We spent a total of 7 days in Okinawa, a Japanese prefecture that lies in the East China Sea between Taiwan and Japan's mainland. We spent the first and last nights in Naha, and the rest travelling around the main island. Naha airport is a 15-min car ride away from the city area, which makes it a good starting and ending point for your trip. 2 days in the city was good enough for us. Personally I enjoyed sightseeing around the rest of the island more than the city itself.
Where to stay ~ Accommodation
JR Kyushu Hotel Blossom Naha JR九州ホテル ブラッサム那覇
Address: 2 Chome-16-１ Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志２丁目１６−１
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/phEwXF7eptt
We stayed at different hotels for the first and last nights. Both are a stone's throw from the Kokusai shopping street. It's really convenient if you enjoy shopping! JR Kyushu Hotel Blossom Naha is a new hotel and we enjoyed our stay there. The Double room was modern, very clean and spacious. There was still space to walk around even after opening 2 large luggages. The breakfast spread was one of the best we had in Okinawa! We wanted to book this hotel again for our last night in Naha but unfortunately it was not available anymore. Tip - We used agoda to book hotels with free cancellation so we were still able to make changes one week before our stay.
Delicious breakfast spread. I especially liked the good number of tea choices. We took one of the tofu balloons because it looked interesting, but didn't know how to eat it. When we asked the staff, it turned out that you just need to poke it with a toothpick. Soooo fresh and yummy with bonito flakes!
Antique-looking taxis were everywhere!
Hotel WBF Art Stay Naha ホテルWBFアートステイ那覇
Address: 1 Chome-3-43 Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志１丁目３−43
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/W1VWd2iwgeu
We picked a hotel nearer to the airport for the last night initally, but we enjoyed shopping at Kokusai Street so much that we decided to change our hotel! Hotel WBF Art Stay Naha is just a few steps away from Don Quijote at Kokusai Street. It's also very child friendly! There's a section for children at the dining area (play area and snacks corner), amenities for children such as shampoo, body wash, pillows, bedroom slippers which are free for you to use, and you can request for bed guards, etc. The room and toilet was quite cramped though. We couldn't hardly open up our luggages and had to walk sideways between the beds and the TV shelf. I think it's good enough for a night's stay. If you are driving, there's no drop off area so you need to park along the street to unload your luggages, and the lobby is at basement one (small lift available).
My girl's favourite rilakkuma bedroom slippers! Too big for her but so cute!
Shurijo Castle 首里城
Address: 1 Chome-2 Shurikinjocho, Naha, Okinawa Prefecture 903-0815, Japan
〒903-0815 沖縄県那覇市首里金城町１丁目2
Fees: 820 yen (adults), 660 yen (high school), 310 yen (elementary and junior high school), free for 5 and under
Recommended length of stay: 1.5 - 2 hours
Our first stop was Shurijo Castle, which was about 20mins away from Kokusai Street. We decided to take a taxi instead since it was not very convenient go there by public transport. The entire compound is quite huge. If you are keen to participate in the stamp rally (where you can get a souvenir if you complete a number of stations), I would recommend at least 1.5 hours. We managed to get a sticker souvenir for completing the minimum number of stations. The castle was partially under renovation as at Nov 2018.
Stamp rally
Souvenir postcard and stickers
Tsuboya Yachimun Street 壺屋やちむん通り
Address: 1 Chome-16 Tsuboya, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 902-0065, Japan 〒902-0065 沖縄県那覇市壺屋１丁目１６
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/YAfGXw84yFq
If you are interested in pottery, this is the place for you. It's a very quiet street with many small pottery studios. You can get souvenirs like cups and plates, chopstick holders (in the shape of a bittergourd), accessories, vases, etc. We spent about 30 mins visiting a few of the studios which looked more interesting.
Heiwa Shopping Dori 平和通り商店街
Address: 3 Chome-2-1 Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志３丁目２−1
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/BUMe5NVBgny
Heiwa shopping dori is a covered shopping mall along Kokusai Street. There's shops selling fruits, Okinawan specialties like sea grapes, black/brown sugar, there are duty free drug stores, clothes shops, souvenir shops etc. It's a great option for shopping when it rains.
Naha Kokusai Dori Shopping Street 那覇国際通り商店街
Address: 3 Chome-2-１０ Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志３丁目２−１０
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/dUKcQ7VHXc32
We were there on a Sunday (purposely) as I read that the main street is closed for activities every Sunday. There were performances and a play area for kids. Not too crowded when we were there.
Other people's toys always seem more fun huh? We reached there at about 5pm and the play area was closed shortly after.
Lots of souvenir shopping along Kokusai Street. I found this mini pineapple interesting. Wanted to buy one home but didn't come across this again on the last day.
