Date updated:December 23, 2013

Welcome to Okinawa

Overview of Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture is located in the eastern part of the Asian continent, and is the southwestern most point of the Japanese archipelago, which is a chain of isolated islands. It is a prefecture of islands, comprising 160 large and small islands (over 0.01 square kilometers) which are located in a vast marine area of roughly 1,000 kilometers from east to west and roughly 400 kilometers from north to south.

During the years when Okinawa was ruled by the Ryukyu Kingdom, our ancestors began paddling their boats and headed for the open seas while the seasonal winds guided the sails of their boats, and the Kingdom flourished through foreign trade.

By taking advantage of our geographic location - as we are the closest region in Japan to Southeast Asian countries - as well as our experiences with cultural exchanges that we have cultivated with foreign countries until now, we are striving to develop an open prefecture in order to serve as the center for international exchanges.