South Okinawa · ItomanNo.1029★★★Open in map →

Okinawa Kokuto

— Unrefined cane sugar from eight outer islands

foodThe classic — done right

Okinawan kokuto is unrefined cane sugar, boiled and set with its molasses still in it, and it is made on eight outer islands and nowhere else. The roadside station at Itoman is the main island's practical place to find it.

FromNaha Bus Terminal
~1 hrBus 89, Itoman Line
Get off atNishizaki 2-chome bus stop (bus 89, Itoman Line)
On foot
Okinawa Kokuto

Directions ↗

Where it is

41 more notes in Okinawa · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Farmers' Market Umanchu IchibaKugel / CC BY-SA 3.0

Information hallthe front building, with tourist information and terminals
Itoman City Product Centrethe city-run hall of Okinawan specialty goods, behind the information building
Farmers' Market Umanchu IchibaJA Okinawa's first direct-sales market, stacked with produce from the south
Fish Hallthe Itoman fishing cooperative's hall, facing the same car park

How to actually get there

Naha Bus Terminal → the Nishizaki stops (Itoman Line, bus 89, about an hour).
Nishizaki stops → Michi-no-Eki Itoman (walk, about three to fifteen minutes depending on which stop).
Information hall → product centre → farmers' market → fish hall, all inside the same complex.

Bus 89 from Naha Bus Terminal: Naha Bus Terminal →(Itoman Line, bus 89, about an hour)→ Nishizaki 2-chome or Nishizaki Kogyo-danchi-iriguchi, then about a three-minute walk. Not every service calls at those two stops; on services that do not, get off at Nishizaki-iriguchi and walk about fifteen minutes.
Return toward Naha: Board bus 89 northbound from the same highway to return to Naha Bus Terminal. The last northbound services run in the evening, so check the posted time at the stop before you settle into the food court.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Kokuto is a whole sugar. Cane is pressed on the island where it grew, the juice is boiled down, and it is left to set with its molasses still in it, with nothing added and nothing taken out. Okinawa makes it on eight outer islands — Iheya, Ie, Aguni, Tarama, Kohama, Iriomote, Hateruma and Yonaguni — and each island's sugar tastes different. The roadside station at Itoman, on the highway south of Naha, gathers island produce and goods into one place: a farmers' market run by JA Okinawa, a fish hall run by the Itoman fishing cooperative, and the city's own product centre.

How to enjoy it

Give the complex an hour if you plan to eat as well as shop. The halls sit within a few steps of each other, so it works as one stop rather than a tour. Compare the island sugars by island name rather than by price: the cooperative describes Iheya and Ie as lean and salty, Tarama and Hateruma as dark and deeply sweet.

Background & history

Cane has been a staple crop of these islands for generations, and kokuto is the oldest form the product takes: boiled and set in the village where the cane grew, long before centrifugal refining split sugar from molasses. The mills that still make it are run by three companies and one cooperative body, all members of the prefectural brown sugar cooperative. The crushing season opens in December, when the cane holds the most sugar, and the mills run on through the winter.

Before you go

Cash: Entry to the complex and its car park is free, and each hall charges only for what you buy. Okinawan buses are paid on board, so carry coins and small notes as well as a card.
Good to know: The halls keep their own opening hours and close well before the car park, which stays open around the clock, so check on the day rather than assuming. This is a highway site, not a station forecourt: arrive by bus or by car.
Another way: By car it is a straight run south from central Naha on Route 331. The site has a large free car park with spaces for coaches as well as cars.
After you get off: From the Nishizaki stops on Route 331, the complex is signposted off the highway. Walk in past the information hall, which stands in front of the product centre.