Asia >> East Asia >> Japan >> Okinawa >> Okinawa Island

Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō) is the main and largest island of the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The island has the largest population in the prefecture.

Regions

Generally speaking, areas on the main island are placed in three categories: Southern Part (南部 Nanbu), Middle Part (中部 Chubu), and Northern Part (北部 Hokubu). The northern part is also referred to as Yanbaru.

Cities

  • Naha — the capital city of the prefecture and by far the largest city
  • Nago — former Expo site known for its aquarium
  • Okinawa City - East of Chatan, largest populated city, besides Naha.

Other destinations

  • Buckner Bay
  • Chatan - Home of the Mihama, American Village, and the Ferris Wheel.
  • Okuma - an Air Force Resort, great for weekend trips to the beach.

Culture and History

Talk

Okinawans speak Japanese but they also speak in an Okinawan dialect

Travel to Okinawa Island - Visa Requirements

Tours and Getting around Okinawa Island

Most travel is by car, bus or taxi, although there is a monorail in Naha that runs from the Airport to the city centre and Shuri Castle. The main road is Route 58 which runs from southern Okinawa to Nago in northern Okinawa. Route 58 is on the East China Sea side of the island. During the summer months, the volume of rental cars can make traffic very heavy on Route 58.

Okinawa Island tourist attractions and sightseeing

Most of Okinawa Island's highlights, including Shuri Castle, the Peace Memorial Park and the Himeyuri Monument, can be found in or around Naha.

Okinawa Island city tours

Go to the island's many beaches.

Scuba diving is one of the most popular activities on the island with an abundance of dive shops across the island. Chatan has good shore diving and Reef Encounters is the only dive shop in all Okinawa where all instructors are fluent in English.

Okinawa Island Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Yoshi's is an excellent sushi restaurant. It is located in Chatan off Hwy 22. The Yoshi Roll is definitely worth a try! CoCo Curry House is a great cheap alternative. Try it with cheese, it's great.

Although it should be noted that Yoshi's sushi is geared more to American's tastes than traditional Japanese sushi.

Get out

Destinations in Okinawa Island:

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Jani Patokallio and Ado Nishimura, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Jonboy, Huttite and Robataka and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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