Sakaemachi Market

photo by Abasaa · Public domain

By day it is a market; in the evening the same shops become izakaya until late at night.

Founded in the post-war reconstruction on a site that before the war housed a girls' school, the market takes its name (‘may this place prosper again’) from the hope of those who refounded it. About 150 shops face onto narrow alleys that keep the atmosphere of the Shōwa years: vegetable and meat stalls by day, izakaya and bars in the evening, when the crowd and the lighting change together.

Neighbourhood market in the Asato district of Naha, founded during the post-war reconstruction as a place to get local trade going again. Less touristy than Kokusai-dori, it remains a reference point for residents, and in recent years it has found a second life as an evening destination, for visitors too.

ℹ️ The food shops generally open from the morning to the early afternoon; the izakaya and bars from late afternoon (roughly 15:00–18:00) until midnight. Hours vary from one business to another; the market has no single set of hours. A few steps from Asato Station on the Yui Rail monorail.

🚉 メディカルプラザ大道中央 · 1 min walk

Sources: okinawastory.jp · sakaemachi.okinawa · mapple.net

All series · Open the map