Day 1:
Oct 28 (Fri) Honolulu – Okinawa
** Itinerary is subject to change due to availability of facilities, access restrictions, and other unforeseen circumstances.
Every five years, Okinawans (Uchinanchu) and friends of Okinawans from around the world gather in Okinawa to celebrate the heritage of this unique island culture. In 2016 almost 2,000 people traveled to Okinawa from Hawai’i for this event – join us in 2022 as we return for the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Taikai
11:30 AM Depart for Kansai on Japan Airlines flight JL791 with your JTB USA escort (meal service on flight).
Day 2:
Oct 29 (Sat) Arrival Day: Naha, Okinawa
4:00 PM Arrive at Kansai International Airport. Complete immigrations procedures here, then wait for your JTB USA escort at baggage claim. After the group has gathered, we will proceed through customs and check in for our flight to Naka, Okinawa.
8:15 PM Depart for Naha, Okinawa on Japan Airlines flight NU9.
10:25 PM Arrive at Naha Airport. Claim your luggage and wait for your tour escort before exiting baggage claim. Meet our guides and transfer to our Naha hotel, dinner on your own.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 3:
Oct 30 (Sun) Naha City – UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Opening Parade (B, L)
Buffet breakfast at hotel, bento lunch provided, dinner on your own. Leave with guide by chartered bus for our Naha City Tour which includes three UNESCO World Heritage sites:
• Shuri Castle: Home of the Ryukyu King and the political, economic, and cultural center of the Ryukyu Islands until 1879, when Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan. The main building was lost to a fire in 2019 and is under reconstruction but is still the heart of Naha.
• Sonohyan Utaki: A sacred grove of trees and plants and a shrine of the Royal Court
• Tamaudun: The mausoleum of the Okinawan royal family, built in the 16th century.
Afterwards we will stop at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. The 24,000 square meter collection will give you a great overview of the history of Okinawa, from pre-history to present. Return to Hotel – bento lunch provided, and then meet your tour guide in the hotel lobby if you would like to march in the parade.
Uchinanchu from all over the world will be participating in pre-opening ceremony Welcome Parade which runs from Tsuboya Elementary school down Kokusai Dori and concludes at Ryubo department store. March with the Hawai’i group, or just enjoy the parade on your own!
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 4:
Oct 31 (Mon) 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Opening Ceremony (B, D)
Breakfast at hotel, lunch on your own, bento dinner provided. This morning is free until it is time to depart for the opening ceremony, enjoy shopping and lunch on your own on Kokusai Dori.
Meet in hotel lobby for transportation to the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Opening Ceremony at Onoyama Park.
We will stop for some sightseeing along the way at the Tsushima Maru Museum - this Japanese passenger/cargo ship was sunk by the submarine USS Bowfin (now on exhibition at the Arizona Memorial) during World War II, while carrying hundreds of schoolchildren from Okinawa to Kagoshima. On August 22, 1944, between 10:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. local time, Bowfin attacked the convoy in which the Tsushima Maru was sailing and sank her, close to the island of Akusekijima. 1,484 civilians, including 767 schoolchildren were killed. 59 children survived the sinking.
We’ll also visit the nearby Naminoue Shrine. The "Above the Waves Shrine" is the primary Shinto shrine in Okinawa prefecture. It sits atop a high bluff, overlooking Naminoue Beach and the ocean. Originally a sacred space of the native Ryukyuan religion, due to its location and natural beauty, it was dedicated to Nirai Kanai, the magical island home of the Gods off Okinawa to which souls would return after death, and to the sea. It later came to be known as Hana gusuku and Nanminsan and was incorporated into the Japanese system of Shinto shrines.
After the opening ceremony registration, we will be able to enjoy the presentations and entertainment of the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Opening Ceremony – a dinner bento will be provided.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 5:
Nov 1 (Tue) Free Day / Uchinanchu Festival Activities (B)
Breakfast at the hotel, lunch and dinner on your own. Enjoy free time in Naha or attend Festival activities and municipal events on your own or join our half-day optional tour (separate payment required: $80 per person) to Michi-no-Eki Kadena, where you can see US fighter jets at the Kadena Air Base from the observation deck, and Mihama American Village, for morning shopping and enjoying this popular Americana themed entertainment complex with its own Ferris wheel. We’ll be back in Naha in time for you to make it to your village party in the early afternoon!
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 6:
Nov 2 (Wed) Free Day / Uchinanchu Festival Activities (B)
Breakfast at the hotel, lunch and dinner on your own. Enjoy free time in Naha or attend Festival activities and municipal events on your own.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 7:
Nov 3 (Thu) 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Closing Ceremony (B, D)
Breakfast at hotel, lunch on your own, bento dinner provided. This morning is free until it is time to depart for the closing ceremony, enjoy shopping and exploring Kokusai Dori.
Meet in hotel lobby for transportation to the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Closing Ceremony at Onoyama Park.
We will stop for some sightseeing along the way at the Uminchi Sea Side Park. You’ll get to see how the famous Umibudo – the famous Okinawan “Sea Grapes” are grown and try some for yourself (and even try a little bit of the Umibudo Ice dessert)! We’ll also stop by the new iias Okinawa Toyosaki Mall for a little pre-ceremony shopping and lunch on your own.
Later we will enjoy the entertainment and the big show at the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival Closing Ceremonies – a dinner bento will be provided. Join the final Kachashi (Okinawan folk dance) that closes the festivities!
