One of my favorite things to do with my kids has always been to just take a walk and see what we can see. I’ve never been the type to worry about a list or a plan.
Whether you’re working from home, sheltering in place or just staying home, if you’re like us, you’re probably dreaming of open skies, sandy beaches, tall mountains, or perfect powdery slopes.
Welcome to virtual vacation video series where we can explore destinations from the comfort of our homes. Join us as we take a short virtual journey to Busan.
Kakazu Ridge played a pivotal role in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Only a short 15-minute drive from MCAS Futenma and you can immerse yourself in a piece of island and world history.
Although Kakazu Ridge is a quiet area where locals go to play mini-golf or let their children loose for playground time, this place was the site of deadly combat during the Battle of Okinawa.
With the 2016 release of Mel Gibson’s Academy Award nominated “Hacksaw Ridge,” there has been increased interest in the Okinawa site where the movie takes place.
It was the peak of summer 2015 and I could barely wait until Friday so I could spend my time off snorkeling and stuffing my face with local Okinawan cuisine.
My ideal weekend was approaching slowly but surely, but so was a large-scale typhoon – an immediate threat to my ambitions.
A visit to Okinawa is not complete without having tasted some Awamori, the local liquor of the islands. Influenced from trade with Thailand during the Ryukyu era, Awamori was a popular export from Okinawa and often gifted by the Ryukyu kingdom to neighboring trading partners.
Japan is acclaimed for its hospitality, so much so that there is a word for it called omotenashi. In Okinawa, you need to be careful with the locals, least they adopt you into their family.
While there are many great shopping destinations to discover on Okinawa, there are three specific stores that are highly touted to newcomers regardless of who they talk to. The do-it-yourself home improvement super center Make Man is one of those stores.
Japan’s oldest zoo, tons of museums, a French-style modern park filled with cherry trees, numerous Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, along with the busy streets of downtown make Ueno a great attraction in Tokyo. Ueno is a few hours away by train from any of the U.S.
As you step out of Tsuruhashi Station and into the undercover market that snakes towards the center of Ikuno-ku, the smell of barbecue wafts your way. Many of the signs hanging above the mismatched stalls that line the walkway are in kanji, but the area feels distinctly un-Japanese.
