After spending the end of 2024 and start of 2025 in Seoul, South Korea, we returned back to the US for some much needed family time after one full year of travels. After 3 months visiting, we again ended up returning to Japan. Besides loving the country, we were also returning to attend Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, which occurred April 18-20th. This kicked off a couple of weeks returning to Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo before spending one month in Okinawa, Japan.
How We Spent One Month in Okinawa Japan
First, I have to say that Okinawa is probably best visited if you rent a car. Unlike the majority of the rest of Japan, Okinawa does not have extensive public transport. In Naha (the main city) you’ll find a monorail and public buses. These can only take you so far. But Sean and I prefer not to have the added expense and found other ways to explore.
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Naha is such an interesting city. It felt so unlike the other parts of Japan that we’ve visited. It has a more laid-back, gritty vibe. And honestly, (to us) it felt a bit like a mix of Hawaii and Japan. This might have something to do with it being part of the Ryukyu Kingdom between 1429 and 1879 before being dissolved and integrated into Japan.
Because Naha felt so different from the rest of Japan, it almost felt like we were in a new country. It was quite exciting! We stay not far from Kokusai-Dori (the main shopping street), which meant we had easy access to all sorts of food, shopping, and souvenirs. Though the place we stayed was a bit small, with a bed that barely fit the two of us, it was better than we expected and satisfied our needs.
While Naha isn’t the most exciting city, there are some interesting sites to see. We did spend the majority of our month there working. Without all the constant sites and adventures, it gave us more time to buckle down and focus. But let’s get into the things we did do!
Using the Transport in Okinawa, Japan
Similar to the rest of Japan, Okinawa has its own IC card you can use for transport. However, unlike most of Japan, (as of 2025) you can’t use any of the known cards like Suica, Icoca, and Pasmo are the public buses. While the monorail in Naha does accept them, the buses only take cash or Okinawa’s specific OKICA card.
We bought the card for 500 yen, thinking we would use it more than we did. While we used it for some of the buses, it really wasn’t worth buying. It’s best to just use cash for the buses, unless you’re going to be taking the bus a lot.
What To Do in Okinawa, Japan
Churaumi Aquarium
This is one of the most popular attractions in Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa is known for its marine life, so Churaumi Aquarium gives you a wonderful look at the diversity around the island. It’s famous for its large tank with several huge manta rays and a whale shark.
If you have a rental car, you can drive from Naha to Churaumi Aquarium in about 2 hours. You can apparently also take the bus, but that takes over 2 hours. Sean and I opted to book a tour through Klook. For about $45 USD per person (which included the tickets to the aquarium), we were taken to the famous Kouri Bridge, Cape Manzamo, the aquarium, and American Village.
Though it was rainy the day we went, so the beach and Kouri bridge weren’t as beautiful as they could be. Manzamo was cool to see, but only takes about 20 minutes total. And American Village is mainly just shopping and feels a bit like being at Coney Island or Wildwood, New Jersey. The aquarium is definitely worth it though! Although we were not happy about the size of the tanks.
Shuri Castle
Shuri Castle was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom up until 1879. The castle was almost completely destroyed in 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa and reconstructed in 1992. Getting there is pretty easy from Naha, all you have to do is take the Yui Rail (monorail) to the Shurijo stop and then follow signs (or Google Maps) for the castle.
The admission fee is 400 yen (~$3 USD) per adult as of 2025. While the site is interesting and offers a view of Naha city from the walls, the main building is currently under reconstruction following a fire in 2019, so it may not be worth the trip until the construction is complete.
After visiting the castle, we decided to walk around the area and saw, on Google Maps, a royal mausoleum called Tamaudun. This building, constructed in 1501, houses the remains of the royal family of the Ryukyu Kingdom. While you can’t actually enter the mausoleum, you can visit a small museum and view the structure for a minimal fee of 300 yen (~$2 USD) per adult. Tamaudun also suffered extensive damage during World War II but was rebuilt in 1977.
American Village
Even though American Village was a stop on our aquarium tour, Sean and I ended up spending our time there having dinner. So we decided to go back a different day by taking the bus a little over an hour from Naha. The area is meant to be modeled after an American outdoor shopping mall. It sort of felt like an old western movie set by someone who has never set foot in the US. The shops were really random and it felt a bit goofy, but they have some good coffee shops there and it’s right by the beautiful water. We had lunch at a Hawaiian cafe, which was decent, then just walked around and enjoyed a cup of coffee with the views.
Okinawa World
This is a bit of a small touristy “theme” park that highlights Okinawan culture. Getting there by bus from Naha is pretty easy. We got on bus number 83 which takes you all the way there for around 590 yen. While Google maps tells you to get off and walk 6 minutes, the driver told us not to get off, that the bus goes all the way to the parking lot of Okinawa World. Getting back was a bit harder as the bus in that area only ran every hour, so we ended up walking 20 minutes or so to another bus stop.
Anyway, Okinawa World wasn’t really much to see. It has a cool cave system and they do some cultural shows every hour, but otherwise it’s pretty small and uneventful, especially for the price of 2000 yen (~$14 USD) per person. This one can be skipped, unless, like us, you have a month in Okinawa, Japan and time to spare.
The Best Part of Our Month in Okinawa
Maybe Sean disagrees (I haven’t asked…I guess he’ll tell me when he read this) but my favorite part of our month in Okinawa, Japan was visiting Aka Island. I had no knowledge of the smaller islands off the coast of Okinawa, but once I did some research, I convinced Sean we should spend a couple nights on one of those islands. There are a chain of islands that make up the Kerama Islands, the most popular being Zamami.
Aka is much smaller and typically visited as a day trip. But after doing some research, I was more interested in Aka than Zamami. So we booked two nights at Kawai Diving Guesthouse by messaging them on Instagram. Then we took the ferry from Naha port to Aka for around $30 USD round trip, per person.
Visiting Aka Island
We purchased ferry tickets on the website, which provides a QR code that you just take to the port, they’ll point you to the ship you’ll get on, and the QR code will get scanned when you board. It was really easy. Aka is a really small island and there isn’t much in the way of shops or restaurants, but many of the guesthouses seem to offer breakfast and dinner included.
The food at Kawai Diving was INCREDIBLE!!! Dinner was essentially a five course meal that looked and tasted like it was prepared by a chef at a 5-star restaurant. Fresh, locally caught fish, homemade focaccia breads, delicious soups, and amazing pastas!! I don’t think I’m ever getting over that meal, especially for a place that was around $100 USD per night, per person (so we spent around $400 for 2 nights). Well worth the price!
Aka was breathtaking! The water is some of the most vibrant blues and greens we’ve ever seen. They’ve even named the color Kerama blue. The guesthouse sits right at the beach, which we essentially had to ourselves. We also walked to Nishibama Beach, which is popular for seeing sea turtles. Though we had a great time snorkeling there, we (unfortunately) did not see any sea turtles.
Final Thoughts
Okinawa is a very unique area of Japan and well worth a visit (you don’t really need a month though). The food is unique, the people are friendly and laid back, and it’s just an interesting mix of cultures. Okinawa is also one of the few Blue Zones in the world, which means they have a large number of centenarians (people who reach the age of 100). It’s a beautiful area of the world, but I would say rent a car so you can explore farther than just Naha. And definitely visit the Kerama Islands! Oh! And eat Blue Seal ice cream. It’s amazingly delicious!