Okinawa Information
The information on this page is a basic guide about accommodation, sightseeing and
martial arts training in Okinawa.
It is primarily information for martial artists planning to visit Okinawa for martial
arts training, as well as non-Japanese speaking tourists.
Anyone finding the information presented useful is free to participate and to use
the information and support services provided.
Most of the content on this web site is based on my own personal experiences as
a non-Japanese speaking martial artist visiting and training in Okinawa.
The Naha International Airport is relative small compared to the Domestic Airport.
It usually takes only minutes to go through immigration and customs.
Try to have your accommodation and dojo details handy, preferable in Japanese as
the immigration officer may not speak much English.
Also make sure to discard any prohibited food items and plant materials, Okinawa
is very strict about disease and insect control.
It is also recommend to get a few Okinawa brochures with maps in English at the
Information desk prior to going through passport control, as some of them are available
only at the airport.
See
Sightseeing for more information about brochures,
maps and information material.
Once you have passed immigration and customs make your way to the exit and catch
a Taxi, Bus or Monorail to Naha.
See
Transport for more information about transport in
Okinawa.
If you are planning to catch the Monorail or visit the Domestic Airport turn to
the right once you exit the International Airport. It is about a 3 to 5 minute walk
to both of them.
If you are travelling on your own it is much cheaper to take the Monorail than a
Taxi, and it stops right at Asato station where the Apartments
mention on this site are.
The Domestic Airport is much larger and has many shops and eating places. It is
certainly worth a visit prior to your departure, as the International Airport duty
free shopping is very limited and in fact only has one shop in the entry hall and
another in the departure lounge.
One of the most difficult aspects of travelling to Okinawa for Karate training or
holiday is finding affordable and comfortable accommodation that is close to a dojo.
There are apartments close to the Higaonna(IOGKF) dojo and right next to the Jundokan
dojo and also the centre of Naha (Kokusai Dori street) available for rent through
a local housing company.
Without speaking Japanese or a local contact it is virtually impossible to rent
apartments in Okinawa from overseas, therefore we recommend, for all those wishing
to travel to Okinawa, to contact
Glenn McIlvride
who will happily organize your accommodation for you.
Glenn can also help you to organize car hire and assist in case of emergencies.
The pictures and links will show you what you will be getting. For more information or to book simply e-mail
Glenn directly and he will take care of it for you.
There are several types of apartments available for example the
Refine,
Imperial,
Excel Court,
Luxor and others.
Also see the
Visitors Supports section for more
information
Glenn McIlvride, originally from New Zealand, has been living in
Okinawa for the past 20 years.
Over the past 20 years he has seen many overseas visitors come and go and heard
numerous tales of how difficult it is to arrange things here, both before coming
and while here in Okinawa.
To help make it easier for non-Japanese speaking visitors to Okinawa (in particular,
martial artists) he has been working together with a number of resident businesses,
including car hire, and accommodation facilities, to help make visitors Okinawa
experience a more comfortable, infinitely less stressful event.
He speaks, read, and writes Japanese fluently and can assist on any arrangements
when you are planning your trip to Okinawa.
Please feel free to contact him about
accommodations
or for information on Okinawa before you travel.
Contact Details:
Glenn McIlvride
Mobile: +81 90-1947-7775
Skype: glenn_kiwilink
Naha has an abundance of eating places every few building blocks apart, serving
typical Okinawa cuisine at reasonable prices ranging from around 500 to 1500 Yen,
as a basic rule there is no need to spend much more than around 650 to 850 Yen for
a meal.
In general none of the restaurant staff does speak any English but most eating places
have menus with pictures of meals for you to choose from.
View typical restaurant lunches in slide show.
From my perspective eating out is getting a bit boring after while since the menu
is almost the same at every eating place.
Recommend to try out the prepared meals available at every supermarket and department
stores, there is a great variety available at very affordable prices ranging from
200 to max. 600 Yen for a fairly large serving.
There are some typical cooked meals available at supermarket ranging from 350 to
550 Yen.
If you are renting an
apartment then off course
cooking some of your own meals is another option, specially breakfast is better
to cook yourself, as the local breakfast usually consists of a few balls of rice
with some pickled ginger etc and a bowl of miso soup.
You will also find some fantastic bakeries around Naha in particular at every department
store and supermarkets. Many of them are of high standard with a wide range
of selection of breads, cakes and savory's like you find in many western countries.
Sport and Soft Drinks
Some of the sports drinks available in supermarkets to replenish lost salts and
minerals during the hot sweat session.
Sports and soft drinks are also available at vending machines on every street corner
at around a third of Australian soft drink prices
Shureido Martial Arts, Kobodo, Do-Gi's......
Shopping Centre's
Brochures and Maps
After you arrive at the airport and prior to going through immigration take the
time to pick up some brochures from the information desk in the entry hall.
