Travel Guide: Okinawa
Known as the Hawaii of Japan, Okinawa had been on my travel wishlist for years. Even though our days were filled with rain, I fell in love with the island! Here's how to enjoy Oki, rain or shine.
One week before I launched MEMORY, I deleted Instagram from my phone and headed to Okinawa with having done little to no research (at least by my standards). I was in no mood to relax or have a chill beach vacation because all I could think about was the road ahead of me (I was launching one of the biggest projects of my life so soon!) and for weeks leading up to the trip, I contemplated cancelling the trip altogether almost daily. But as the day of departure approached, I realized there was not much left I could do re: MEMORY (everything was pretty much ready, just some final tweaks on the website left) and I knew deep down I needed this. I had been buried under work for months. Plus, who knew what my life would be like post-launch? Would I ever travel again?! (Lol kidding). We boarded two hour flight from Seoul and as soon as we landed in Naha, I was reminded that the thing about islands is that … they’re just … magical. They force you to stop, breathe, look around, and reset.
Okinawa had been on my travel wishlist for years. The turquoise waters and white sand beaches alone draws in 10 million tourists every year, but when we arrived a few weeks ago (early May), there was rain on the forecast for pretty much the entirety of our trip. It was the start of the rainy season and it rained five out of the six days we were there. I never faced so much rain on a tropical vacation but to my surprise… it wasn’t bad! It was still fun. I was grateful it was just gloomy, light rain versus nonstop full torrential downpour. We made the best of it — we explored all the indoor activities we could, like visiting multiple 2nd Streets and a huge American-style mall that could easily fill an entire afternoon, and even hiking to a waterfall in the light rain.
Okinawa has a really interesting/sad/violent/complex history that I won’t get too into, but it definitely didn’t feel like the rest of Japan. And it shouldn’t — it was an independent, indigenous nation known as the Ryukyu kingdom until it was colonized and annexed by Japan in 1879. What was the strangest thing though was how it also felt more like the U.S. than anywhere else I’ve been in Asia. Okinawa is home to the largest concentration of U.S. military bases outside the States and with it, a massive American population. It had its fun parts (like lots of American-style antique shops and fast food chains like A&W) but also, obviously, its terrible downsides (noise pollution, environmental damage, and tacky American-themed areas like Chatan).
Still, I fell in love with Okinawa. I knew I would. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re already out here in Asia. The fact that it’s only 2.5 hours to/from Seoul and there are easy direct flights may be the best part (for me). I’m constantly traveling to cities within Asia (Tokyo, Taipei) and always forget that there are so many great islands all around. Still dying to go to Jeju again. Islands seem to always have this magical power of making time stop. As I embark on my new chapter with MEMORY, I hope I can find the time (and mind space) to make these trips more often ͙͘͡ ★
Here’s my guide to a perfect few days to reset and relax in Okinawa, rain or shine.
⭐🌧️ Okinawa Travel Guide 🌈🐬
Food/Cafes
Quite a few people told me not to expect too much of the food in Okinawa, but quite frankly, I loved it. Way more than Tokyo or Hokkaido. There’s just a really good mix. Lots of fresh/healthy/California-inspired cafes, classic Japanese (of course), fun American fast food chains (sometimes, just sometimes, I miss America), and interestingly enough, good Mexican, and even great Indian.
Kofta - Surprisingly, this Indian meal at Kofta was my favorite meal of the trip. We randomly stopped by here on our last day in the rain. We just barely made it before closing and I’m so glad we did. This meal sums up why I loved the food in Okinawa … a lot of it isn’t Japanese. I can find a lot of great non-Korean food in Seoul but Indian might be the toughest. I really miss Indian food. This place was so good — we had the mixed curry platter with 5 different types of curry and small fried fish, and the homemade cola was to die for … so special - I’m dying to know the recipe! I hope to come back here one day soon.
Onna no Eki Nakayukui Market Rest Stop - Nothing can top a good rest stop in Korea, and this one in Onna towards the middle of the island showed me Japan knows what they’re doing too. This rest stop was soo fun and had a bunch of different delicious things to try. We landed on spam musubi - two different places - the one in the second photo was the best one I’ve ever had because the egg portion was basically a perfect tamagoyaki (Japanese egg omelette roll) and it had the perfect rice-to-filling ratio (very little rice, which is how I like it). We had the best shaved ice here as well. You can’t miss it! There will be a line but it moves fairly fast. The fresh fruit with condensed milk … still dreaming of it. A must visit if you’re on this side of the island.