OKINAWA MAIN ISLAND: THE CENTER - Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands - page 156

Chapter 6
OKINAWA MAIN ISLAND: THE CENTER 沖縄本島中部
Castle ruins, beachfront resorts
1 Nakagusuku Castle Ruins 中城城跡
2 Nakamura House 中村家住宅
3 Shinto Shrine in Futenma 普天間権現
4 “American Village” in Chatan 北谷町
5 Sunabe District 砂辺
6 Awase 泡瀬
7 Katsuren Castle Ruins 勝連城跡
8 White Beach Naval Facility
9 Yomitan Village 読谷村
10 Zakimi Castle Ruins Site 座喜味城跡
11 Cape Zanpa 残波岬
12 Maeda Point 真栄田岬
The central portion of Okinawa Main Island ( 沖縄本島中部 ; Okinawa-hontō Chubu) begins a
few miles above Naha, around the towns of Urasoe across to Nishihara. There's no real bound-
ary with the south, and as you drive north from Naha you won't notice any less traffic or con-
gestion. One batch of Okinawan urban sprawl just merges into the next, seemingly without
end. About the only visible difference is that Naha's downtown section comprises primarily
high-rise office and apartment buildings, whereas as we proceed further north most buildings
are only a few stories tall.
For the sake of simplicity, we'll make our boundary point the US Consulate in Urasoe ( 浦
添市 ; Urasoé-shi), right on the boundary with Nishihara ( 西原町 ; Nishihara-chō). And yes,
there is an American Consulate on the island of Okinawa. It's at 2-1-1 Toyama, Urasoe City
(Tel. [phone]). The consulate is almost exactly in the center of this part of the island, in
the little district of Toyama ( 当山 ; To-yama) with Urasoe to the west and Nishihara to the east.
As the crow flies, it's 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) north of Shuri Castle.