Naha / Okinawa

Okinawa was an independent kingdom trading with China, Korea and Japan until annexation in 1879, and the difference survives in the language, the red-tiled roofs, the awamori and a cuisine built on pork and bitter melon. Shuri Castle burned in 2019 and is being rebuilt again — the fifth time; watch the reconstruction, then cross the bridges north to the sea the mainland does not have.