Okinawa's capital of Naha is a destination that manages to include history, culture, and nature in the one spot. Known for its humid subtropical climate, it's a popular getaway destination for domestic travelers, but it appears to be gaining traction on an international level as well. The city was recently named on Booking.com's trending travel destinations for 2025, which looked at some of the year-on-year increases in their site's most-booked locations.
Shoppers will love Kokusai Dori (literally "International Street"), Naha’s main retail and entertainment area. Spanning approximately 1.6 kilometers, it’s filled with souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants, and boutiques offering traditional Okinawan products like pottery, textiles, and snacks. One must-try snack that you can find in various forms here is chinsuko, a sweet shortbread-style cookie that becomes very addictive!
Shuri Castle was also mentioned as one of the city's key attractions by the Booking.com team, but it's important to note that several of the main buildings were destroyed by fire in October 2019. Restoration works have been underway since early 2020, with an estimated completion timeframe of autumn 2026.
Along with the various sights that Naha has to offer, the food was also mentioned as a great reason to visit. Okinawan regional cuisine differs significantly from other parts of Japan due to the warmer climate and cultural influences from China, Southeast Asia, and the United States—the island was occupied by U.S. forces right up until May of 1972. Three dishes mentioned in Booking.com's write-up were goya champuru (stir-fried bitter melon, tofu, pork, and egg) taco rice, and soki soba (noodles topped with tender braised pork ribs), and you can find variations of them at numerous restaurants not just across Naha but throughout Okinawa as a whole.
