Onna, Japan

Our flight from Seoul to Naha was at 8:05am so we set our alarms for 4:15am. Got to the airport just before 6am with plans to have breakfast while we waited. Unfortunately nothing was open except for a juice place :( luckily they also had coffee and bagels.

The flight to Naha was full, a lot of US military related folks probably returning to base (the US has a large military presence in Okinawa). It’s just under two hours south from Seoul. We were served a decent hot meal which was good cause we were still a bit hungry.

Immigration was straightforward (Canadians don’t need a visa for Japan). Got a little sticker in our passports, country number 99 for me!

Korean Air had sent me a text in Seoul that my luggage had been loaded on the flight (technically, probably just into the ULD container) plus our AirTags showed our luggage had made it so it was stress-free waiting by the carousel.

There were more people wearing masks here than in Seoul. In Seoul it was about 15% and here in Naha about 50%.

Next up was picking up our rental car from Avis. The shuttle was waiting for us at the terminal, a good sign that they had our car waiting :) The paperwork took forever though.

Finally around noon we started our little road trip in a Toyota Yaris. UNESCO castles, here we come!

Naha’s population is over a million and it’s all urban sprawl. So our road trip wasn’t making any lists :) The car had built in navigation but the search function only had a kanji keyboard, so we used Google maps which worked well.

First up was Nakagusuku Castle. My research had said all the sites were free to enter, but there’s now admission (at least at the two castles we saw today). It was cash-only so we had to drive out to a 7-Eleven (which are ubiquitous here), get cash, buy some water to break the large bill, and then drive back.

The heat and humidity were a bit of a shock. It was 24C here, a swing of over 40C from Seoul if you factor in the feels-like. Our luggage was strewn all over the trunk in our search for our summer gear.

Finally we were set to enter. After we paid for our ticket, a golf cart whisked us up to the top of the hill. The marked path then wound through the castle ruins back down to the entrance.

The castle has been preserved in its ruined state. It was very peaceful to wander through, with only a handful of other tourists.

We then drove to the nearby Payao Fish Market. I had read somewhere that it was a great place to eat. It seemed a bit dubious as google maps guided us down to the wharf through an industrial area. We parked and entered. There was a kitchen in the back, with faded pictures of food options. Somebody else was just picking up their order which looked good, so we just ordered two of those.

Turned out to be one of the best lunches we’ve had! I googled it later, we had their specialty, the Ise-ebi lobster, with a side of sashimi, pickled radish, and miso soup. The sashimi tuna was the best tuna we’ve had. The lobster is baked with uni sauce. The miso was also excellent.

I took some pics of the fishies in the market area and then we were back on the road.

Next up were the Katsuren Castle Ruins. It was a bit awkward to figure out parking cause they’re in the midst of constructing a huge visitor centre. Anyways it was the same drill - a golf cart drove us up to the top and then we toured heading back down. It was pretty impressive, with great views of the ocean and surrounding countryside. You could imagine how impressive it would have been back in the 13th century day.

The atmosphere around the castles reminded me of other UNESCO historical sites that are off the beaten path, like the painted churches in Cyprus or the Roman ruins in Butrint, Albania. It’s really peaceful with good tourist infrastructure, and hardly any other tourists.

Our last stop was our hotel for the night, a ryokan-style hotel on the west coast. The staff had limited English and our Japanese was just welcome and thanks, but we managed to check in and get to our room.

We had booked their Kaiseki dinner, an elaborate multi-course traditional meal. We were somewhat rushed to clean up as they wanted us to start at 6pm, an hour earlier than I had requested. Oh well.

It’s traditional to wear yukata (robe and pants), which were provided in our room. They fit okay. We should have skipped on their socks which were small and uncomfortable.

We enjoyed some of the courses which were quite excellent, others are probably more an acquired taste. We were in it for the experience so it was all good. I particularly enjoyed the beef course. Everything was impeccably presented.

It was a long day, and a transit day at that! We fell asleep quickly, around 8pm.