CONTRIBUTED BY HANNAH CURTIS
The small Ryugujo Butterfly Gardens is located in Motobu just a few minutes before the Churaumi Aquarium. I had read {in an older Okinawa Hai article} that this isn’t something to make a special trip up North for but if you were to be in the area then it is worth a visit, and I would have to agree.
The property is pretty small and while the Butterfly House, a netted enclosure, is a decent size that too doesn’t take long to get through.
My husband & I happened to be in the area so decided to surprise our children with a quick visit, and despite our low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised!
We were a little nervous that there wouldn’t be any butterflies but our nerves were immediately put at ease when we entered the butterfly house and found hundreds of paper kite butterflies; the only variety we saw.
In fact, there were so many butterflies our girls started to freak out a little; especially our youngest who was wearing red; one of the five colors that adult butterflies are attracted to!
If you would like butterflies to land on you I suggest wearing one of these 5 colors: red, yellow, orange, pink & purple; the brighter the better! However, if you find yourself in the area and not dressed to attract butterflies they do have a couple of red hats within the enclosure which you can put on!
You will notice lots of fake flower bouquets on stands which are placed in pots, with what I believe is full of sugar water, and almost all of them were covered in butterflies! Matt took out one of the fake bouquets which were a real hit with our kids… from a distance at least.
We probably spent about 30 minutes inside the butterfly house before walking through the manicured grounds and admiring the views over Motobu peninsula.
On the way out I picked up a leaflet which mentioned a restaurant on the premises, unfortunately, I didn’t read it until we were in the car and driving away. Had I realized earlier about the restaurant, which apparently has panoramic sea views, we would have definitely eaten here making more of a day of it.
The other thing that the leaflet talks about are the various butterflies and the time of year they are present. It definitely looks as though the summer months are the better months to go if you wish to see a variety, however going late December with only the paper kite we weren’t disappointed.
Lastly, like so many Okinawan attractions, there is a shop where you can buy a variety of souvenirs (mostly food & drink).
Ryugujo Butterfly Garden
Hours: Year round 09.00 – 17.00 (final admission 16.30)
Admission: Adults 500 Yen, Children (3 – 15 years) 250 Yen, Under 3 Free
- Admission is by ticket machine which accepts yen only, they did provide us smaller bills for our 5,000 yen note though.
Phone: 0980-48-3456
Website: https://www.ryugujo.net
Adress: 390-1 Yamakawa, Motobu Town, Okinawa 905-0205
GPS Coordinates: 26.6839176, 127.87935429999993
Parking: There is parking for approximately 100 cars (although most of that is on the opposite side of the road)
Editor’s Note: This establishment was originally reviewed here on Okinawa Hai by Joelle Yamada on November 9, 2007 – our first year. We’re excited to have a new review for you now!