We planned to spend the entirety of our holiday on the main island, as there is still much to explore, and resorts in the more secluded islands can be rather expensive. Thanks to my friend Sho, we managed to rent a hire-car for around 30% of the price quoted directly from Nissan, which freed up a big part of the budget.
Our first port of call was Cape Maeda, around 1 hour's drive from the main city of Naha. We had 5 nights booked at a cute little guesthouse called Akachichi (the red roof in the opening photo is the traditionally-stylised roof of the guesthouse). The owners, Kenny and Komaki, really made us feel at home within around 5 minutes of our arrival, which meant we could start winding down and get into the holiday mood more easily. Though still Japan, life in Okinawa is very different to that on the mainland, especially that in Tokyo. In Tokyo, everything runs to the minute, without delay. In Okinawa, I don't usually wear a watch. The history of the islands is far too extensive to cover in a single post, but I'll point you in the direction of Okinawa Explorer (written by Kenny). Komaki also has a blog, where she writes about daily live in the area (mostly in Japanese, but with lots of photos).
