About 30 minutes by car from Naha Airport. Near Himeyuri Pagoda, there is a café called “Makabe Chinau” where you can eat Okinawan cuisine in an old private house style. Since this area was the site of the fierce Battle of Okinawa, why don’t you take a moment to think about the war, which you usually don’t think about, while eating gently flavored Okinawan cuisine served on yachimun (Okinawan traditional pottery)?
Point 1: The semi-open-air old house in “Makabe Chinaa” is pleasant!
The building of “Makabe Chinau” is a 130-year-old registered tangible cultural property built in 1891 (Meiji 24). It is an old private house-style building that has survived the Battle of Okinawa.
Because it is a traditional Okinawan building, it has many openings, and on sunny days, the fittings are opened to allow the restaurant to operate as a semi-open-air café.
This also gives you a pleasant feeling of the wind blowing through the building and makes you realize that you have come to Okinawa. Let your body be filled with Okinawa by eating Okinawan cuisine served on yachtsman in the semi-open air!
Point 2: The most popular dish at “Makabe Chinaa” is “Chinaa Gozen,” a delicious dessert!
The most popular set meal at “Makabe Chinau” is the “Chinau Gozen” (2,170 yen). This set meal is a combination of many delicious Okinawan delicacies. The Okinawan-style takikomi gohan juicy rice that comes with the set meal has a Western-style Italian flavor with basil.
The Okinawan cuisine is delicious, but so are the desserts, such as rare cheesecake flavored with seekwasa (Okinawan sea squirt) and almond tofu.
I also like the attitude of serving traditional Okinawan cuisine with a young sensibility!
Point 3: Often think about war in “Makabe Chinaa”.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a reality, and we have become undeniably aware that war is possible even in this day and age. And Japan is no exception.
The Makabe area where “Makabe China” is located was a battleground of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
The beams of the houses in Makabe Chinau have bullet holes from that time!
While we tend to visit only tourist attractions and popular spots on our trips to Okinawa, it would be nice to think about the “war” that we do not often think about while relaxing.
