Kokusai Street Continued

The official entrance to Kokusai Street

My first taste of Kokusai Street came after our Japanese Tea Ceremony class in Naha, with Claire, my friend Kelly and her daughter Nora. It's always a match made in heaven when the mommies and the little girls get along nicely...and with a beautiful day and a new place to explore, it really added up to a great day!

Kokusai Street has a lot of this and that, a little of this, some of that, and is a total tourist attraction. That being said, it's still a really neat place to visit. It has about 100 stores selling the same thing. Multiply that times a variety of 5, add in several restaurants and other miscellaneous stores or shops, and there you've got it. Below here is some of the variety of stores you will see ( I tried to limit my photos to only the neatest looking shops):

Those that sell Okinawan glass

Those that sell Shishi Lions (and other misc. items and/or pottery)

Liquor stores, all of them featuring...

Habu Sake, or habushu..You've got it folks...Okinawan sake called Awamori made with the  poisonous habu snake. It is believed by some to have medicinal properties. It just kind of looks scary to me.

 

  

                                       Shops that sell SPAM, a big Okinawan favorite, and other total randomness.

Bakeries that sell lots of yummy goodness, but mostly advertise the Benni-imo tart, made with the purple sweet potato native to the island.

There are lots of other really interesting shops along the way, but that kind of encompasses the majority of the stores. Just for giggles, here a few more pictures worth posting.

We tried to get the bird to say hello, but then we realized he probably didn't understand us...

I think these pretty fabrics would look great in my house, don't you? Too bad they are mucho yen a yard!!!

Several Blue Seal shops, big and small, are along the street. I loved the variety of bubble teas they advertised at this place!

Claire enjoying a scoop of my personal favorite, Ube. I don't think she minded that mommy picked the flavor. :-)

A shop that advertises a variety of services, including...ear cleaning. Our guide said it's pretty relaxing...not dogging it, just different.

My blog about Kokusai Street cannot be complete without mentioning the most fascinating thing on the street, which, of course, I did not take a picture of. This would be the wonderful covered market streets. It has a lot of this and that like I've mentioned before, but it also has SO much more. As one of my friends said, the further back you walk, the more "Japanesey" it gets. Fruit stands, hidden restaurants, old women pushing carts, fish markets, textile shops, classrooms, sickly looking stray cats, strange food items (like dried snakes), and the list could go on and on.  I've since been back to Kokusai Street two other times. Once with Chris for the Naha Tug of War (which I'll have to blog about later) and another time with my friend Ashley to Christmas shop.  In the combined times I've been, there is no way I've had hardly enough time to really explore this must see Okinawan attraction. Which means...I'll just have to go back!