Okinawa’s Yui Rail: Bigger and Better

The Yui Rail gliding over the neighborhoods below.

The service goes all the way to Naha airport.

A plaque attesting to Naha Airport Station’s status as the westernmost station in Japan. The adjacent Akamine Station is the southernmost.

The one-day pass is valid for 24 hours and can be presented for discounts at many attractions, including Shuri Castle.

Tedako-Uranishi Station is located next door to a large parking building. A bus terminal is also in the pipeline.

The Park and Ride parking building is open from 5:00 am to 1:00 am. Parking costs ¥100 an hour, up to a maximum of ¥400 per day. Overnight parking costs ¥260 per night, making this a reasonable long-term parking option for airport users.

Every Yui Rail station displays locally themed artwork. This stained-glass work in Tedako-Uranishi Station has the sun as its theme.

Urasoe Castle is located on a hill, within Urasoe Dai-Kōen.

The west wing of Urasoe Yōdore, the tomb of the ruler Eiso (1229–99).

The track makes a sharp bend just before the tomb of Tamagusuku Chōkun.

The tomb of Tamagusuku Chōkun is covered by a tortoiseshell-like arrangement of hexagonal stones.

Gibomanjū has been serving its buns for a century.

The bean jam in nomanjū has a subtle sweetness.

The famous Shureimon. The inscription on the gate, reading Shurei no kuni, marks Ryūkyū as a “realm where courtesy is honored.”

Shuri Castle’s many stone walls and gates bear Chinese influence, making them quite unlike anything you will find on the Japanese mainland. This gate, the Rōkokumon, included a mechanism measuring the passage of time with water flowing from a tank in its tower.

Another gate, the Hōshinmon bordering the courtyard in front of the castle’s main chamber, was also damaged in the fire. As of January 2020, visitors were able to go as far as the Shichiyanuuna (lower courtyard) in front of the Hōshinmon, and access around 80% of Shuri Castle Park.

Shuri Castle before the fire.

Tamaudun, the tomb of the second Shō Dynasty, covers an expansive 2,442 square meters.

Check out the souvenir stalls and Okinawan cuisine on Kokusai-dōri.

Select a colorful fish to be cooked and served on the spot at Makishi market.

Much original architecture can be found on Yachimun-dōri.

Goat sashimi can be addictive.

Plans are underway to add a third carriage as passenger numbers are projected to increase.

The monorail goes all the way to the airport, making it popular with tourists arriving in, or leaving, Okinawa.