First Makishi Public Market 第一牧志公設市場
Address: 2 Chome-10-１ Matsuo, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0014, Japan 〒900-0014 沖縄県那覇市松尾２丁目１０−１
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Wtcf1WfV9Bx
We like to visit the local markets when we travel, and this is no exception. Seafood markets are particularly a must-go, because I love seafood! Our first proper meal was at First Makishi Public Market. The entrance to the market is quite hidden, and initially we thought they were closed on Sunday because the streets outside were dead quiet. Enter the seafood market and it's a different world! There are lots of stalls to choose from and some of them have Chinese staff :) Remember to bargain!! Choose your seafood and then they will bring you upstairs to one of the many restaurants where you have to pay a service fee for food preparation / cooking.
One of the entrances to the seafood market
Very fresh fishes!
As our girl was taking her afternoon nap, we chose a restaurant with tatami area so that she can sleep flat.
We had conch and fish sashimi, grilled fish and conch, and grilled prawn the length of a hand!
Okinawan black/brown sugar donut for our girl after she woke up from her nap - It tastes a bit like a drier version of huat kueh.
Blue Seal Ice Cream
Address: 1 Chome-3-６３ Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志１丁目３−６３
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/eLAwFpz26mT2
Blue Seal Ice Cream is an Okinawan ice cream brand, and you can find a few of the shops along Kokusai Street. We went to the first shop we saw, but there's no crepes here! We had salt and chocolate ice creams. The chocolate one was much nicer. I think salt ice cream is just an interesting flavour. Desserts are meant to be sweet in my personal opinion :D
Ichiran 一蘭 那覇国際通り店
Address: Japan, 〒900-0013 Okinawa-ken, Naha-shi, Makishi, 1 Chome−2−24 琉球セントラルビルB1 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志１丁目２−24 琉球セントラルビルB1
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Exyyo8mx6dm
We didn't wait for long at Ichiran ramen. This time round Miss Ting had her own seat! It's the typical goodness you can expect.
Address: 1 Chome-2-５ Matsuo, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0014, Japan 〒900-0014 沖縄県那覇市松尾１丁目２−５
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/1yFugSgZw8Q2
We walked quite a distance before we saw Okashigoten, and then I realised there's another smaller one at the other end of the street near our hotel. Duh! Lots of food souvenirs to choose from, many of which have samples for you to try! Miss Ting loved going around trying all the samples! 😂
I love sweet potato! Unfortunately I didn't have the appetite to try it that day.
Address: Japan, 〒900-0014 Okinawa-ken, Naha-shi, Matsuo, 2 Chome−8−１９ ドン・キホーテ１階〒900-0014 沖縄県那覇市松尾２丁目８−１９ ドン・キホーテ１階
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/mxjGtsGhzG12
I wanted to get the mini chocolate tart which I loved. Tried it in Osaka 2 years back. But it was sold out so I tried the Okinawan specialty - purple yam (or purple sweet potato) instead. It was alright but I very much preferred the chocolate version of it. 😑
Calbee+
Address: 3 Chome-2-２ Makishi, Naha, Okinawa Prefecture 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志３丁目２−２
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/nV8XuX2zupr
Although a very small shop, there were many interesting flavours sold there. I love black/brown sugar and sweet potato (specialties of Okinawa), so it wasn't a difficult choice for me! I tried the freshly made calbee chips in Hokkaido previously and it was sooooo good!!!
Fontana Gelato
Address: 2 Chome-5-36 Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志２丁目５−36
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/QmEC9AM595r
We had the pineapple gelato (another Okinawan specialty), very refreshing and gone before I could take a photo.
塩の専門店 塩屋（まーすや）国際通り店
Address: 3 Chome-11-2 Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0013, Japan 〒900-0013 沖縄県那覇市牧志３丁目１１−2
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/3rcCe6b2f3C2
Yet another shop selling another Okinawa specialty - snow salt (yukishio)! This shop sells salts from other parts of the world. There is even a sampling station for the different types of salts. We spent some time browsing (and sampling) the snacks in the shop. I bought one packet of black/brown sugar meringue and they literally melt in your mouth (within 2 secs). Omg sooo yummy!! 😋
Once Miss Ting realised that the samples were free to try, she wanted to try every one of them. It was the first time I had to stop her from eating too much.
Ryukyu Style Shabu Shabu (it's just 2 shops from Hotel WBF - couldn't find the exact address on google maps).
We didn't want to walk far for food so we chose the first decent restaurant we saw. There were a few tables of customers on the first floor while the second floor was empty. The shabu shabu was quite nice but I find it too expensive.
Pork Tamago Onigiri Honten ポークたまごおにぎり本店 牧志本店
Address: 2 Chome-8-35 Matsuo, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken 900-0014, Japan 〒900-0014 沖縄県那覇市松尾２丁目８−35
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/RD1KBpK8oS62
Last but not least, one of the most delicious onigiri ever! We queued up for at least 30mins to get our food, but it was worth the wait! I loved the bittergourd with spam combination! There is a small seating area across the shop for eating in. There's even a small bookshelf to entertain the kids while they wait.
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