okinawa hai!

CONTRIBUTED BY KRISTY WELLS Music Class Six months ago I found an ad on the Okinawa Yard Sales website with information regarding a new music class available on the island. Lauren Baskins had recently moved here and brought with her the amazing learning experience called Music Together. Music Together is a music and movement class [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE “Kimigayo,” (君が代) the Japanese National Anthem, is a song almost all of us hear daily. At military events and at the end of the day, the “Star Spangled Banner” follows “Kimigayo.” I remember the first time I heard it here on Okinawa. I’m sure I had heard it played before, but [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY ANGI BRZYCKI Sakura Zaka Exterior The Sakura Zaka 桜坂劇場 is one of my favorite places to go to in Naha. The movie theater shows mainly independent Japanese, American, and foreign films. The screening rooms are fairly small, similar to an old theater house. Most of the films are hard to find at the [...]

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If you want to know even more about Okinawa, I highly recommend this book. It covers so much material abouth holidays, places to see/eat/stay, as well as some historical facts. I have used this book in conjunction with the TripAdvisor App to “explore” all there is to do on the Okinawa Prefecture. In my experience, [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY SARRA MCMILLAN Perhaps you’ve seen it while strolling along Kokusai Street, the large, colourful letters adorning the side of the building, screaming “OPA”!! But have you ventured inside this huge shopping mall, investigating the world of Japanese fashion and accessories? The window shopping is a cultural experience and it is an ideal place [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY ERIN SCHALK Miyawaki Store Shortly after moving to Okinawa, I began to experience severe book withdrawal. My husband and I are not keen on recreational shopping, but while in the States, we did enjoy browsing around the local Barnes & Noble or Half Price Books during our free time. In an age of [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY MEGAN PARKER The Roads to Sata: A 2,000-Mile Walk Through Japan chronicles the 2,000-mile journey of a man who walked from one end of Japan to the other.  Author Alan Booth brings readers along on his journey while regaling tales of his days spent traversing the coastline, mountains and cities of Japan via [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE Hello! Welcome to my book club! Sit down and have some coffee cake! (I’ve never been to a real book club meeting. Can you tell?) I know you all love to read; otherwise you wouldn’t have come to this (imaginary) meeting.  So, we’re here in Okinawa (or will soon be, or [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY LEAH MAGID At the ripe old age of 40, I finally started carrying a purse.  My previous reasoning for just jamming a wallet in my pocket (causing a need to carefully plan clothing assembly each day) was that I would just lose a purse.  It had happened before, back in my early twenties, [...]

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CONTRIBUTED BY JENNIFER SHUE Digging through some of the old Okinawa Hai posts, I came across an entry for ETWS. I didn’t even know that it was on Okinawa Hai and I’ve been reading this site regularly for about a year and a half now! But the five sentence review didn’t scratch the surface of [...]

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