Hey Folks, Marcus here and I’m just like you; we’ve both got a list of ultimate travel destinations. The top 2 places on my list are
Hawaii and
Japan, so when the prospect of a week in
Okinawa (known as the Hawaii of Japan, apparently) was raised, my bags were packed before the tickets were booked.
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| At Hong Kong International Airport Ready to Go! |
At the time we were in Hong Kong on one of our annual trips visiting family. The great thing about HK is that it’s a Hub, so it’s easy to fly to other destinations in Asia, and there’s always a deal to be found. In the past we’d hopped over to Malaysia and South Korea, but this time Japan beckoned.
All I knew about Okinawa was that Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid hailed from there, and that was fiction, so really I didn’t know anything at all about Okinawa. We booked through a travel agent who sold it to us on with the “Hawaii of Japan” spiel, which was cool as we hadn’t had a beach holiday in ages and the kids love the sand and surf. Within days we were disembarking our
Dragon Air flight (a great airline servicing Asia who we’ve flown with a number of times) at Okinawa’s Naha Airport, picking up our hire car and heading North on the Okinawa Expressway to picturesque Yomitan, where we’d be staying at the
Hotel Nikko Alivila for 3 nights.
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The View from Our Balcony
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| Hotel Beach |
The Nikko Alivila is an amazing resort, with its own beach in a stunning location, excellent facilities and staff who were great with the kids; all that you need!
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| Dolphin and Whale Show at the Ocean Zone |
Like I said, we’d hired a car as usual so we could get out and explore the island. Our first stop was
Ocean Expo Park in the north of the island. Built to commemorate the Okinawa International Ocean Exhibition of 1975, the Park is divided into 3 main areas; Flowers and Greenery Zone, History and Culture Zone, and the focus of our visit to the park, The Ocean Zone.
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| Underwater Viewing |
The amazing thing about the park is that you can wander around inside for free, taking in the many dolphin and whale shows, which were a real hit with the boys. If you’re on a budget, this is a great free day out, but if you’ve got the money, we definitely recommend spending the 1850 Yen (kids under 6 go Free) on a ticket to the
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, one of the largest in the world. The gigantic Whale Shark and Manta Ray aquarium is something else, and the kids can got their hands wet handling star fish and posed for photos within the jaws of a great white shark. This really is a must see attraction on the island.
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| Inside the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium |
Following the end of World War 2, America developed a huge military presence on Okinawa which remains to this day. Such is the size of the American influence on the island and it’s economy (over 50,000 US Military personnel are stationed there), it often feels more like the US than it does Japan; you can buy a Taco almost anywhere!
We took a trip to The
Mihama American Village, a large entertainment complex located in central Okinawa Honto, an area housing several American military bases. Resembling a big American outdoor mall with lots of shops, restaurants and cafes, it’s hard to believe that you’re in Japan whilst there. However, its proximity to a large military base means that you’ll often see low flying fighter jets banking overhead and landing in the distance. It’s real Top Gun stuff!
One major positive of visiting the American Village is that you’ll immediately want to submerge yourself in some real Japanese culture as soon as you leave. We headed off to the district of Naha to visit the grand
Shuri Castle.
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| Shuri Castle in Naha |
Although originally built in the late 1300s as a residence for the Ryukyu kings, the castle has sadly been destroyed several times by various wars and fires, meaning that what is presented now is almost entirely a reconstruction. Don’t let this put you off though, as the reborn Shuri Castle is a spectacular site, and its hilltop setting allows for great views of Naha.
When visiting new cities we always try and check out the local fish market, and the Awase Fish Market was well worth the visit. The range of fish and seafood on display was spectacular and of course we got stuck in to a variety of raw and cooked seafood dishes from the various eateries inside. The Sashimi in particular was out of this world!
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| Delicious Fresh Sashimi from the Market |
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| Rainbow Coloured Fish on Display |
Just cruising semi-aimlessly around Okinawa in the hire car threw up lots of fun things. From abandoned fighter jets at the side of the road,
Pineapple theme parks and breathtaking coastal views, there was always something to stop and marvel at.
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| Abandoned Fighter Jet |
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| Nago Pineapple Park |
With our departure day looming, we checked out of the Hotel Nikko Alivila and headed closer to the airport, booking in to the
Okinawa NaHaNa Hotel & Spa in Naha for a night. This was a great modern hotel with views stretching out over the busy tourist shopping area of Kokusaidori. Our kids are train mad, so when they caught site of a Monorail from our hotel window, we knew we’d be spending a fair bit of time riding the thing around the area. This did allow us to check out more places than we would have on foot though, and the Boys had a blast.
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| Monorail Spotting |
The various indoor markets of
Kokusaidori were fun to visit, selling all kinds of disposable crap that the children couldn’t keep their mitts off. We had super-fun Teppanyaki meal at
Sam's Sailor Inn, with 2 Chef’s employing various culinary acrobatic manoeuvres and tricks whilst cooking your food on a hot griddle right at your table. Yes it was touristy but everybody loved the experience and the food was great.
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| Dinner at Sam's |
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| Kokusaidori Shoppers |
And just like that our trip was nearly at an end. A taxi dropped us off at the wrong airport terminal, which meant we had to walk to the next one with our bags in tow. However, this slight inconvenience turned in to one of the highlights of the trip, as the route to the next terminal ran parallel to the runway, where several waves of fighter jets were taking off in pairs right next to us!
As exciting as this was, it also reminded us of the sizable impact the American military presence has on Okinawa, namely the dilution of the traditional Okinawan culture, which gets shooed in to the corners by the fast food joints, shopping malls and an endless file of Army Surplus Stores.
Our trip to Okinawa was wonderful, but I still don’t feel like I’ve truly visited
Japan. Next time we’ll go Godzilla-style and tackle
Tokyo!
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