About an hour and a half drive from Naha Airport. The inn is located in Nakijin Village in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. Nestled in the virgin forest of Nakijin Village, you can spend your time in a quiet environment, which is different from the usual stay in Okinawa. The style of the inn is unique in that it is not a single room, but rather a collection of bedrooms, a dining room, and an open-air bath scattered throughout the property, each in its building.
Point 1: In the virgin forest of Nakijin Village! What is the location of “Nakijin Strawberry”?
Nakigijin Tsuwabuki is an inn located in Moroshi, Nakijin Village, about an hour and a half drive from Naha Airport, and only accommodates one guest per day.
In 2022, an architect who moved to Okinawa from the mainland built an inn in the virgin forest of Nakijin, so that visitors and residents of Okinawa would be enchanted by its beautiful nature.
The emerald green sea of Nakijin Village is impressive, but the inn is located in the mountains with dense tropical vegetation. It takes about 7 minutes to the sea by car.
It takes one and a half hours from the airport via Okinawa Expressway. By bus, take the “Okinawa Airport Shuttle OAS/RSL-RP” and get off at “Nago Shiyakusho-mae”, then take Ryukyu Bus #66 from Nago Shiyakusho-mae to “Moroshi”, a 2-minute walk from the bus stop. You can reach the inn in 15 minutes on foot.
Strangely, using the Okinawa Airport Shuttle is somehow about 1,000 yen cheaper than taking the local bus.
Also, pick-up service is free from the Nakijinjo entrance of the Yanbaru Express Bus or the Nago Bus Terminal of the Express Bus, so there is no reason not to ask for it.
They also offer pick-up from Naha Airport for a fee. Free parking is available on the premises.
Point 2: Introduction of “Nakijin Ishibuki (Nakijin Tsuwabuki)” rooms!
The concept of “Nakijin Tsuwabuki” is to have the architecture, garden, and forest in a perfect size on a 1,000 tsubo (about 1,000 m2) site, and to have them all become one, so the bedrooms, dining room, and bathroom are separated from each other. The first step is to go to the reception building near the parking lot.
First, you will go to the reception building near the parking lot to complete the formalities and receive amenities before heading to your bedroom.
The amenities are elaborate and include a bath towel, a cloth bag with the Ishibuki logo on it, a bamboo toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
The shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are of high quality and contain argan oil.
The bedrooms face the ocean, with large windows that can be opened to let in the open air and feel the breezes of Yanbaru. You can also see the emerald-green sea of Nakijin in the distance.
The bedroom, with its warmth of wood, is a simple building with only two double beds and a daybed and is a unique three-story mixed structure.
Because of its uniqueness, the inn has been featured in numerous architecture magazines and travel magazines and is now famous among those in the know.
When the sun rises, the wind flows from the ocean side to the mountainside, and you can have a very pleasant time there, so please open the window in the morning and enjoy the breeze.
The bathrooms are located a short walk from the bedrooms or along a small path and are rustic wooden huts with stone bathtubs in the open-air baths, which are full of natural beauty. (It is not a hot spring).
The baths are located near a forest, so visitors can enjoy the fragrance of the forest while bathing. Aroma candles are also provided, which is heartwarming.
Point 3: Where do you eat “Nakijin Tsuwabuki”?
Breakfast at Nakijin Tsuwabuki is included in the room rate, but dinner is available upon request.
The restaurant also accommodates vegan and brown rice diets.
The dining building is also unique. It is a semi-open-air “hut” style building with a dining table, a sink, and a “kamado,” a cooking stove.
Cooking is also done in the hut and served freshly prepared.
Breakfast is a one-soup, three-course meal, served on Yachimun plates with a focus on island vegetables. There is no reason why a simple breakfast made with carefully selected ingredients cannot be delicious. The rice is cooked in an adjacent kamado, so you will be happy to eat freshly cooked rice.
In addition to the kitchen, there are dishes, a refrigerator, a gas stove, and an oven in the dining building, so you can use them whenever you like during your stay, except early in the morning and late at night.
It would be fun to take out deli items or food from your favorite restaurant and eat them in the dining building.
Located in Nakijin Village in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island, “Nakigijin Tsuwabuki” is a high-quality hideaway where you can relax and enjoy the great outdoors, and where no one under 12 years old is allowed. The inn is unique in that it has bedrooms, a dining building, and a bathing building scattered throughout its 1,000 tsubo (about 1,000 m2) of land in the virgin forest of Nakijin!
The price is about 110,000 for two people, but isn’t such an Okinawa experience nice once in a while? Please visit.
