Current Time in Naha, Japan

Naha occupies the southwestern coast of Okinawa Island, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, more than fifteen hundred kilometres from Tokyo and closer to Taipei than to the Japanese capital. It is the capital of Okinawa Prefecture and the political, commercial and transport heart of the archipelago. The climate is subtropical, with hot humid summers, mild winters, hibiscus and banyan trees along the streets and a typhoon season that residents take in their stride.

About three hundred and twenty thousand people live in the city, which spreads from a busy port up over low hills towards the districts of Shuri and Mawashi. Naha's importance goes well beyond its size, because virtually every visitor to Okinawa passes through its airport, and the prefecture's government, universities and media are concentrated here.

For four and a half centuries Okinawa was the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, a maritime state that traded with China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, and Naha was its port while Shuri, now part of the city, was its royal capital. The kingdom paid tribute to China and absorbed strong Chinese influence in its architecture, music and cuisine. Japan annexed the islands in 1879. In 1945 Okinawa was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War, and Naha was almost completely destroyed. The islands remained under American administration until 1972, and the postwar city was rebuilt from nothing.

Shuri Castle, the vermilion-lacquered palace of the Ryukyu kings, is the great symbol of Okinawan identity. Rebuilt after the war and inscribed as a World Heritage site, it was devastated by fire in 2019 and is being carefully reconstructed again, with the work itself open to public view. The nearby Shikinaen royal garden, the stone gate of Sonohyan-utaki and the Tamaudun mausoleum belong to the same heritage listing. In the centre, Kokusai-dori, the mile-long International Street, is lined with shops and restaurants, and the covered Makishi market sells brightly coloured reef fish and pork. The Tsuboya district has produced Okinawan pottery for three hundred years.

Okinawan culture feels distinct from mainland Japan. The three-stringed sanshin provides the sound of local music, dance and festivals, the enormous Naha Tug-of-War in October uses a rope weighing many tonnes, and food such as goya champuru, Okinawa soba and rafute is served with the distilled spirit awamori. The islanders' famous longevity is often credited to this diet and unhurried lifestyle.

The Yui Rail monorail, the only railway in Okinawa, runs from the airport through the city to Shuri, supplemented by buses, while ferries connect the port to the outer islands and Naha Airport offers flights across Japan and to East Asia. The Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum and several universities, including institutions in neighbouring Nishihara, serve the region.

Naha is the gateway to Japan's tropical south and a city where a separate island civilisation is still vividly alive.