Okinawa City

Don’t confuse this place with Naha!

About Okinawa City

Most people that visit Okinawa end up in Naha and only venture out as far as American Village, but Okinawa has so much more to offer.  Take it from us, the authors.  We both spent several years living in Okinawa and for us, Okinawa City is a wonderful little pocket of culture and colorful people.  From the sleepy little shopping street “Ichibangai” that comes alive at night with bars and restaurants to the Eisa Festival, a celebration of traditional Okinawan music and dance, there is a never ending amount of things to see and do in this town.

Access

As an island, your only choice to get here is by airplane from one of the airports around Japan.

Regardless of how long you plan to stay, we highly recommend you rent a car.  During your stay in Okinawa City, you’ll likely want to visit other places and the bus system is just still not that convenient.  A car will make things much more worthwhile.

If you insist on local transport, you can take the highway bus from Naha to Okinawa City and then walk the rest of the way from the bus stop.  For information on buses check here.

Where To Work

Okinawa City has a wide variety of coworking spaces in one central area.

• Startup Lab Lagoon
  A free coworking space in the “Ichibangai” shopping street.
  

Accommodations 

For people traveling alone, the Geek House has a dorm in Okinawa City that is mostly for developers.  If you want to meet other like minded people looking to geek out together, it might be a good place to talk to.

Otherwise, it’s possible to find airbnb’s and Leo Palace short term rentals in the area.  For short term stay, there are also a number of hotels in the area.

Things To Do

• Snorkeling
• Museums
• Tech Meetups and Lectures

What To Eat

• Okinawa Soba
• Taco Rice
• Goya Champuru
• Peruvian Food

Difficulty Level:  Medium

Inconvenient local transportation makes this one a bit harder to navigate.  If you can handle driving in a foreign country or you don’t mind taking things slow as you wait for the bus to come, everything else is pretty smooth though.