Okinawa · Nightlife

The mile-long main street through central Naha — souvenir shops by day, izakaya, awamori bars and Okinawan folk-music dinner spots by night. It is the obvious and most touristed option; the covered arcades running south off it are cheaper and better.

A covered market near Asato monorail station that sells vegetables and fish in the morning and turns into a warren of tiny standing bars and izakaya in the evening, with tables spilling into the arcade. Far more local than Kokusai-dori and ten minutes' walk from it.

A waterfront brewery and restaurant at Mihama in Chatan, brewing on site behind glass, with the restaurant and bar open 17:00–22:00 and last orders at 21:30. Book a terrace table — it faces west over the East China Sea for the sunset.

A seafront complex of bars, restaurants, a ferris wheel and cinemas at Mihama, roughly an hour north of Naha by bus or 40 minutes by car. This is where the base-town nightlife has been rehoused: neon, loud, and busy until late at weekends.

The strip outside Kadena Air Base in Okinawa City, the historic centre of the island's rock and live-music scene and still the place for it. Quieter midweek than its reputation suggests; weekends bring live houses and bars that stay open very late.