Quick Okinawa Info
Kokusai Street |
Updated on : March 31, 2005 |
Not just shopping and tourists any more; the street is now a stage
If any street qualifies as Naha's main street, it is Kokusai Dori (literally “International Street”), running 1.6 kilometers from the Kumoji intersection to Asato junction. Nearby are the Prefectural Office building, Prefectural Assembly Hall, Naha City Hall, central police station, and newspaper offices. Kokusai Street itself is lined with banks, hotels, variety and clothing stores, bars and restaurants, tourist agencies and, of course, lots and lots of souvenir shops. Bus (inner and outer city lines) stops and monorail stations are also conveniently located on or near the street.
Before the war, Kokusai Street was the main road running through swampy land at the edge of the city. The swamps were drained in 1953 and 1954, and the street began to boom. Before long its glitter and bustle earned it the name "the miracle mile." Kokusai Street took its actual name from the theater that stood nearby, the Kokusai Theater (also known as Ernie Pyle theater after American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, who died while covering the battle on Ie Island).
Heiwa Street and Ichiba-Hondori Street give easy access to the Makishi Public Market, affectionately known as the locals' kitchen. Going further along Heiwa Street brings you to Naha City's Tsuboya Pottery Museum and then to Yachimun Street, with its lineup of shops selling Tsuboya pottery. On Paradise and Ukishima Streets near Kokusai Street, young designers have opened shops that have become very trendy.
Some 20,000 people stroll along Kokusai Street daily, and more than 2,000 buses traverse it along their routes. Stations of the new monorail make access to Kokusai Street readily available.
In 1995, a group of young people from the stores along Kokusai started the Ten Thousand Eisa Dance Parade. Nowadays, their parade along the street is held every year in August. On parade day the street becomes a pedestrian heaven, a stage where youth groups, dance groups, and children's groups from all over showcase their Eisa dancing skills. During the Naha Festival in October, traditional dancers and Shishi (lion dance) performers parade along the street for hours. No longer just for shopping and touring, "Let the street be a stage" is Kokusai Street's new motto.
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