The first 3 brochures from the left can be picked up there, however I found that
the first two from the left were not available this time in March 2007 and I could
not find them at the Tourist bureau either.
All brochures mentioned are in English.
The Naha map at the end (right) can be picked up from the Tourist Bureau in Naha
located not far from the Mutsumibashi Dori Market, the Okinawa Magazine is also
available there.
The magazines recommended below will be of great help to you, they contain maps,
tourist locations with relevant bus numbers, Monorail and bus route information.
Once you are equipped with some Maps and Brochures you find that most tourist attractions
around Naha can be easily reached on foot.
For example to see the Shikanean Royal Gardens it takes just as long to walk from
the Shuri station as it does from the Asato stations in town next to the
Refine Apartments, there is no need to catch the Monorail to Shuri from
Asato.
On this page you will find some basic "how to" information on the most
common transport options in Okinawa.
Many of sites around Naha are sometimes better visited on foot, this way you get
to know the various parts of the town much quicker and experience more of the local
life style.
The Monorail is a convenient and relative cheap way to get around within Naha.
It will take you from the Airport to the centre of Naha (Kokusai Dori) all the way
to Shuri, with several stops close to sightseeing venues along the way. It also
stops at Asato about 50 meters to the
Refine and Imperial
Apartments.
Purchasing a ticket is relative easy, however the ticket machine has a Japanese
display only.
To purchase a ticket:
have a look at the stations listed above the ticket machines and remember the Kanji
characters relating to your station (left picture)
touch the equivalent character on the touch screen (centre picture)
make sure that station displayed on the next screen is correct (right picture) and
enter the requested amount, either coins or paper money and click the blue button.
The machine will give to the correct change and the ticket.
Once you have purchased a ticket, feed it through the ticket validation machine
on entry and also at exit of the departure station. Therefore keep hold of the ticket
until departure, the machine will then swallow it for good.
At every Monorail station you'll find a map of the local area surrounding the
station in Japanese and English, opposite the ticket validation entrance .
The maps are very easy to read, maybe take a picture if you have digital camera
with you and store/view it on your laptop computer for future reference.
If you need to travel to places away fro the Monorail it is best to catch a bus.
There are many different bus lines and routes, therefore it is not always easy to
figure out which one to take.
The best way to approach this is to check it out first by studying the
Brochures and Maps mentioned on the
Sightseeing Page,
most sightseeing places in these brochures have also the bus numbers listed to get
there.
As a rule it may be better to walk to the Naha Bus Terminal (left picture) and catch
the appropriate bus from there until you are more familiar with the bus routes.
This may avoid having to wait at a bus station for an hour before realizing it is
the wrong one.
Once you arrive at the bus terminal you may not find anyone speaking English, so
you may have to point to maps/brochures etc to demonstrate your desired destination.
There is also a display board (econd picture below) that displays the various terminal
locations where the buses depart, be aware that there about four different departure
locations within the terminal complex. The third picture below shows one of the
terminal areas for buses to Okinawa World and other South-East, South-West bound
buses.
The picture to the left was taken from the entrance of the
Refine Apartments and shows the Asato bus station and behind the Asato Monorail
Station.
Purchasing a Bus Ticket
When getting on a bus:
pull a ticket (centre picture below) from the green ticket machine (left picture
below)
now sit down and wait until you get to your destination, during that time you may
check the Zone display (picture below) to see what the current cost is, as
the bus crosses another zone the price changes accordingly. During that time you
can also get some change from the grey payment machine and prepare to have the correct
bus fare ready when reaching the destination.
Once you have reached the destination or shortly prior to, compare your ticket number
(centre picture below) with the equivalent number on the Zone display above the
ticket machine (right picture below), the amount below the Zone number (2 in the
example) below is the price you have to pay. Just throw the ticket and correct amount
into the gray payment collection machine (left picture below) and exit. If you are
travelling with a partner it is advised that you pay separately to avoid confusion
and possible having to pay again.
Taxis are not very expensive and a good option if you are more of you.
For example we (2 of us) travelled from Gibon Monorail Station to Nishihara and
it did not cost any more than travelling by bus, in addition we would have never
found the place we were looking for, we found this out when we took the bus back
and paid about 1100 Yen for the two of us. I would say if you are more than 2 take
a Taxi if you can't walk it.
Recommend also that you have the destination written down, preferable in Japanese
as not all Taxi driver speak English.
Car hire is a good way to go if you want to see more of Okinawa in particular the
North-East like Nago, Cape Hedo, etc.
We hired a small car for the day to see most of Okinawa and it cost around 5000
Yen for the day including all insurances and zero excess.
Have to mention though, that it may be better to pay a bit extra for the next model
up to get additional legroom and slightly stronger engine.
To hire a car: