JUNKUDO Naha: Okinawa Travel Guide (4.4★)

Kokusai-dori is mostly souvenir shops, shisa figurines and awamori bottles. Then you go through the doors of the D-NAHA building and there are four floors of books, from the basement up to the 3rd floor. JUNKUDO Naha is one of the city’s best-known bookstores, and it is consistently well rated by the people who use it.

It isn’t a secret. Plenty of residents and visitors already know it. The appeal is simpler: in a district built for buying keepsakes, here is a place to slow down and leave with something you’ll actually read.

Four floors under one address

The store runs from basement 1 to the 3rd floor of D-NAHA. That alone makes it bigger than most bookshops you’ll pass in central Naha. Floor directories by the escalators and lifts show what’s on each level, so check one before you start wandering.

Japanese bookstores are arranged by genre and publisher, with new releases stacked flat at the front of each section. Expect long rows of:

• Manga, sorted by publisher and series
• Paperback fiction (bunko) and magazines
• Travel guides and maps
• Art, photography and design books
• Stationery and notebooks

Most stock is in Japanese. Photo books, maps and manga still need no translation to enjoy.

The Okinawa shelves

This is the section that justifies the detour. Okinawa has its own publishing world, and a large Naha bookstore is where you’ll find it in one place. Look for:

• Books on the Ryukyu Kingdom and Shuri Castle
• Histories of the Battle of Okinawa and the postwar American period
• Okinawan cooking, from goya champuru to Okinawa soba
• Guides to the outer islands, diving and hiking
• Phrasebooks on Uchinaaguchi, the Okinawan language

A photo book of Kerama blues or a Ryukyu textile pattern guide also makes a lighter souvenir than another box of beni-imo tarts.

Getting to Makishi

The nearest station is Makishi on the Yui Rail monorail, the line that runs from Naha Airport to Shuri. From the station, walk down toward Kokusai-dori and look for the D-NAHA building at Makishi 1-chome. The trip from the airport is direct, with no changes.

You can just as easily arrive on foot from elsewhere on Kokusai-dori. The street runs about 1.6km, and the Makishi end is the one nearest the store. Prefectural Office Station sits at the opposite end.

Browsing and paying, Japanese style

Standing and reading is normal. Japanese bookshops tolerate tachiyomi, browsing on your feet, but wrapped manga and photo books are sealed for a reason. Leave the plastic on.

At the till, staff will often ask whether you want a kabā (カバー), a paper cover folded around your book. A nod means yes. It’s free, and the cover itself is a small, printed keepsake. Say “daijōbu desu” if you’d rather skip it.

Other habits worth copying:

• Put your purchases and money on the small tray at the counter rather than handing them over directly.
• Keep phone calls outside, as the floors are quiet.
• Ask “Okinawa no hon wa doko desu ka?” to be pointed to the local-interest section.
• Look at the payment signs by the register, which show which cards and IC cards are accepted.

If you’re carrying bags from the market, staff may ask you to leave large luggage clear of the aisles.

Fitting it into a Kokusai-dori day

At the moment the store opens 10am–9pm every day, including Sundays. That schedule fits most plans:

• Rainy or very hot afternoon: spend an hour indoors before going back to the arcades.
• Evening: come after dinner, when most sightseeing has wound down but the shelves are still open.

From here, the covered Heiwa-dori and Ichiba-hondori arcades branch off Kokusai-dori toward the Makishi Public Market. Upstairs at the market you can have fish you bought below cooked for you. Keep walking and you reach the Tsuboya pottery district and its yachimun workshops. A bag of Okinawa books and a Tsuboya cup make a good pair to take home.

Check the hours before you go, since they can change around holidays.