---
title: Yanbaru
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/yanbaru/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/okinawa-kominka/
---

# Yanbaru

A little of each town’s story　/　Motobu, Okinawa

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.

## 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.

![The sea and a distant bridge seen through palm fronds](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/okinawa-kominka/s39-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.env.go.jp/nature/nationalparks/list/yambaru/feature/

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/okinawa-kominka/