Kokusai-dori

photo by Hikomi Moneru · CC BY 3.0

photo by Naha Mama Pavilionz · CC0

In 1995 its procession won the Guinness record for the largest straw rope in the world.

Before the war there was a country road here between fields and marshes. After the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, with the old centre of Naha requisitioned by the American army, people moved here, and a black market born of necessity became, within a few years, the most famous shopping street on the island. It is about 1.6 km long (almost exactly a mile), and that is where the nickname it still carries today comes from: ‘the miracle mile’ (奇跡の1マイル). The name Kokusai (‘international’), on the other hand, comes from a cinema opened in 1948, the Ernie Pyle International Theater.

Today it is Naha's main street for shopping and eating out, aimed more at tourists than at residents. Every October the banner parade (旗頭行列) of the 那覇大綱挽き, the great Naha tug-of-war, passes along it; in 1995 the tug-of-war entered the Guinness World Records as the largest braided straw rope in the world.

ℹ️ A public street, always open to walk along. The shops keep their own hours, roughly 10:00–22:00. The evening is the liveliest time, with the signs lit up and the street food stalls.

🚉 Hotel Collective mae · 1 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · naha-navi.or.jp

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