Places we stopped along the way

Motobu Town Market

From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter

The Motobu Old Local Market sign beside a sashimi shop's sign

An old-style public market in Toguchi, the center of Motobu. Many shutters under the arcade are down, but cafes and craft shops are still in business. In one corner of the arcade, under a sign reading Fresh Bonito Bench, sits a bench shaped like a bonito.

4 Toguchi, Motobu, Kunigami District, Okinawa

Sources: 4travel.jp

This moment in the journey

At the market of the bonito town

In the late afternoon, to the market in the center of town. Through a window of the arcade I could see a fish shop across the street. At the entrance hung a sign: Motobu Old Local Market. Many shutters were down. It must be around here, I thought, walking on.

There it was: Fresh Bonito Bench. Motobu is the only town on Okinawa's main island where bonito fishing is still carried on. The symbol of this town, where the freshest bonito is landed, turned out to be a bench shaped like a bonito.

I looked into the fish shop across from the market. In the glass case lay blocks of tuna and bonito with their price tags. I had tonight's sashimi wrapped up. Thank you very much.

Watch this scene on YouTube2:43

Read this scene in the full journey