It takes 2 hours and 17 minutes by car from Naha Airport. It is an unmanned store located in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. Surprisingly, such a store exists in 2025. Usually, no one is in the store, but there is a cash register and a ledger book. What kind of sales system does it have?
Point 1: The northernmost unmanned concession stand on Okinawa’s main island! What is the location of “Ibu Kiosk”?
There used to be communal kiosks all over Okinawa and Amami.
Before convenience stores and other stores began to appear in the area, local people used to “jointly manage” the stores by pooling their money together.
Ibe Kiosk” is the northernmost kiosk on the east coast of Kunigami Village in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. Officially, it is a private store, but it still maintains the style of the good old communal kiosks.
It takes 2 hours and 17 minutes by car from Naha Airport via the Okinawa Expressway.
By bus, take the Okinawa Airport Shuttle OAS/RSL-RP to Nago City Hall first, and then take Ryukyu Bus No. 61 to Hedona, an 8-minute walk away. From there, transfer to the Kunigami-mura Bus East Line, a 1-minute walk away, and get off at the “Yasuda (Ada)” stop. It is a 29-minute walk.
Even if you estimate the shortest route by bus, it will take 4.5 hours to get to the farthest point of the island.
Point 2: What is the system of shopping at the “Ibu Shop”?
The sliding door to the “Ibu Shops” is always open. As soon as you enter, there is a counter and a cash register next to it. It looks like this is where they deal with customers. Above the counter is what appears to be a sales ledger!
There is a wooden lattice door next to the counter. It seems to be a system whereby customers open it and enter the store.
The products are lined up in an orderly fashion, and it is tempting to pick one up and take it to the cash register, but there are no shopping baskets and no one at the cash register. I wondered if it was a PayPay or credit card payment system like at the “Sweets Specialty Unmanned Sweets Shop Naha”. But there is no such machine.
Then, how do you buy products?
Looking around the exterior, one notices what appears to be an intercom.
It is not an intercom, but rather a “doorbell.
When you press the “doorbell,” a woman who lives in the house next door answers and comes to the store. The old lady, who lives in the house next door, will answer the doorbell and come to the store.
In the original system, customers enter the store through the lattice door, but they do not pick up items without permission.
This is exactly the opposite of the ultra-modern unmanned convenience store in the Takanawa Gateway Station, where customers do not even have to scan their items, but simply hold up their Suica or credit card to pay for their purchases. I didn’t realize that such unmanned stores still existed in the world of 2025!
Moreover, there are times when the grandmother is too busy to come to the store, and at those times, there is a “sales ledger” next to the cash register, where customers can fill in what they bought and leave their payment there! There is even a chart with the items and their prices carefully written down, but what about when you need change?
This village has a population of about 10 people, and no one steals or cheats on their money.
I wonder if that will not be the case when more and more outsiders start coming to the store by spreading the word on the Internet in this way. Is it unnecessary to worry about this?
Point 3: Selling daily necessities! Introduction of items sold at the Ibe Shop
So what exactly is sold at the “Ibe Kiosk”?
As is the case with other community kiosks, the first items are snacks for children, daily necessities such as detergent and shampoo, food such as cup noodles, and beverages such as ice cream, beer, and juice. These are almost the bare necessities of life.
Moreover, the refrigerators for ice cream, beer, and other beverages are cold, but the other refrigerators are not even energized! They function as mere “display shelves.
Ibe Kiosk, which sells the bare necessities of life, is an unmanned store located at the northernmost tip of the main island of Okinawa. It is located in the north and on the east coast, so it is very difficult to get to, but if you are interested, you should visit. The smiling face of the woman there is also very charming!
