Getting around Okinawa

Getting inHow you arrive in Okinawa

Naha Airport · no shinkansen — a monorail in Naha, and flights to the outer islands

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

There is no shinkansen here: Okinawa has no railway to the mainland at all. It is a separate chain of islands — you fly.
Checked 2026-08-16
From Tokyo: Haneda to Naha is about 2 hours 40 minutes in the air. Times vary with weather and airport congestion.
Checked 2026-08-16
Airport to the city: Naha Airport to Kencho-mae (for Kokusai-dori) on the Yui Rail monorail: about 12 minutes riding, around 18 minutes with the walk. Fare about ¥270.
Checked 2026-08-16
To the outer islands: Ishigaki and Miyakojima are a further flight from Naha, about an hour south. Plan them as separate legs, not day trips.
Checked 2026-08-16

A Japan Rail Pass does not cover Nozomi or Mizuho. What a rail pass covers

In this prefecture you will probably use Yui Rail (there is no JR at all in Okinawa) — a private railway, not JR. A Japan Rail Pass does not cover it.

Getting aboutDo you need a car here?

Trains and buses電車・バス

An IC card works on most of them. Signs and station names are in English.

How trains work

A rental carレンタカー

Worth it the moment you leave the main city. What you need to drive here

Permit neededDrive left

Taxisタクシー

Clean, safe and metered. Show the address on your phone rather than saying it. Doors are often opened for you.

Show the address

The three that catch people outLast trains, cash, luggage

The last train and bus

City: Usually around midnight
Country: Far earlier — sometimes mid-afternoon. Ask at the stop when you arrive, not when you want to leave
If you miss it: Ask your inn to call a taxi before the last bus goes, not after

The last train home

Cash out here

ATMs: Use 7-Eleven or Japan Post for a foreign card. Bank ATMs are hit and miss
Carry: ¥10,000–20,000 on a day out of the city. Rural areas have very little
Small places: Cash only is common. Ask “Card OK?” before you order

Your suitcase

Lockers: At the main station, paid by IC card. They fill by mid-morning
Send it: Any convenience store will deliver it to your next hotel, usually next day. Cheaper than carrying it up stairs
At your inn: They will hold it before check-in and after check-out

Sending it ahead

Getting around