***PLEASE PACK AN OVERNIGHT BAG FOR THE NORTHERN TOUR***
***WE WILL BE STAYING ONE NIGHT IN MOTOBU***
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 8:
Nov 4 (Fri) Northern Tour Day 1 (B, L)
Breakfast at the hotel, lunch at local restaurants, dinner on your own. Depart with guide by chartered bus for a drive along the West coast of Okinawa through Urasoe, Ginowan, Chatan, Kadena and Yomitan with a stop at Yachimun no Sato, to take step off the bus and check out the traditional Okinawan pottery village before going on to Takoyama Park (Ryukyu Mura). Here you will have a chance to see life in pre-war Okinawa. The village houses are over one hundred years old, and ancient festivals are recreated here. Here we get a private performance of traditional Okinawan music and dance while sipping hot tea and snacking on andagi, and then watch a Ryukyu Kingdom parade in traditional Okinawan costumes.
After lunch at a local restaurant make a stop in Kin Town to see the famous statue of Toyama Kyuzo, the "Father of Emigration from Okinawa", which points to Hawai’i with his right hand.
We’ll also stop at the nearby Kin Okawa, a popular natural spring whose waters are rumored to bring youth to those who drink – don’t drink too much, now!
Stop at Aeon Rycom Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in Okinawa, for shopping and dinner on your own before we return to Naha.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 9:
Nov 5 (Sat) Northern Tour Day 2 (B, L, D)
Breakfast at hotel, lunch and dinner at local restaurants. Depart with guide by chartered bus for our day at Ocean EXPO Park, the largest theme park in Okinawa, including a village of traditional Okinawan houses. The Churaumi (Beautiful Sea) Aquarium is the world’s first aquarium specifically designed to raise multiple whale sharks and mantas and was the world’s largest aquarium at the time that it was built, with the largest acrylic panel in the world. Enjoy the Oki Theater’s Dolphin Show before taking a break for lunch.
Later visit the Tropical Dream Center - more than 2,000 kinds of orchids and various tropical and subtropical flowers and fruit trees decorate this uniquely built botanical paradise. An observation deck is also located here. Relax in an easygoing atmosphere and dreamy ambiance surrounded by the fragrance of orchids.
On our way home we will stop at the Nakijin Castle & Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the second largest castle in Okinawa. It was the castle of the northern Hokuzan Kingdom, which controlled Northern Okinawa until defeat by the Lord of Chuzan (Shuri) in 1416.
Our last stop of the day will be to say Mahalo and Aloha – eat, drink, and dance as we bid farewell to the 7th Worldwide Uchinanchu Taikai with a farewell gala dinner!
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 10:
Nov 6 (Sun) Southern Tour – Limestone Caves and War Memorials (B, L, D)
Buffet breakfast at hotel, lunch and dinner at local restaurants. Depart with guide by a chartered bus. Culture Kingdom Gyokusendo Okinawa World contains one of the largest underground stalactite caves in the Far East. Inside the park is a snake museum, an Okinawan garden, Sanshin making, glass making, souvenir shops, restaurants, Eisa (Okinawan taiko) and more. Enjoy an Eisa Dance and traditional Taiko performance. Enjoy a delicious buffet lunch at the Gyokusendo Restaurant that includes many traditional Okinawan foods. You can also visit the Habu Snake Museum near the exit of the Park.
After lunch depart for Okinawa Peace Memorial Park, the largest war memorial in Okinawa:
• Okinawan Peace Memorial Hall: Site of the world’s largest Ryukyu lacquer tsuikin statue. Be sure to check out the small but beautiful Churachoen butterfly garden outside of the memorial hall.
• Cornerstone of Peace (Heiwa no Ishiji): Here you can view the names of over 240,000 casualties of war from the Battle of Okinawa, including US casualties and casualties from Hawai’i, individually inscribed in the granite walls.
• Okinawan Peace Memorial Museum: Exhibits are divided into five separate areas that cover the history of Okinawa leading up to WWII, the Battle of Okinawa, and post-war Okinawa under U.S. Military occupation.
Depart for the nearby Himeyuri no To monument, erected to remember the 219 high-school nurse trainee girls and their 18 teachers who perished in the caves during the Battle of Okinawa. The Himeyuri Peace Museum exhibits photographs of many of the victims, their personal effects, a model reconstruction of the appalling conditions, and testimonies from survivors.
Our last stop will be the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters in Tomigusuku. This secret shelter was the Okinawa District Headquarters of the Japanese Navy during WWII. When defeat became inevitable, Admiral Minoru Ota and other officers committed suicide here. The interior of the shelter has been kept just as it was at the time, including the bullet holes from the Admiral’s suicide.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 11:
Nov 7 (Mon) Free Day (B)
Buffet breakfast at hotel. The rest of the day is free to enjoy last minute shopping, meeting with relatives, or just exploring Okinawa.
Accommodations at Hyatt Regency Naha / Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa or similar
Day 12:
Nov 8 (Tue) Departure Day Okinawa - Honolulu (B)
Buffet breakfast at hotel. Leave your luggage at the front desk and check out by 12 PM. Enjoy a leisurely lunch and free time until we depart for the airport around 2PM.
5:30 PM Depart for Kansai on Japan Airlines flight NU8.
7:20 PM Arrive at Kansai International Airport and transfer for our flight to Honolulu. Your luggage will be checked through all the way to Honolulu.
9:55 PM Depart for Honolulu on Japan Airlines flight JL792 (meal service on flight).
10:20 AM Arrive at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on the morning of the same day. Complete immigration procedures, then proceed to baggage claim and exit through customs. Welcome Home!
Note: Air and Land Itinerary are subject to change.
Hyatt Regency Naha: $5,399.00 pp double occupancy / $1,600.00 single surcharge
Rihga Royal Gran Okinawa: $5,199.00 pp double occupancy / $1,300.00 single surcharge
PLEASE CONTACT MAIN OFFICE FOR TOUR DETAILS: 808-979-0111 or email us at hnl02@jtbusa.com.