Okinawa

Okinawa is Japan's southernmost prefecture, a subtropical island chain stretching toward Taiwan that was once the independent Ryukyu Kingdom. The food and even the language carry that separate history, and the sea here is the clearest blue most visitors will ever swim.

In Naha, Kokusai Street runs long with market lanes, and Shuri Castle, seat of the Ryukyu kings, is being rebuilt after the 2019 fire, its great walls already standing. The Churaumi Aquarium sends whale sharks gliding past a giant window, and ferries reach the snorkel-clear Kerama Islands.

Order Okinawa soba and rafute pork, and toast with awamori, the local rice liquor. Flights from the mainland land at Naha, with beach resorts strung up the main island's west coast. Late spring and autumn dodge both typhoon peaks and midsummer heat; winter stays mild enough for whale watching.