A quick one on our week in Okinawa.
Okinawa is to Japan what Hawaii is to the USA – a far away island, still part of the country but almost unreal – a tropical dream destination where everyone dreams to retire one day. It’s actually closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan, and historically had strong commercial links with China. It also hosts one of the biggest American bases in the Pacific, and was an American territory until the 1970s. As a result, the atmosphere is a mix of Japan, Southeast Asia and Hawaii or Miami – whether in the food, arts or shopping:
Colourful aquarium fish and lobsters for sale at the market. But turns out the locals don’t really like it, because it’s not what Japanese traditionally use for sushi etc…
Huge sea snails that can be prepared as sashimi
So actually the favorite dish is pork noodles! Because Japanese people prefer cold water fish, which are expensive to import, the main food is actually not seafood at all. Weird.
Main shopping street Kokusai dori
At the American village – Christmas time
Merry Christmas!
American mall
The centre of Naga city (capital of Okinawa) seems to be all about shopping and tourists, but in fact there is a big hippie/hipster community and we came across several funky street shows, little vintage shops etc.
WW2 memorial – the battle of Okinawa destroyed almost everything… this explains why Naha city is all 1960s built
Most buildings are decorated with two lions, one with an open mouth, the other closed – old belief to repel bad spirits
Okinawa’s answer to geisha – traditional flower dance
Traditional dance with colourful costume – these patterns can be seen everywhere
Our host giving us a demonstration of sanshin, a local traditional instrument to accompany songs in Okinawan language.
As for the nature, Okinawan islands are the perfect tropical paradise – but for that you have to get away from the main island. We spent 2 days in Zamami island, 2h ferry from Naha city – and saw the most beautiful beach we had yet seen, snorkelling with turtles and colourful fish among the reefs. The only trouble was that December is already the rainy season, so the weather was not always perfect.
OMG the most beautiful beach we have ever seen!!!
Playing some Jack Johnson tunes…
Even when it clouds up it’s still intensely blue. Snorkelling was incredible.
This is Japan after all, so we built Zen gardens not castles 😛
The day when it was too stormy to swim… still breathtaking Pacific ocean views
Rugged volcanic coast
Inspired by our snorkelling, we decided to visit the aquarium, that was the biggest in the world… until Dubai built a bigger one!
Looking at the whale sharks
We hadn’t been to an aquarium for ages, but it’s actually really fun!
Aaaand look what we found! A pineapple park!
We discovered that pineapples can be cute like this <3
Kisses from the pineapple field!
