Talk:Okinawa

Thanks Paul for making this a semi-useful page. I am asking some friends to help out filling this thing out more. Many of of them are in the Tourist industry here on Okinawa, but most only speak Japanese. Some are also involved in the external link provided on the main Okinawa page.

Help! How to divide Miyako??
As you may or may not know, it is a common misconception that there's only one island in Miyako, due to the fact that the main island shares its name with the group.

I'm not sure how I should group them though, in preparing to make pages for them.

As you can tell from this map, there are "8 islands". That's if you count the Yabiji and Fudi islands as single islands, which they aren't, but given that their populations are very low and the individual islands are tiny, they're usually not counted by individual islands.

What I'm wondering is, since writings on Iriomote and Ishigaki as individual islands often include stuff about the surrounding islands (not Taketomi or Hatoma, rather those which are close enough to have a bridge), should I lump Ikema, Kurima, Oogami, Fudi, and Yabiji in with Miyako and Shimoji in with Irabu, or should I give each separate consideration? For now, I've linked separately to each. --(WT-en) Node ue 20:35, 12 Jun 2005 (EDT)


 * Rule of thumb is that if you can sleep there, then it gets its own page. So Iriomote qualifies, but Yubu does not.


 * I would suggest that, initially, you consider Miyako/Ikema/Kurima/etc as one destination and Shimoji/Irabu as another. They can always be split up later if they grow too large. (WT-en) Jpatokal 21:44, 12 Jun 2005 (EDT)


 * Also, we don't have to list every island here, this is just a top-level index of the main points of interest. (WT-en) Jpatokal 21:50, 12 Jun 2005 (EDT)

Habu
Changed the bit about habu to be less stupid &mdash; the snake can kill in a single bite, so it should not be taken lightly.

Expensive diving
Somebody keeps deleting the price info for diving. If the prices are incorrect, then correct them, but do not just delete the whole section -- the fact remains that diving in Japan is way more expensive than doing so in SE Asia. (WT-en) Jpatokal 19:14, 2 August 2010 (EDT)

Military resentment
Mentioning negative feelings about the U.S. military seems reasonable, but one should strive for accuracy. For example, while there is the perception that soldiers are a significant source of crime, statistically this is not true, so it shouldn't be stated as such. (WT-en) Orcrist 07:58, 12 October 2010 (EDT)

Military resentment addendum: I can attest to this as fact. When I was stationed there for three years, every new edition of the island's Japan Update showed multiple examples of Jappanese/Okinawan-on-Japanese/Okinawan crime; including frequent sexual assault. Military incolvement in this is a vast MINORITY as is the so-called 'resentment'. More practically, it's just aresentment over competition for space on the island more than anything else. Space for business, houseing, recreation, etc. There were protests while I was there, but this represents a minority (Likely fueled by business interests competing for real estate). In fact, the military helps fuel the economy. If there is any blame to be placed, it's the systematic dillution of Okinawan culture by the JAPANESE government. Unfortunately, the younger generations have already been snowed and don't even realize this.

"Mainland Japan"
Last night, I went to a presentation about Okinawa at Japan House in New York, and the Okinawans did refer to the Japanese Home Islands as the "mainland", but that makes little geographic sense. Should we use the expression, or should we refer to the main or home islands? Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:48, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Airport free shuttle: route
Hi Mrenglishben (or any knowledgeable person): Would you know where the free shuttle go, if it is available to anyone (passenger of any company) and if it requires a reservation? I could not find information about it. Cheers — Fabimaru (talk) 17:31, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure what free shuttle you're referring to. I don't see one described on this page or on Naha. I didn't find anything obvious in an internet search, either. However, I did dig up which led me to the fare tables listed at . If I'm reading those tables right, it seems like every route on the airport limousine bus has free service between the two Naha Airport terminals and Asahibashi station. --Bigpeteb (talk) 17:33, 8 November 2018 (UTC)
 * I was referring to « Naha airport has free transfer ». Thank you a lot for finding that. I don't know if the table means that it's free or if this route is not available. Fabimaru (talk) 22:52, 7 December 2018 (UTC)

Talk section
Am I missing something? Where else do we cover languages in Okinawa? On Japan, which is the only page above this one in the hierarchy, the only thing we say is
 * On the southern islands of Okinawa, many dialects of the closely related Ryukyuan languages are spoken, mostly by the elderly

That's hardly any detail at all. Surely it's appropriate on this page, just as on Hawaii, to give more detail about local languages, and maybe even teach some essentials. --Bigpeteb (talk) 22:03, 12 August 2019 (UTC)


 * I just moved the existing "Talk" section up. It was previously at the bottom of the article but it's now after "Get Around". Please expand on that if you think there's insufficient detail, but I think two "Talk" sections make the article harder to read. See Okinawa. The dog2 (talk) 22:21, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Talk, for logical reasons, goes after "Understand". See Country article template and Wikivoyage talk:Region article template. I will move it accordingly. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:00, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
 * fffffffffffffffffff.... I see, there already was a Talk section. My bad. In my defense, I looked for it in the normal place and didn't see it, which is why I added a new one. --Bigpeteb (talk) 16:00, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

Adding an extra region
Currently there are 5 regions here but this region structure leaves some destinations breadcrumbed to the prefectural article instead of a smaller region. As places like Kumejima are not covered by any sub region I would like to make an region inspired by this page while excluding Kerama and the Main Island which already have their own article Tai123.123 (talk) 21:41, 11 October 2021 (UTC)


 * That links to a 404 error. Try https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7100.html. --Comment by Selfie City  ( talk  |  contributions ) 21:44, 11 October 2021 (UTC)
 * forgot the L in html Tai123.123 (talk) 21:46, 11 October 2021 (UTC)

Just found this discussion. I've fixed part of the glitch by adding Kume, Tonaki and Aguni into the Kerama Islands (not strictly correct, but close enough for the traveller's POV). This still leaves Iejima, Iheya and Izena, which should be their own group (IMHO) under Okinawa Island, but none of the three articles exist yet so I'll kick this can down the road for now. Jpatokal (talk) 06:54, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

Cities/Islands -> Destinations
The recent restructuring of Okinawa Island means that many of the "cities" redirect to the same articles now, and nobody goes to Okinawa for the cities anyway. I'd suggest merging these into a list of 9 "destinations", perhaps the following:


 * 1) Irabu - the lesser-known half of Miyako
 * 2) Iriomote - large island full of untamed jungle
 * 3) Ishigaki - the laid-back tropical hub of the Yaeyama Islands
 * 4) Naha - the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture and by far the largest city in the islands
 * 5) Kumejima - beautiful island renowned for its awamori liquor
 * 6) Taketomi - a carefully preserved traditional village and some of the best beaches in Japan
 * 7) Yonaguni - the westernmost island in Japan, with miniature horses and mysterious underwater structures
 * 8) Zamami - popular among snorkelers and divers, with several deserted islands nearby

Do we need a 9th to round this out? The Daitos are already a top-level section, so IMHO they don't warrant two mentions here. Jpatokal (talk) 07:00, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
 * We should have 7 articles, give or take 2. That doesn't mean 9. It can mean 9, or 5, or 6, or 8, or even 7 just to be crazy. Ground Zero (talk) 20:56, 6 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I've updated the list per above. Jpatokal (talk) 00:54, 7 May 2024 (UTC)