played muse to the country’s best creative minds. Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s collaborative efforts with folk musicians propelled the island’s melodies and chorals to world music popularity. In the ’93 Beat Takeshi gangster classic Sonatine, big city thugs trade in their sharp suits for those floral shirts on these sunny isles. And come every summer, creative directors from advertising agencies put out 30-second feel-good commercials filmed in Okinawa plugging everything from isotonic drinks and cosmetics to video games, perpetuating the promise of a Japanese paradise — complete with beachside barbecues and fireworks.

But everything you adore about Japan is still here. And then some. Shops in Okinawa’s capital Naha broadcast catchy slogans and ad jingles over speakers, pedestrian alarms chime the same tune when it is safe to cross the street and low-hung neon lights dot dim alleys, beacons for the hungry and restless. Visitors splurge freely on inexpensive goods, snapping up next-gen rice cookers, discounted beauty serums, hand-crafted glassware and boxes of sweet potato confectionery.

Dining options are a plenty and are often a tasty mish-mash of influences of Western comfort and lightly flavoured local dishes. At the Makishi Public Market, which is popularly known as the kitchen of Okinawa, you can choose the produce and have it prepared in a variety of ways by hawkers for a small fee. And don’t worry if you cannot speak Japanese. There is always someone here who is conversant in English or Mandarin, so do feel free to haggle. Seafood takes centrestage and are backed with a robust local menu of braised dishes and small stir-fried plates. The experience is fuss-free. You sit near the stall, elbow to elbow with fellow diners during busy lunch hours. Finish quickly and you just might have the time to grab that last cup of coffee from some of the new microbusinesses quietly flourishing in the smaller streets.

In contrast, take your time during dinner at an izakaya. This is your chance to load up on pork belly, an Okinawan speciality. Head for Izakaya Yunangi where the friendly waitresses will provide you with photos of the menu. You pick the pork belly and it arrives quivering and glistening, a sign of the great taste to come.

There are also many izakayas along Kokusai Dori which feature some form of entertainment while you dine. It is a cultural experience of song and cuisine. One of these places is Tubarama, where the lively ambience is punctured with customers breaking into ballads chronicling hardship and hope experienced during the war, sung in an island patois that even most Japanese are unfamiliar with.

Dance-offs are common — and everyone, from the tipsy wage worker to the timid teenager, join in. The moves are simple, and the tempo, an escalating allegro, helps when you’re ready to sober up from too much Awamori, a clear, grain distilled tipple often enjoyed neat or with water.

 

Away from the city

 

The Okinawan landscape really comes alive when you leave the city behind. Trees as tall as the many US military camp fences lining the road take over. The tour coach turned a corner, and then: A burst of blue on the horizon. As the waves get closer, the sight of idle SUVs and grand touring bikes parked at rest stops and along the water breaker hints at where the best spots are for a beach escapade.

 

 

Big hoteliers are here too with their spiralling towers and beachfront suites. Vendors are fanned out on the beach, offering scuba dives, glass-bottom boat rides and all sorts of sea sports. But the pace, in comparison to their other beach outposts, is much less frenzied. Pensioners and newly-weds chatting quietly on restaurant verandahs evoke a sense of high-society calm. This is Japan, after all. There are no speakers hidden in the palm trees and shrubbery, no advertising logos on beach brollies and no selfie sticks jamming up the horizon line. No property claims to have the best spot with the best view. There’s just plenty of beach for everyone.

But there is one thing increasingly popular here: Diving. Just like how Niseko is a mecca for skiiers, Okinawa’s waters draw the dive crowd. At Maeda Cape, a heavily advertised dive spot located an hour away from Naha City, snorkellers cram in groups and wait for their turn to enter a cave that promises a view of blue-lagoon marine life illuminated by light from a crevice in the rock formation above. Only thing is, at any given time, when it’s your turn to dip under, you are likely to see more legs than fins.

Or you can stay dry and beat the humidity to get up close with sea mammals at the Chuwamuri Aquarium, a 19,000sqf sea life sanctuary that overlooks the East China Sea and houses more than 700 specimens. The reserve is vast and a pleasure to stroll through even if you may not exactly like showboating dolphins. Most come here for the big tank inhabited by whale sharks and manta rays. The viewing gallery is never empty and seldom quiet with children and excitable tourists pressing up close to the 8.2m by 22.5m acrylic glass, squealing and triggering camera flashes.

The best way to enjoy the spectacle is to get comfortable at the top row seats with your earphones on. Watching the frenzied movements of silent silhouettes against the languid pace of a passing whale shark is deeply relaxing and might even challenge your conscience and attitude to animals in captivity.

 

Rest and relax

 

A short distance away from the aquarium is the village of Bise. The appeal here is basic, and thankfully doesn’t seem to attract the spillover visitors from the aquarium, keeping it idle and easy. Homes here are flanked by rows of tall hardy Fukugi trees, which provide both summer shade and shelter from the monsoon winds. The roads here are narrow and are better suited for the occasional ox-cart than automobile and there seems to be an openness similar to a kampung. Children in flip-flops hang out by the shoreline after school hours, sharing a cold drink bought from an old electric fan-cooled convenience store. There is also an open stall with a small menu of cold desserts and confectionery for occasional tourists on bicycles returning from Bisezaki Kaigan, a secluded public blue lagoon situated at the furthest tip of the village. In its waters, you can cool off with a casual dip or gorge at corals when the tide goes out.

This, I felt, was the essence of Okinawa. And first-timers here should understand that things here are truly different from greater Japan.The older generation, survivors of World War II, have lived long, contented lives with very little. Now, the younger natives, raised with a sense of rootedness, are returning from the mainland and using new ideas to better the experiences in Okinawa. One just needs to go to Cafe Nife, which serves up vegan fare fused with traditional “Oki” cuisine. During one of my random conversations with a musician in an izakaya, I found out that she had decided to leave the frantic life in Tokyo to pick up Okinawan music and perform at bars while working as a music teacher and a guide. She has never been happier.

Yes, perhaps Okinawa is the antidote we all need.

The writer’s trip was made possible by the Okinawa prefectural government.

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