We Live on Japan’s Most Unique Island (unbelievable food, culture & history)

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It’s week 2 of us living in Okinawa, Japan, and things are getting more mysterious, funny and delicious… Join us on an exciting journey through Okinawa, Japan’s most unique island, known for its incredible food, rich culture, and fascinating history. In this video, we try to find out what Okinawa is really about by visiting Don Quijote (Donki), Japan’s largest discount store, exploring the enchanting Fukushuen Garden and experiencing one of our best (vegan) meals in Japan- that includes plant-based sushi!

Don’t miss our next adventure to the most important castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom and a scenic road trip to Okinawa’s tropical paradise in the north!

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Video Chapters

00:00 in this video
00:18 Japan’s most bizar store
03:39 (small) history of Okinawa
05:13 our big blunder
13:17 our BEST meal in Japan
18:51 in the next video

Places

Find Restaurant Ryuness here: https://www.happycow.net/reviews/ryuness-okinawa-326316

Credits

“The Ryukyu Kingdom at its maximum extent (present-day Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami Islands)” by Garam – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21561416

“Five men wearing Ryukyuan dresses (Meiji era: 1868-1912)” by Imperial Household Ministry (present-day “Imperial Household Agency”)日本語: 宮内省（現・宮内庁), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Five_men_wearing_Ryukyuan_Dress.JPG

An article that mentions the delisting of Okinawa as a Blue Zone:
https://www.cntraveller.com/article/blue-zone-travel#:~:text=Since%20receiving%20their%20designations%20in,Okinawa%20has%20since%20been%20delisted.

#Okinawa #LivingInOkinawa #OkinawaJapan #JapanLife #ExpatsInJapan #BlueZones #HealthyLiving #OkinawaFood #JapaneseCulture #OkinawaCulture #TravelJapan #JapanTravel #LifeInJapan #JapaneseLifestyle #OkinawaDiet #OkinawaLife #HealthyAging #OkinawaLiving #JapaneseFood #CulturalExperience #livingabroad #vegan #remotework #digitalnomad #alternativeliving #japanvlog #veganfood #ryukyu

