Okinawa World – Culture Kingdom & Gyokusendo Cave is one of Okinawa Prefecture’s leading tourist attractions, offering visitors a chance to experience many aspects of Okinawan culture and nature in one place.
Centered around Gyokusendo Cave, said to be one of the largest limestone caves in Japan, the facility also features attractions such as a tropical fruit garden and exhibitions related to the habu snake.
One of the major highlights is the “Super Eisa” performance. Based on Okinawa’s traditional Bon dance, this dynamic show features performers in colorful folk costumes energetically beating drums, alongside lion dances, Okinawan folk songs, and a variety of other traditional performing arts.
In the “Ryukyu Kingdom Castle Town” area, visitors can try hands-on experiences making traditional Okinawan crafts such as bingata dyeing, indigo dyeing, and Ryukyu glass.
You can also see valuable tangible cultural properties, including traditional Okinawan houses more than one hundred years old and old-style toilets combined with pigsties, known as “furu.”
The Kingdom History Museum displays Okinawan shisa statues as well as lion figures from across Asia believed to be the prototypes of the shisa.
In addition, Nanto Brewery produces and sells habu snake liquor and craft beer, while the souvenir shopping area offers Okinawan specialties such as chinsuko sweets. It is the perfect place to pick up a souvenir to remember your trip.