Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Okinawa Main Island is a little less than 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide at this point and, for
our purposes, we'll draw a line across from Urasoe to Nishihara. We'll declare all the places
to the south of this line “southern” Okinawa, and all those to the north “central” Okinawa, at
least until we reach “northern” Okinawa.
Only a mile or so north of this line, the island starts to narrow down. For example, from
east to west, from Nakagusuku on the Pacific Ocean to Ginowan on the East China Sea, it's
only 3.75 miles (6 kilometers) wide, and it retains this narrow width until we reach Kitanak-
agusuku on the east across to Chatan on the west. From there, it starts to expand a bit as we
continue north. From the Pacific side, starting north of Kitanakagusuku, then from Awase
across to Chatan, then to Kadena, the island widens from about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) to
more than 7 miles (12 kilometers). Okinawa City, the island's second largest city after Naha,
is in the middle of this section. North of Kadena, the island widens further west at Yomitan
all the way to Cape Zanpa. On the east side, above Awase, it juts out onto a relatively long,
southeast running arm, the Katsuren Peninsula.
For the most part, Okinawa's central section is merely a continuation of the southern section, except that
there is no high-rise “downtown” as in Naha.
One of the largest citadels on Okinawa, the ruins of Nakagusuku Castle command a sweeping view over
Nakagusuku Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
