1 / 3Kusu awamori, cut with waterPhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5
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Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
Six hundred years old, distilled from Thai rice with a black mould, and aged in clay. Order kusu — three years or more — and take it mizuwari. The gap between kusu and new is larger than the price suggests.
- Short enough to be certain of: 1 hr 30 min door to door, so even a tender day works.
- Free to walk to visit — monorail from kencho-mae to makishi is ¥250 if you want to ride back..
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Yes" — combine with the makishi market and tsuboya for a full local morning.
- Open street; most shops are open by day — every sunday from 12:00 to 18:00 the street is closed to cars. individual shop hours are not published centrally..
- 1 hr 30 min door to door needs a 3.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Kusu awamori, cut with water is famous
Awamori is distilled from long-grain Thai rice with black koji, a method Okinawa learned from Siam in the 15th century, which makes it Japan's oldest distilled spirit. Kusu is awamori aged at least three years; some family jars are far older. It is drunk cut with water and ice, not neat.
Kokusai-dori is the main street of Naha, 1.6 km long, with about 600 shops along it according to a listing supervised by the shopping-street federation. It runs from the prefectural office end to the Asato junction and is the easiest way into the city from the ship, since the walk from the Wakasa terminal is flat and the ride is short.
It is a souvenir strip, and honest about it: Okinawan crafts, awamori, sweets, T-shirts, snack stalls, restaurants. The reason to go is the sideways step. The covered arcades running off the street lead to the Makishi market and to the potters' street at Tsuboya, which we cover separately. On Sundays between 12:00 and 18:00 the street is closed to traffic and fills with open-air cafes and events.
The catch is that it is built for crowds and heat. On a hot day the walk is tiring. If you are short on time, do not walk the whole street: ride the monorail one stop or take a taxi to the middle and turn down an arcade.
Three places, three different answers
The one the queue agrees on, the one people who live here use instead, and the one nearest your ship. Opening days change; check before you build a day around one.
A Shuri distillery you can visit, with kusu aged at least three years. Drunk cut with water and ice, never neat.
Open in Google MapsClosest to the berthKokusai-dori awamori shops国際通り 泡盛Several shops on the main street will let you taste before you carry a bottle aboard.
Open in Google MapsThings worth knowing
- A taxi out saves the 20–25 minute walk from the terminal. Taxi first-ride fares changed on 24 August 2026 to ¥650 for the first 1.65 km.
- Sundays 12:00–18:00 are car-free, so it is calmer but busier with people.
- Turn off into the covered arcades for the market and pottery; they are one block away, as our guide to Makishi and Tsuboya explains.
- Awamori is on sale all along the street; our Naha eating list explains how to order it (kusu, with water).
Questions people send us
How far is Kokusai-dori from the Naha cruise terminal?
About 20 to 25 minutes on foot from the Wakasa terminal, or 5 to 10 minutes by taxi, according to a cruise port guide dated December 2025. From the Shinko Wharf No.12 berth there is no public transport, so plan on a taxi of about 10 minutes or a ship shuttle.
How long is Kokusai-dori and what is on it?
About 1.6 km, with roughly 600 shops, restaurants and souvenir stores, per a listing supervised by the Naha City Kokusai Dori Shopping Street Promotion Association Federation. It is closed to cars every Sunday from 12:00 to 18:00.
What is the best way back to the ship?
Walk or take a taxi. The Yui Rail monorail does not reach the Wakasa terminal; the nearest stations are Kencho-mae, about a 15-minute walk from the port according to the Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Asahibashi.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
3 hr for bothBuy downstairs, eat upstairs at Makishi
Okinawa's reef fish are the wrong colours — electric blue, parrot green, hard red.
See the detail
3 hr for bothGoya champuru and Okinawa soba
Bitter melon stir-fried with tofu, egg and pork, and thick wheat noodles in pork-and-bonito broth that contain no buckwheat at all.
See the detail
3 hr for bothShisa on Tsuboya yachimun street
Potters have worked this street since 1682, when the kingdom gathered its kilns here.
See the detail