2018 Japan Vacation, Day 10 - Naha, Okinawa

On our first morning in Okinawa, we visited its most famous site, Shuri Castle, the palace of the Ryukyu kingdom from 1429 to 1879 and now a World Heritage site.

They are recoating the lacquer on the seiden, the main castle hall, so there is scaffolding obstructing the view.

We were able to walk through the inside of the seiden.

This is the king's throne...

And his crown...

Here are some of the workers applying the new coat of lacquer...

After touring the castle, we drove into Naha city.

This is one of the lion sculptures in the city.

We went to Makishi Public Market. We thought we had left the crowds behind in Tokyo but this place was packed.

The market has many stands selling fresh produce. Here my wife is trying umi budo, sea grapes. We liked it so much that we bought some to have with our lunch.

There were numerous places selling fresh fish.

You can buy fish at the market and they will prepare them for you at the restaurant upstairs.

We chose red snapper, a shellfish, and a crab.

The snapper and shellfish were prepared two ways: half was made into sashimi (raw) and half was cooked. Here you can see the sashimi platter.

And here the cooked snapper, with Kai trying to crack open the crab.

Here's the umi budo. Okinawans have the longest life span on earth. I wonder if the umi budo has anything to do with that.

Kai's grandfather had udon with pork ribs, an Okinawan specialty.

After lunch, we walked around the market some more. We saw some interesting things. Okinawans eat all parts of the pig including the face. Kai was fascinated by the pig face on sale.

And then we walked out of the market to stroll down Kokusai Dori, a major shopping street. It was another hot day - the air temperature was "only" 89 but with the high humidity, the 'feels like' temp was 104.

We saw a store that sold Habushu, an awamori-based liqueur made in Okinawa. The awamori is first mixed with herbs and honey giving the clear liquid a yellow hue. A pit viper is then inserted into the liquid and stored until consumed. Per Wikipedia, It is a typical practice to age the awamori for a long period of time. The alcohol helps the venom to dissolve and become non poisonous.

Kai was grumbling about the heat, and wanting to get back to the condo. We stopped for a cold snack and he was happier. Kai had a tapioca drink but I loved my wife's mango kakigori (shave ice). It came with fresh mango which is in season here in Okinawa right now.

We came back to the condo for a break, then went to the beach. Okinawa is in a tropical area and is famous for its beaches. Kai didn't particularly like this one as it was too much of a kiddie beach, so after a short stay, we went back to the beach right outside our condo that we went to last night.

For dinner, we went to American Village, a large complex of shops, restaurants, entertainment facilities. It caters to tourists, as well as to the American military personnel stationed nearby.

We chose a restaurant that specializes in taco rice, an Okinawan dish of Japanese rice topped with Mexican taco meat. My wife is eating a version of om taco rice which is topped with a soft fried egg layer and ketchup.

We then went for dessert. My wife and I had Okinawa zenzai which is red beans and mochi on ice cream and shave ice. We're eating so many desserts on this trip but I can't help it... it is all so good!

We will have two more full days to explore Okinawa.