Growing up in Okinawa in the 1980s, kendo was not a sport I was familiar with. Despite its status as a traditional martial art and the kendo club at school, I don’t recall it having mainstream sport status.

It was by accident that I went to Ukabijima in Okinawa. On a day in late June, I hit the road and drove down south.

The JBL Pass, not to be confused with the Japan Bus Pass, is a flat-rate bus ticket that allows holders to ride up to three express buses per day for three, five, or seven days.

Goat meat, like Chui jhal, Boodog or Kaldereta, is usually associated with Bengal, Mongolian or Filipino cuisine. It is not what you normally associate with Japanese cuisine, so how did it make as a powerhouse dish in this oversized counter bar and dining room they call Misaki?

U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. David Williams, a motor vehicle operator with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, assembles an M2A1 .50 caliber machine gun during a machine gun competition on Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, March 26, 2025.

Like so many other Okinawans, I love hamburgers. When I was young, I could eat one every day.

Bingata is a traditional cloth-dyeing method that spans generations and has a 500-year history on Okinawa. This craft consists of colorful patterns painted onto fabric used for tapestries, clothing and more.

There are many taco joints on Okinawa, but Mexico is arguably one of the most famous. Since its debut in 1977, this joint has been known for serving only one simple menu item: “taco.”

Sakaemachi is a miniature Showa period town filled with alleyways and hundreds of pubs and hole in the wall eateries, where liveliness and darkness coexist, making it a curious discovery day and night, like an odyssey in multiple acts.

Last year I visited Kissa Gitano, an eatery in the Sunabe Seawall known for their tasty Cuban sandwiches, a go-to when I lived in South Florida almost 10 years ago.