Quick Okinawa Info
Okinawa's Theme Parks |
Updated on : March 31, 2005 |
Okinawa offers a variety of theme parks and hands-on programs that introduce Okinawa’s nature, history and culture
Okinawa offers a host of theme parks with a wealth of variety. You can learn about the Ryukyu Kingdom era and enjoy court dances and other events that change according to the season at Shurijo Castle Park in Naha City. The Oceanic Culture Museum in Motobu’s Ocean Expo Park introduces the oceanic cultures of Asia and the Pacific. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, also at the same park, features huge whale sharks and manta rays gliding among smaller fish and other creatures in its vast seawater tank.
Murasaki Mura in Yomitan is an experiential theme park with 18 workshops and 55 hands-on activities. In Onna Village, visit Ryukyu Mura to see an Okinawa of times gone by. You can experience crafts and Eisa dancing first hand here. Okinawa World in Tamagusuku Village is a park with a Ryukyu Kingdom castle town theme. Included here are shops where you can try your hand at a number of crafts, a museum and trading ship exhibiting the Ryukyu Kingdom era, a brown-sugar candy factory, a Habu snake museum and a tropical fruits park.
For those who want a nature experience, there is a long list of exciting attractions. There are many nature parks that display the subtropical atmosphere of the islands. In central Okinawa Island, there are the Southeast Botanical Gardens in Okinawa City and Bios on the Hill in Ishikawa City. In the northern area, you’ll find Neo Park Okinawa in Nago City and Tropical Dream Center at Ocean Expo Park in Motobu.
Located on Miyako Island, the Ueno German Village is themed to recall the rescue by Miyako villagers of the crew of a German merchant ship that ran aground in Miyako’s Ueno Village. If you are on Ishigaki Island, stop by the Yaeyama Folk Museum and learn about the culture of the Yaeyama region.
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