5 Days in Okinawa

Shuri was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 to 1879, and it is still the symbol of the island, a red-lacquered hilltop palace in the Ryukyuan gusuku castle style. The original was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. The gate Shureimon was rebuilt in 1958, the main buildings from 1992, and in 2000 the site became a UNESCO World Heritage listing. On the morning of 31 October 2019 a fire destroyed the main hall (Seiden) and the two buildings beside it. Investigators pointed to an electrical fault, and the question was never closed cleanly.

The reconstruction now has an end date. The Seiden opens to the public on 23 November 2026 at noon, after an opening ceremony, and for the first time since the fire you can go inside, but only with a timed ticket. The timed slot costs nothing extra, and the admission fee for the paid area rises from 400 yen to 1,000 yen on the same day. Before that date the park was already open: the free gates, the paid courtyards, the exposed ruins of the old hall and exhibition rooms on the reconstruction. Paid area hours are 8:30-19:00 from April to November and 8:30-18:00 from December to March, last entry 30 minutes before. The east lookout (Higashi no Azana) gives a wide view over Naha.

Five minutes on foot from the castle is the royal mausoleum, built in 1501 by King Sho Shin to bury his father Sho En. It is a low, heavy stone building with three chambers: the center for preparing the body, the left one for the bones of kings and queens, the right one for other members of the royal family. It was damaged in the war and repaired, and it is quiet after the castle. Tamaudun is also one of the Gusuku Sites that UNESCO listed in 2000.

You look at it from the courtyard, and a small exhibition at the entrance explains the layout. It's one of the shortest stops of the trip.

Take the monorail back down and walk into Tsuboya, the pottery quarter where yachimun (the Okinawan word for pottery) has been made for hundreds of years. The lane is short, stone-paved and lined with kilns and shops that sell everything from tea cups to the lion-dog guardians called shisa that sit on Okinawan roofs. Skip the museum if you arrive on a Monday: the Tsuboya Pottery Museum is usually closed that day. The street itself is open every day and the shops are happy to wrap breakable things for the flight.

The market calls itself the kitchen of Okinawa. It started as a black market after the war, was rebuilt and reopened in March 2023, and downstairs it sells pork in every cut, bright tropical fish, sea grapes (umi-budo) and the vegetables you won't find on the mainland. Upstairs, many of the small restaurants will cook what you buy below for a small fee, which is the whole point: pick a fish or a slab of pork and carry it up.

It's loud, a little chaotic and honest about being a tourist stop that locals still use. If you can't decide, order a set meal upstairs, usually soup, pickles and rice, with goya champuru or stewed pork. Hours vary by shop, and restaurants upstairs usually have their last order in the evening.

The market opens straight onto Kokusai-dori, International Street, Naha's main drag. It is full of souvenir shops, ice cream and restaurants, and it is the most touristy street on the island. Walk it once from end to end for the Okinawan things worth taking home: pottery, brown sugar, chinsuko shortbread, awamori in beautiful bottles and habushu, the liquor with a venomous snake inside the bottle.

Stop for a Blue Seal ice cream in the purple sweet potato flavor (beni-imo). The side streets, one block either way, are where the better eating is.

Finish on the cliff at the western end of town, where Naminoue Shrine once served as the main shrine of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It's a small shrine on a rock above the sea, with a beach below (Naha's only one, clean if not beautiful). In November the sun goes down around 5:40 pm, so be there by 5:15.

Naha was 90 percent destroyed in the air raids of October 1944, and here you can still see why it was a harbor town.

Awamori is Okinawa's own spirit, distilled from rice, usually 30 to 43 percent, and served with a carafe of water and a bucket of ice. Mix it with water and ice, the way locals do, and drink it with food. The traditional soundtrack is minyo, island folk songs on the sanshin, a three-string instrument. Utahime, a short walk from Kokusai-dori, is listed for live performances and a relaxed atmosphere where you can sit at the bar.

To eat, find an izakaya a street or two off Kokusai-dori and order rafute (stewed pork belly) and goya champuru. Day two starts early.

