Naha (Okinawa) walking tour & city guide

Kokusai Street and the markets

Kokusai Dori, about 1.6 km long, is Naha's main street, lined with souvenir shops, Okinawan craft stores and bars, and closed to cars on Sunday afternoons. Off it run covered arcades such as Heiwa Dori, which lead to the Makishi Public Market, where you can choose colourful fish downstairs and have it cooked upstairs.

South-east of the arcades, Tsuboya is the old pottery quarter, with kilns, workshops and a stone-paved lane that has survived since the 17th century. The quiet backstreets around it, with their small houses and shisa lion-dogs on the rooftops, show the everyday side of the city.

Shuri and the Ryukyu Kingdom

On a hill to the east, Shuri was the royal capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom for about 450 years. The castle site, part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing, was badly damaged by fire in 2019 and has since been the focus of a careful reconstruction using traditional methods; its curving stone walls and gates are open to visitors. Nearby, the Kinjo-cho stone-paved road winds down the hillside past old walls and a giant banyan tree.

Naminoue Shrine stands on a cliff above Naha's small city beach, and the waterfront has views over the East China Sea at sunset.

Visiting tips

Naha Airport has flights from Tokyo in about 2 hours 30 minutes and from Osaka in about 2 hours. The Yui Rail monorail links the airport, Kokusai Street and Shuri. The rainy season is in May and June, and typhoons are possible from July to October, so check the forecast. Winters are mild, rarely below 15 °C.