Disclaimer: I am SOFA status, so a lot of the issues everyone has traveling here don’t apply. We hold drivers licenses, have phones, don’t need COVID test and a bunch of other stuff, since we live here. Also the main purpose of this trip was to visit old friends.
Hi all, just got back from a short trip to Okinawa. Home for us is just outside of Tokyo, so not that far to travel. We were there from the 23-26. Haven’t been to Okinawa since 2014 so it was nice to visit again and see our friends.
Flew from Hanenda to Naha, landing around 4pm on the 23rd. Picked up a rental car near the airport and drove up to Uruma City. Nothing fancy the first night, stopped by one of the larger San-a in the area for dinner before meeting our friends. Finally checked into the ANA intercontinental hotel at Onna for the night. For those who haven’t stayed there, it’s a real nice hotel, right on the beach with lots to do. Restaurants in the hotel were good and there was plenty of access to the ocean.
Woke up early on the 24th and headed towards Naha. At the base of Shuri castle is a small temple called Daruma-ji. We used to go there all the time for our charms and we’re returning our old charms so we could get new ones. The temple itself dates back to around 1500. Sadly, it looks like it has grown into more of a tourist spot now, whereas it was a small, quiet temple when I had left. Still, it was peaceful when we visited and was good to get our new charms finally.
We left from there and headed to Kokusai Street. More so to see how much it had changed, but also because we promised the kids Blue Seal ice cream. The kids got their ice cream and we’re happy. The street itself looked fairly the same. For those who have never been, it’s basically your souvenir street. It’s about a mile long, lined with all sorts of Okinawan shops. If you’re looking for a gift and don’t want to run around everywhere, this would be the place to go. There’s also some pretty fancy restaurants here. Spent the rest of the day having Thanksgiving with our friends.
Putted around mostly on the 25th. Stopped by Okashigoten (Onna) to get our sweet potato snacks then the Ryuku Glass Studio to pick up some hand made Okinawan glass. Inhad these guess make us some plates/glasses before we left in 2013. Highly recommend, especially if you want a handmade gift. Headed for Yomitan after that. Stopped by Cape Zanpa then Ufudougama Shisa to grab a pair of new Shisa Dogs. Ate lunch at Hanaui Soba (again, highly recommend). If you go there, bring Yen, as they only accept cash. Drove around Yomitan a little bit more and was surprised to see how much it had changed. Again, spent the rest of the day with our friends.
Had an early flight on the 26th. All we did was drove back to the rental place, dropped the car off and went to the airport. Hung out at the airport for a bit, ate and all before going through security and called it good. We’re planning our next trip now and looking at staying at Okuma Beach.