Sefa-utaki on the Chinen peninsula is the most sacred place of the old Ryukyuan religion: according to the Chuzan Seikan, the creator goddess Amamikyu landed here. In the kingdom's time it was run by the Kikoe-ogimi, the state's highest priestess, and even the king had to change into women's sleeves to pass the entrance. Today it's a grove of giant boulders and ancient trees on a path of rough stone, and one of the Gusuku Sites that UNESCO listed in 2000.

It's a place of worship, not a monument, so walk quietly, don't touch the rocks and don't go off the path. You pass through a natural corridor between two slabs of rock. The innermost area, with three prayer spots, is closed to visitors and the view toward Kudaka Island, the island of the kingdom's origin story, is only partial. Allow an hour.

Cape Chinen park is a minute from the grove, with a view over the Pacific and Kudaka Island, and the roads around it are full of small family restaurants. Order the local noodle, Okinawa soba: thick wheat noodles, no buckwheat despite the name, in a pork broth with kelp and bonito, topped with stewed pork belly or a rack of soki ribs. The noodle looks like udon and the soup is closer to ramen, and it's the island's everyday lunch.

Add koregusu, chili soaked in awamori, only if you like heat. Small places can close early once the soup runs out, so don't leave lunch late.

The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 days, from 1 April to 22 June 1945, and ended around Mabuni hill in the south, where the Japanese command made its last stand. The park here is a sea-facing lawn with the Cornerstone of Peace (Heiwa no Ishiji), unveiled on 23 June 1995: concentric arcs of black granite inscribed with the names of everyone who died, regardless of nationality or whether they were civilians or soldiers. As of 2023 it lists 242,046 names, including 149,634 Okinawans, 77,823 Japanese soldiers and 14,010 Americans, and smaller numbers from Korea, Britain and Taiwan. New names are added as they are confirmed.

The prefectural museum next to it covers the battle and its toll on civilians. The count is blurry: about 40,000 of the Okinawans who died had been drafted or pressed into service by the Japanese army and are often counted among combat deaths. It's a hard hour. Walk the arcs afterward and look for the American names, the Korean ones and the Okinawan hamlets laid out in the same grid.

On 23 March 1945 the army mobilized 222 students and 18 teachers from two girls' schools in Naha as a nursing unit, the Himeyuri. They were sent to work in cave field hospitals under fire. When the army dissolved the unit on 18 June, with the front collapsing around them, the girls were told to go home in the middle of a war. In the week that followed, about 80 percent of the students and teachers still on the island died. In all, 211 students and 16 teachers were killed. In the early hours of 19 June, 5 teachers and 46 students sheltering in the Ihara shelter were killed by white phosphorus.

The museum stands in the grounds of the memorial tower. Survivors helped to build and keep it, and some served as guides. It shows portraits of the young victims and written testimony, in a quiet and unshowy way. It's the museum that stays with you, and not an easy visit. Hours are 9:00-17:25, last entry 17:00, open all year; the memorial tower outside is open even when the museum is closed.

The southernmost point of Okinawa Island is five minutes by car from Himeyuri, a line of cliffs above the sea. It is also the end of the Kiyan peninsula, where the Japanese 32nd Army moved nearly 30,000 men into its last defensive line, and where, in the last weeks of the battle, thousands of civilians died. Today it is a quiet cape with a view of the horizon, and the Gushikawa castle ruins stand nearby.

Come for the sunset, which is around 5:40 pm in November. The wind from the sea can be strong, so mind the cliff edge.

Drive back to Naha (30 minutes) and end the day with the most Okinawan dish that has no Okinawan history at all: taco rice. It's taco-flavored ground beef on rice with shredded lettuce, tomato, cheese and salsa, created in 1984 by Matsuzo Gibo at a cafe near Camp Hansen in Kin. It is American-era fusion, cheap and satisfying, and every second diner in Naha does a version.

Pair it with an Orion beer, the local lager brewed in Tomigusuku, which has about 60 percent of the island's beer market.

