Yanbaru, written with the characters for mountain and field, means a region of connected mountains and spreading forest, and refers to the north of Okinawa Island, covered in subtropical evergreen forest. More than 80 percent of the land is forested, and it is home to endemic species such as the Okinawa rail, Okinawa woodpecker and Ryukyu long-furred rat.
Sources: env.go.jp
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
More notes from this journey
Motobu, Okinawa
Spam musubi
In postwar Okinawa, when meat was hard to come by, canned pork became a widely used source of protein that kept well and was easy to prepare, and serving it wit…
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Goya chanpuru
Chanpuru, Okinawa's everyday stir-fry, combines seared island tofu with seasonal vegetables, and goya chanpuru is its best-known form.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Jushi
Jushi is the Okinawan word for seasoned rice.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Stone-roasted sweet potatoes
The sweet potato is said to have reached the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1605, when Noguni Sokan brought seedlings back from Fujian in China.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Fukugi windbreaks
In Okinawa, fukugi trees have long been planted around homes to shield them from typhoon winds.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Kouri Bridge
A 1,960-meter bridge linking Yagaji Island in Nago with Kouri Island in Nakijin.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
More notes from Kyushu & Okinawa
Motobu, Okinawa
Rice with sea grapes and egg yolk
Sea grapes (umibudo) rank third in Okinawa's aquaculture by both volume and value and are known as one of the prefecture's signature products.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Motobu bonito sashimi
Freshly landed bonito from a fish shop in Motobu, the only town on Okinawa's main island where pole-and-line bonito fishing survives, where the fish is fresh en…
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Okinawa soba yakisoba
Okinawa soba is a noodle dish made with wheat flour rather than buckwheat.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Bise Fukugi Tree Path
In the village of Bise, at the northwestern tip of the Motobu Peninsula, fukugi trees planted as windbreaks around the houses form the largest tree-lined paths…
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Ie Island and Mt. Gusuku
An island about 5 kilometers west of the Motobu Peninsula, forming the village of Ie.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Ryukyu kanhizakura cherry
In Okinawa, cherry blossom means kanhizakura, whose deep pink flowers hang downward like little bells.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter