Island

Okinawa

Local name: 沖縄本島

Located in Ginoza Son, Kunigami-gun Coordinates: 26°30′25″ N 127°56′45″ E

Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA - Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 23 m; above sea level
Nearest town: Ginoza; 4.1 km SE
Local time: UTC+09:00; Asia/Tokyo · UTC+09:00
Population: 1,466,870; 1.5M
When to go: March–MayNovember–January; See the climate
Airports: OKA Naha International Airport46 km; RNJ Yoron Airport75 km

About Okinawa

Okinawa is an island. Location: Ginoza Son, Kunigami-gun. Population: 1,466,870.

From Wikipedia

Okinawa Island (Japanese: 沖縄島, Hepburn: Okinawa-jima; Okinawan: 沖縄 / うちなー, romanized: Uchinā; Kunigami: ふちなー, romanized: Fuchináa), also known as Okinawa Main Island (沖縄本島, Okinawa-hontō), is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. The island is approximately 106 kilometres (66 mi) long, an average 11 kilometres (7 mi) wide, and has an area of 1,206.98 square kilometers (466.02 sq mi).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Length: 107 km
Area: 1,208 km²

Source: Wikidata

Photos of Okinawa

Yes Yes NoNoNo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Airman 1st Class Stephen Pulter · Public domain
KyūMaruOtami · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kugel~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 4.0
US Military · Public domain

Travel notes for Okinawa

From Wikivoyage

Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō) is the largest and most populated island of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.

Understand+

Okinawa Island is by far the largest and most populated of Okinawa's islands, with over 90% of the population. For better or worse, the island is what people think of when they think of Okinawa: beaches and snorkeling, large resort hotels, US military bases and WW2 battle sites.

Around a quarter of Okinawa Island's land area — including much of the best arable land — is occupied by US military bases, and there are almost 80,000 US military personnel, support staff and their families on the island. Many Okinawans are unhappy that their small island with less than 1% of Japan's land area has to host them all, but decades-long negotiations to reduce or at least relocate the base footprint have made only fitful progress.

Get in+

Naha International Airport is the primary way to get into Okinawa Island, and is only 2 km from downtown Naha. See the main Okinawa article for details and the Naha article for local transport.

The increasingly few remaining ferries from mainland Japan stop at Naha and Motobu. See Okinawa#By ship for details.

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged

Climate of Okinawa

Best months for sightseeing

Best months for sightseeing: March–May, November–January.

This month · November

A good month to visit

Day 24° · Night 20° · Rain 137 mm

Hottest month: July (day 31°)
Coldest month: January (night 14°)
Wettest month: May (243 mm)
Driest month: December (109 mm)

19° 14°

21° 16°

23° 19°

26° 22°

29° 24°

31° 26°

29° 25°

27° 23°

24° 20°

20° 16°

Jan

122

Feb

128

Mar

168

Apr

196

May

243

Jun

241

Jul

175

Aug

232

Sep

188

Oct

169

Nov

137

Dec

109

Bars: average monthly low and high temperature. Below: precipitation. Monthly averages for 1970–2000 at about 18 km resolution, adjusted for elevation. Highlighted months are mild and relatively dry. Source: WorldClim 2.1 (CC BY 4.0).

Show values as a table

Climate of Okinawa
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high (°C)	19°	19°	21°	23°	26°	29°	31°	31°	29°	27°	24°	20°
Average low (°C)	14°	14°	16°	19°	22°	24°	26°	26°	25°	23°	20°	16°
Precipitation (mm)	122	128	168	196	243	241	175	232	188	169	137	109

Other places to visit in this season: January March April May November December

How to get to Okinawa

The nearest airport is Naha International Airport (OKA), 46 km to the southwest as the crow flies. The nearest large city is Uruma, 17 km to the southwest.