The Marine Liner Tokashiki is a hydrofoil with 200 seats and no car deck, and the crossing takes about 40 minutes. In winter (October to February) it leaves Tomari at 9:00 and 16:00 and comes back from the island at 10:00 and 17:00. Adults pay 3,300 yen one way and 6,270 yen return since fares were revised on 1 October 2026. The slow Ferry Tokashiki takes about 70 minutes, leaves from the south pier in front of the Tomarin building at 10:00 and returns at 15:30, for 2,200 yen one way. The two use different piers, so check which ticket you hold.

Reserve online or by phone from two months ahead; same-day tickets are sold if seats remain. The fast boat departs from the north shore, a 7-8 minute walk from the Tomarin counter. Buy your ticket at least 30 minutes before departure and board 10 minutes before.

Aharen is the livelier of the island's two main beaches, with coral and tropical fish close to shore, beside the village of the same name and a bus or taxi ride from the port. The Kerama Islands are known for clear water, and Tokashiku Beach on the other side of the island is known for sea turtles, though sightings are never guaranteed.

In November this is a beach for walking and snorkeling rather than swimming from a towel. The nets and lifeguards of the summer are gone, the jellyfish advisory ended on 30 September, and the sea is warm (about 25 C) but the air is not, so bring a wetsuit or a rash guard if you plan to snorkel. Hire gear in the village, or join a short guided trip.

The island has a hard memory too. The US forces landed in the Kerama Islands on 26 March 1945, before the main landing on Okinawa, and on 28 March 394 villagers on Tokashiki were forced by Japanese soldiers to kill themselves. You won't find it in the beach brochures, but it is part of the island's story.

The village behind the beach has a handful of small restaurants and a few places to buy a sandwich. Expect Okinawa soba, set meals with fish or pork, and goya champuru, the island's bitter melon stir-fry with tofu, egg and pork. Bring cash and expect Japanese menus; pointing works.

The best use of the last hours is a short climb. The Teruyama Observatory, about a 30-minute hike from the beach, gives a 360-degree view of the island and the sea around it. A second viewpoint, Kubandaki, is a short walk from Aharen Beach. On a clear day the other Kerama islands show on the horizon.

Humpback whales pass here from late December to early April, when the observatories fill with whale watchers. In November it is quiet. Be back at the harbor 20 minutes before the 5:00 pm boat.

Chatan is where Okinawa's post-war story is most visible. The American Village is a shopping and dining complex built on land the US military gave back, designed to look like a Californian beach town, and it still draws a mix of locals, tourists and people from the nearby bases. It is not an old town, and the big Ferris wheel that once defined the skyline closed in 2022, but it has a sea wall for walking and plenty of places to eat tacos, burgers and Blue Seal ice cream.

The US bases are a fact of life on the island. About 70 percent of the land used exclusively by US forces in Japan is in Okinawa, covering about 10 percent of the prefecture, and Kadena Air Base and Camp Foster are close to Chatan. The plan to move Futenma Air Station from the city of Ginowan to Camp Schwab in Nago has been argued over for years. As a visitor you will mostly notice fences and aircraft noise. The Okinawa Prefecture page has the full picture. If the lights aren't on yet, it's the weakest stop of the week: skip it for more time at Zakimi.

Twenty minutes north, in Yomitan, Zakimi Castle sits on a hill above the village. It was built between 1416 and 1422, and its limestone walls have been partly restored. It is also a UNESCO site, listed in 2000 with Shuri, Sefa-utaki and Nakijin as the Gusuku Sites of the kingdom.

Walk up to the top, where the wall curves around the hill and the sea shows beyond the village. It is smaller and quieter than Shuri, which makes it easier to read how a gusuku works: walls first, buildings second. A pottery village, Yachimun no Sato, with a number of workshops, is a few minutes away, and Cape Zanpa, with its lighthouse and beach, is further along the coast.

