Kyoda Road Station-Yanbaru Local Products Center

 I would like to introduce you to Kyoda Road Station-Yanbaru Local Products Center by photos.

It was just 9 o’clock in the morning with very few visitors.  Staff were preparing their products.  This place is usually crowded in the daytime but at this time of day it is a very quiet and peaceful atmosphere, this is a new experience and extremely delightful.  

Walking down from the parking lot toward the entrance, near which you can find a shop selling fruits, vegetables, flowers and kariyushi shirts.  

When you enter the entrance on your left, you can find many kinds of fresh Okinawan vegetables displayed close together.

Going further, you see a tropical drink shop and seasonings, dried goods, etc.  

Returning to the Okinawan vegetable section, delicious-looking tropical fruits come into sight.  Juicy mango, shima (island) banana, etc.  

I sometimes send mangos by Yu-pack (parcels) to my acquaintances.  

Popular Bogor Pineapple are stacked high.  

When you move in the entrance at the left of shima vegetable section, you will find Okinawa souvenir section.  Sanshin, Paranku (hand-carried small drum for EISA dance), shisa (guardian dog) dolls, postcards, kubagasa (fan palm hat), T-shirts, shima (island) red pepper, etc. Every kind of Okinawan souvenir you can find here!

If you look at the souvenir section from the opposite entrance, you can find Okinawan sweets, snacks, awamori Okinawa own liquor, masu (salt), etc.

Now you are outside again.  This time you will see outside shops from the right end of Kyoda Road Station.  Firstly you will see a fresh fish shop (also selling sashimi).  In Okinawa, we catch bonito, tuna and culture prawns, all are very healthy mozuku sea weed.  

Next to the fish shop, there is a T-shirt shop and a handcrafts shop inside. 

And a very popular soft-serve ice cream shop “Oppa soft cream”!  They also sell gelato, too.  Look!  Lottery stand is next to the “Oppa”!

Wow!  Lottery tickets sold here took the grand prize of LOTO6 in 2009 and 2nd prize and 3rd prize of Green Jumbo Lottery in 2010. 

The stand lady must be Lady Luck, isn’t she?

Shaved ice!  Zenzai (red bean sweets)!  People enjoy these desserts in semitropical island of Okinawa all year around.  It quenches your thirst.

You might be thinking of bring bento boxed lunches for your drive and prefer local bento shops to national chain convenience stores.  This bento shop has a variety of bento, burgers, and Okinawan tea.  

Okinawan kamaboko (fish minced and steamed) tastes best when it’s right out of the hot oil.  At manju (steamed bean-jam bun) shop, they sell muchi (Okinawan rice cake wrapped by Getto (Shell ginger) leaves and steamed).

Very popular shop for sata andagi (Okinawan doughnut) “MITSUYA”.

Many people stop by this road station just to buy their sata andagi.

This shop is actually located between the bento shop and the kamaboko shop.  I just saved it to crown it all.  

It is JPY90 for one doughnut.  They have several flavors such as plain, taimo (taro yam), beniimo (purple-colored sweet potato), pumpkin, brown sugar, etc.

This time I bought sata andagi plain (front), sata andagi pumpkin (back) and hirayachi (Okinawan very simple pan-cake dish) salt flavor from the shop “MITSUYA.” 

The hirayachi is based on eggs, flour, salt, pepper, green onion and mozuku (very healthy Okinawan seaweed).  They also have miso (fermented soybean paste) flavor of hirayachi.  

Kyoda Road Station is on the way to many popular sightseeing spots such as Churaumi Aquarium, Nakijin Castel Site, Okuma Beach, and so on.  Why don’t you stop by Kyoda Road Station and discover local products and enjoy chatting with local people.

Kyoda Road Station-Yanbaru Local Products Center 

(Please check the map on the following website.)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1023465-d1373581-Reviews-K...