Okinawa West Coast · OnnaNo.1030★★★Open in map →

Umibudo

— Okinawa's sea grapes, farmed in tanks on shore

foodThe classic — done right

Sea grapes are a green seaweed eaten raw, and Onna, on Okinawa's west coast, is where farming them in tanks on land began. The village market at Nakadomari sells the local crop beside island vegetables, a few steps from the shuttle stand.

FromNaha Airport
~1 hr 15 minAirport shuttle, direct
Get off atOnna-no-Eki Nakayukui Ichiba-mae (Okinawa Airport Shuttle)
From there
Umibudo

Directions ↗

Where it is

41 more notes in Okinawa · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Hiyagonbira paved roadBérangère444 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Produce hallisland vegetables and tropical fruit brought in by Onna's own growers
Seafood counterthe village's sea grapes and mozuku, shelved beside sashimi and prepared trays
Stall rowopen-fronted stalls behind the market hall, cooking to order
Hiyagonbira paved roadthe surviving limestone stretch of the old Ryukyuan west-coast highway
Nakadomari Siteshell mounds and a rock-shelter dwelling from Okinawa's prehistoric period

How to actually get there

Naha Airport → Onna-no-Eki Nakayukui Ichiba-mae (Okinawa Airport Shuttle, about 1 hour 15 minutes; avoid the express services, which do not call here).
Into the market from the stand: the produce hall first, then the seafood counter for the village's sea grapes.
West from the car park along the old road to the Hiyagonbira paved road and the Nakadomari Site.
Back to the same stand for a southbound Airport Liner.

Okinawa Airport Shuttle from Naha Airport: Naha Airport →(Okinawa Airport Shuttle, Resort Liner, about 1 hour 15 minutes)→ Onna-no-Eki Nakayukui Ichiba-mae, which stands at the market itself. Read the service number first. The operator runs express departures on the same route, and those pass Onna without stopping.
Airport Liner back toward Naha: Board a southbound Airport Liner at the same stop. Some services end at Asahibashi and the Naha bus terminal rather than continuing to the airport, so check the note against the departure you want. The last southbound runs leave in the evening.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Umibudo is the market name for Caulerpa lentillifera, a green seaweed whose fine stems carry rows of small round beads. It is eaten raw and never heated, dipped in vinegar dressing or spooned over rice. Onna's fishery cooperative was the first in the prefecture to establish seaweed farming, and it moved sea grapes into tanks on shore, where a summer typhoon cannot reach the crop. Deep seawater is drawn from offshore and run through those tanks. The village market at Nakadomari puts that harvest under the same roof as the farm produce.

How to enjoy it

The market runs 10:00 to 19:00 and takes no closing day, so it suits a late-morning or late-afternoon stop rather than an early one. Allow an hour if you want to add the historic site; the walk west is short and level. Sea grapes are eaten raw, so choose them with a vinegar dressing in mind rather than a pan.

Background & history

Sea grape farming began here in 1989, when Onna's fishery cooperative moved the crop into tanks on land, out of reach of the typhoons that ruin work at sea. Land-based methods spread through the prefecture in the 1990s, and a local delicacy turned into an everyday food. A short walk west of the market, the Nakadomari Site holds shell mounds from about 3,500 years ago and a limestone-paved road, up to three metres wide, that carried the Ryukyu kingdom's west-coast highway until the end of the Meiji era. It became a National Historic Site in 1975.

Before you go

Cash: The market charges nothing to enter, and you pay only for what you buy. Shuttle seats can be reserved online with a credit card in advance, and two-ride tickets are sold at convenience stores and hotels.
Good to know: The lane to the historic site behind the market is a narrow track off the old road rather than a lit promenade, so walk it in daylight. Between the market and the highway there is little shelter, which matters in the rainy season.
Another way: Local bus 120, the Nago-Nishi Airport Line, also runs up Route 58 from the airport. Get off at the Renaissance Hotel stop and walk about ten minutes to the market. It is far slower than the shuttle, but it sets you down near the historic site on the way.
After you get off: The shuttle stand is at the market, on the inland side of Route 58. For the historic site, follow the old road west from the car park for a few hundred metres.