Cape Maeda is the most popular snorkeling spot on the main island. A stairway leads down from the parking lot to a rocky shore, and the Blue Cave is a sea cave a short swim from the entry, where the light turns the water a deep electric blue. The reef outside has plenty of fish.

In November this is for confident swimmers with a wetsuit. Booking a guided trip is safer and easier than going alone: operators provide gear and check the conditions. If the sea is rough they will cancel, so ask about a refund or another slot when you book. The parking lot is paid (listings say 100 yen an hour, one operator 300 yen for two hours from April 2026).

The roadside station on Route 58 is both a farmers' market (it works with about 400 farmers, most of them from Onna) and a food court, and a good place to try the sweets: sata andagi, sweet fried dough balls that are close to a doughnut, brown sugar and purple sweet potato. It's open until around 7 pm. The nakayukui in the name means a break, which is exactly what it's for.

Cape Manzamo is a limestone cliff above the East China Sea with a rock shaped like an elephant's trunk. The name is usually explained as a field where ten thousand people can sit. A loop path of about 20 minutes goes along the top, and the sun sets into the sea at around 5:40 pm in November.

It's one of the best-known stops on the island, so it fills with tour groups in the afternoon; go for the last hour of light. Parking is free, and the entry ticket comes from a machine.

Onna is a resort coast, so the evenings are in hotels and a few izakaya along Route 58. Look for the island's agu pork, a black pig with a rich flavor, as shabu-shabu or a cutlet, and order the sashimi of the day. The raw fish here is part of a set meal, not a ceremony.

The aquarium in the Ocean Expo Park is the biggest sight on the north of the island, built around a 7,500 cubic meter tank in which whale sharks and manta rays circle slowly over a coral reef. The big viewing window is the point: stand at it for ten minutes before you look at anything else. The rest of the building covers the deep sea and the coral reef, and there is a dolphin show outside.

From October to February it opens from 8:30 to 18:30, with the last entry at 17:30. It has no scheduled closing days until 31 March 2027, apart from typhoons. Adults pay 2,180 yen. Go straight to the main tank at opening, before the tour buses, then do the rest in reverse order.

A 20-minute walk from the aquarium is a village that looks the way many on Okinawa used to: low houses, each one hidden in a tall hedge of fukugi trees. They were planted as windbreaks against typhoons, and their name is written with the characters for good fortune. The path between them is about a kilometer long, shaded and paved, and it ends at the sea.

People live here, so it's a quiet walk, not a place for loud groups.

Motobu has its own soba road (Highway 84), and its best-known address is Kishimoto Shokudo in Toguchi, a family restaurant that has been open since 1905. It's known for ash soba, noodles made with the clear water from rice-straw ash, and for queues of 30 to 60 minutes at lunch.

If the queue is long, any other shop along the road is fine. Hours are about 11:00 to 17:00, and a shop closes early once the noodles run out.

Nakijin is the other great castle ruin of the island, 8 km from the aquarium. The fortress goes back to the early 14th century, and the remains today are about 1,500 meters of limestone wall that climbs a ridge in long curves and gives a view down to the sea. UNESCO listed it in 2000 with the other Gusuku Sites. There are no reconstructed buildings, which is the appeal: just wall, sky and sacred groves.

Its cherry trees, the kanhizakura, bloom from mid-January to early February. In November you get the stone and the quiet.

Kouri Bridge, 1,960 meters long and free to use, opened in 2005 and links Yagaji Island to Kouri Island. The drive across a shallow, bright-blue channel is the reason people come, and Kouri is a small island with a few cafes, a white beach and a lookout, the Kouri Ocean Tower. Walk along the beach for half an hour and have a coffee. In November the beach has no nets and no lifeguards.

From Nago, take the Okinawa Expressway to Naha to avoid the slow stretches of Route 58. The toll between Naha and Kyoda is about 1,040 yen, and the speed limit is 80 km/h. Allow two hours from Kouri, longer on a Friday evening, and expect to arrive in the dark.

Don't book an early flight for the next morning from here. Sleep a last night in Naha and return the car at the airport branch the next day; the airport is 18 minutes from the center.