oh wow, the crane! They’re already waiting.. Oh my God! look at this presentation.. [music] what is it? So where do you think we’re going? To some.. donkey store? They better have sandwiches or something there. Ali is taking me somewhere some store or whatever I have no idea what it is about but he seems to be pretty enthusiastic getting scared is it like some gaming thing like some Uber nerd action thing no is it this it is this [Music] this is a bit much right [Music] now we had arrived in Don kot arguably Japan’s most bizarre and overwhelming store for one because it plays the same song over and over over again so this is like an everything store that’s right there are few things you will not find here in Don kote or more lovingly known as donkey because it’s the largest Discount Store in Japan and once you manage to lean into the over stimulation you can actually start to find some interesting stuff ex now we’re getting to the interesting things I think could this store actually be kind of fun a Raza my theory very nice you look like [Music] sward do you have a 100 gen card what you just witnessed here was probably the starting point of Ali’s gam machine addiction more on that in our next videos yeah not going to put another coin in whatever it’s disappointing hungry from all that shopping we decided to get a donkey snack choosing something very typical for the island we have lived on for two weeks now look what they have here the famous purple sweet potato of Okinawa which one okinawans love sweet potatoes good choice oh it’s actually freaking hot and while enjoying our sweet potato let’s take a look at what item we actually scored in the store now we try to eat it I got these these Japanese nail clippers by greenbell I I I don’t know how the original Japanese name is and they’re like supposed to be super high quality the first time I read about these was like probably like six seven years ago if you know you know yeah good St y we are extending Our Lives [Music] now with our first donkey experience behind us what better way to decompress than walk through okinawa’s busiest Street kokusai Dori or kokusai street is okinawa’s main tourist and shopping street stretching about 2 km into downtown naha the main city on the island it’s fun to browse through its many restaurants souvenir shops and otherwise interesting boutiques and further discover what Okinawa is really about look what Ali just picked up yeah I try to find them everywhere we go the first one I found in like 2 months palm trees and tropical shirts give away that Okinawa is truly different from Mainland Japan okinawans even developed their own type of Hawaiian shirt that you’ll see locals wear all around the island but in reality the uniqueness of this island goes much deeper than that what will surprise many people is that Okinawa has only been part of Japan since 1972 and that most of its inhabitants descend from a distinct indigenous population called the rukan people who comprised a kingdom that ruled this area of the world for 4 and 1 half centuries stay tuned for our next video where we will take you along into the story of how okinawans are now rebuilding the greatest Lost Treasure of this era [Music] heavy obviously we are learning a lot here on Okinawa but what we were about to discover is that when it comes to its history we’re going to see something special we were going to make a huge blunder it is our second week here in Okinawa and we’re getting to know Japan more and more for the last week I’ve been walking past this really interesting garden and now we’re finally going to check that out out I think it can be a really cool introduction to the beauty [Music] Japan so what is this machine bab I think they’re called GAA machines so you get put coins in and you get something out two three five and you turn what is it it’s a keychain from here I think that’s like OK on these things right it want free carb food with this ticket oh we get a second one nice or the [Music] fishies wa oh my good oh wow the CR you think it’s a real bird these fish are getting impatient we just entered the I think it’s called fukuen garden and immediately noticed that this is where it starts the fish pond we have some little carb food here and they’re already waiting look at them hey guys oh [Music] ohe out wow they’re coming from far and wide [Music] yeah one bag down lucky for the fishes here there’s so many what was that look at that big one see wow it’s like a dolphin there’s some chunkers you might wonder why two Europeans get so excited over a garden but the fact was that this was only our second week in Japan and Ali and I had never seen Japanese landscaping or traditional architecture however the problem here was that this Garden is not a Japanese Garden the fukuen garden was first opened in 1992 to commemorate the 10year anniversary of the sister city relationship between naha in Okinawa and the Chinese city of Fu Joo everything from the planning to the construction was conducted with cooperation from food Joe natives to create an authentic Chinese style Garden but Ali and I only found out about this after after our magical visit so please let us dummies enjoy this for a little longer oh wow it goes even [Music] further from the shelter of what we thought was a Japanese style Hut overlooking the city of naha we took a pause to reflect on our time living in Japan so far and what things make it worth visiting here it’s pretty crazy it’s like this little amazing garden and if you look around it’s just a normal City you know yeah it’s like a green Refuge all right we’re running really low on storage space so quick thoughts about our time here in Japan yeah what do you think I think it’s amazing so far I really like it there’s a lot of really cool stores I think you find really nice things there the food is super nice like fruits and vegetables they have amazing flavor it’s much more affordable than weard actually yeah and it’s much harder to find vegan food than weard that is true I think what’s amazing about Japan is how modern it is which reminds me of home but then everything else is completely different the culture the history what you see on the streets is just mind-blowingly different [Music] it’s the combination of all of these new experiences feeding your brain with inspiration and learning that make traveling to unfamiliar places so exciting for us okay bye and if you get the opportunity to stay in a place for a longer period of time you may also notice the less popular attractions like this garden and be amazed by it another path I think a garden expresses how what culture values and likes to show off its natural beauty and what structures carry meaning and that is interesting to learn [Music] okay as it turns out Japanese and Chinese style Gardens are similar in that they value plants that are graceful and somewhat unusual but a main difference is that Chinese gardens tend to be more B old and exotic and are usually designed to take the visitor through winding paths along a series of concealed scenes cool is this for s yes okay just maybe not for European this contrasts with Japanese Gardens which tend to be more minimalistic and also these curved roof designs are obviously of Chinese tradition that will be one mistake we will never make again but then we stumbled upon something in the garden that was truly okan okay we just found something really interesting it’s connected to this beautiful tree did you feel something special yeah wburg made me pick up this gr oh very good thank you spirit I can of feel what even though it happened through blunder you’re standing in the mouth of the Dragon it was good to learn about okinawa’s unique and Century old relationship with China because that also finally explained some other things outside of the garden walls that we had trouble understanding like all of these bizarre figures that you see all over the island first brought to Okinawa from China in the 14th century these shias kind of look like dogs or lions and are believed to ward off evil spirits and thereby guard okan houses but if you’re still not convinced that Okinawa is one of the most interesting places in Japan to visit then stay tuned because we will take you to a restaurant that serves dishes so mindblowing even worldclass Tokyo could not offer us anything like it yesterday we went into downtown naha the main city here on the island to go to a fully plan-based Japanese restaurant and what we were served there was absolutely amazing and I have some leftovers to show you it was just incredible The Taste the texture I thought I was eating real Sushi like I did many many years a go and if you take a good look here you’ll see that the fish over here looks like this and it’s actually made out of Alo Vera and then look at this side over here it has like fish eggs or some sort of caviar type thing on top which looks to me like it’s made out of bobas you know the things that you have in bubble tea how creative is that [Music] and the even crazier part was Ali’s meal he said it reminded him of his mother’s grilled lamp oh did I say something wrong no 100% that was really mindblowing I think like the flavors we kind of have to go back there and show you what it’s all about if only for the free soup oh yeah [Music] not interesting yeah said not second times the charm even noticed the third time the again [Music] welcome to runis one of the coolest restaurants on the island we’ve had some failed attempts to get you all here it’s close today but we will come back here but we are so happy to now finally show you why this place is so special guess what we finally made it to a restaurant you’re going to be amazed and the best part is it all starts with free [Music] soup it’s um FNA with a touch of uh lentil and two carrots you for real and then the first M arrived the classic japanese Yakitori skewer that in most restaurants comes as grilled chicken but here at runas they’ve given it a surprising twist M no really I think it’s really hard to believe that this is vegan it’s like really delicious really nicely spay yucky Tori would recommend do you remember what it’s made of ah there was this KAC root it was this thing right y so this is the product that the Yakitori is made of it’s some sort of root vegetable I think and and I don’t know how they do it it’s a Japanese Chef I’m sure he knows what he’s doing but it gets so crunchy and so Smokey like meat but it isn’t it’s a and then I also have some pieces of I guess it’s fake chicken soy texture super delicious we already had those last time and under this mountain is some sort of pancake so delicious and besides that we ordered plant-based fried chicken and fries and my favorite a rice flour pizza to enjoy we will always remember Okinawa for treating us with the most colorful and diverse plates of plant-based food that actually tastes amazing I mean look at this presentation okinawans have always loved vegetables and even though younger Generations may eat differently now and the island is no longer considered to be a longevity hot spot as it used to be there are places that keep the spirit of Healthy Living alive so if you want to treat yourself and get a taste of this life visit Okinawa and don’t skip runis if you come to Japan obviously there is so much traditional food to try but if you want to try something new something delicious but also healthy and Innovative place like this I just find it amazing after this great meal we stroll down kokusai street once more for some nightly entertainment this is how you get some cards very easily and for and dessert snacks and if the shops on this street close we can always go back to donkey which is open until 300 a.m. we would be super happy if you would subscribe to come along on our next adventure to the most important castle of past re Nan Kings we have made our way to a very special place in Okinawa and it’s amazing story of being brought back to life after a level of Destruction that shocked the island and the road trip takes us out of the city into the Tropical Paradise in the north where we are truly amazed to see the beauty that Okinawa is known for look around people this is also Japan you want to try yes