Okinawa, Japan 18: Heiwa-Dori and Makishi Public Market

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Shopping on Heiwa-Dori is a great way to take in Okinawan life. The tastes of the people is revealed with what is on sale in this maze of small shops. Get lost in the culture and pick up a few authentic souveniors with James Knott as he wanders through this asian shopping mecca.

there is nothing glamorous about haori and that is exactly why you should go when you enter this street or its sister Street mutumi bashid Dori from its entrance on cook side you step into a confusing Maze of shops this network of covered streets and alleys is weathered and worn the stores here are neither Posh nor Swang and okinawans come here to pick up everyday items fresh fruits and vegetables are sold at many shops some very familiar While others seem more exotic this woman sells Goya also known as bitter melon these bumpy melon are such an important part of the okan diet that they even have their own line of cheesy trinkets you can also buy smoked irabu sea snake this poisonous snake is thought to have a medicinal effect when eating other shops sell less unusual but distinctly Asian items like Chopsticks ASA drums and gift envelopes for money because owans give money as gifts for almost any occasion there are drug stores and grocery stores a Haku shop which is their version of the dollar store there are also quite a few souvenir shops selling aam Modi shisa dogs and Hello Kitty but the further you walk into the maze the less touristy it feels there are plenty of clothing stores shoe stores and an umbrella store but these umbrellas aren’t just for rain okina and women are frequently seen protecting themselves from the Island’s powerful sun with a little luck you might be able to navigate to my favorite place in the area the makishi public market sometimes called ok’s kitchen this enormous Food Market has almost any kind of meat or seafood you could desire no part of the pig goes to waste pork is packaged for use to noina SOA and other dishes even the faces for sale with or without sunglasses vendors deal in Peppers spices sauces seaweed and so much more friendly okan faces hover above tasty dishes many of which are responsible for the long lives of the people on the island the seafood section features brightly colored fish clams crabs lobsters octopus and anything else you could imagine it’s fresh from the ocean and they slice it up into Sashimi right there at the market the best part is that after you select the perfect piece of seafood you can take the elevator to the second floor where one of many small restaurants will prepare your fresh food just the way you like it O next we head to zuoya powdery Village and shy Castle don’t forget to check out my website stray compass.com a travel Adventure website and if you’re watching this on another video sharing website don’t forget to comment rate and subscribe to my videos a special thanks to daily motion.com for featuring our tug of war video on their homepage and I’m James KN thanks for watching goodbye