Journeys in photographs and words.
The Kouri Bridge stretching across the blue sea
The Kouri Bridge stretching across the blue sea

A 1,960-meter bridge linking Yagaji Island in Nago with Kouri Island in Nakijin. It opened in 2005 and is free to cross. Before the bridge, the only way to Kouri was by ferry from Motobu.

Kouri, Nakijin, Kunigami District, Okinawa

Sources: gltjp.com

This moment in the journey

Over the bridge for zenzai

The weather was fine, warm enough to call it hot, so I crossed the Kouri Bridge to go and eat zenzai. In Okinawa, zenzai means shaved ice.

At the end of a lane leading down to the sea stood a little shop with banners out front, and a heaping bowl of shaved ice arrived. On top sat sweetly simmered kintoki beans and rice-flour dumplings, with the deep scent of brown sugar. I ate it spoonful by spoonful, looking past the palm fronds at the blue sea and the bridge.

Watch this scene on YouTube1:25

Read this scene in the full journey

A lane leading to the sea and a seaside stand with banners
A lane leading to the sea and a seaside stand with banners
A spoon going into shaved ice topped with kintoki beans and brown sugar
A spoon going into shaved ice topped with kintoki beans and brown sugar
A heaping Okinawan zenzai topped with kintoki beans and dumplings
A heaping Okinawan zenzai topped with kintoki beans and dumplings
The sea and a distant bridge seen through palm fronds
The sea and a distant bridge seen through palm fronds
Eating zenzai with the sea behind
Eating zenzai with the sea behind