Review questions from the real quiz with answers, explanations and sources. Think it through first, then reveal the correct answer.
This is a selection from the question pool — the real quiz also draws questions you won’t find here.
The first ten questions are Okinawa's front door: the paired guardians on the rooftops, drums echoing through the old-calendar Bon nights, the gate printed on the 2,000-yen note. Names you have surely met at least once, asked head-on. The year of reversion to Japan and the old kingdom's name anchor the history here too. Get all ten, and you can guide a first trip. Open each answer for its sources.
Hint: After roughly 27 years of U.S. administration.
Correct answer1972
On May 15, 1972, Okinawa returned to Japan after some 27 years under U.S. administration; the reversion agreement had been signed the year before. Okinawa Prefecture was restored that day. Yet most of the vast U.S. military bases remained in Okinawa even after reversion.
Source:沖縄返還 - Wikipedia
Hint: The royal castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Correct answerShuri Castle
Shuri Castle was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom's politics, diplomacy and culture. Rebuilt after its destruction in the Battle of Okinawa, its main hall burned again in October 2019. Reconstruction now proceeds in full public view — a 'visible recovery' — aiming to complete the hall in autumn 2026.
Hint: Often placed as a male-female pair.
Correct answerShisa
Shisa are lion-derived guardians set on rooftops, gateposts and village entrances. Their expressions and poses vary from house to house and shop to shop, making them a familiar guardian spirit seen throughout everyday life in Okinawa.
Source:シーサー - Wikipedia
Hint: Aged versions are called kusu.
Correct answerAwamori
Awamori is among Japan's oldest distilled spirits. Under the kingdom, its brewing was restricted to a limited zone called Shuri Sanka (the Toriji, Sakiyama and Akata districts). Aged for years in clay pots, it is called kusu and mellows with time.
Source:泡盛 - Wikipedia「首里の泡盛」を知ろう。琉球王国の時代、唯一泡盛製造が認められていた“首里三箇”とは？
Hint: 'Yui' means cooperation and mutual help.
Correct answerYui Rail
The Yui Rail monorail, opened in 2003, is Okinawa's only rail transit. Extended in 2019 to Tedako-Uranishi, it now links Naha Airport with Urasoe. Its nickname comes from yuimaru, the Okinawan word for mutual help — a fitting name for a line the whole city shares.
Source:沖縄都市モノレール線 - Wikipedia
Hint: Its capital was Shuri, and it pursued its own diplomacy.
Correct answerRyukyu Kingdom
Unifying the three principalities (Hokuzan, Chuzan, Nanzan) gave rise to the Ryukyu Kingdom. From its capital at Shuri it thrived on entrepot trade linking China, Japan and Southeast Asia, styling itself 'a bridge between all nations.' The kingdom endured some 450 years, until the Ryukyu Disposition of 1879.
Source:首里城公園琉球王国 - Wikipedia
Hint: Young people's associations parade through the neighborhoods.
Correct answerEisa
Eisa is a traditional performing art carried on chiefly by youth associations across Okinawa, who beat drums and parade through their neighborhoods in what is called the michijune. Costumes and choreography differ from place to place, making it a signature sight of the Okinawan summer.
Source:エイサー - Wikipedia
Hint: It bears the plaque reading 'Shurei no kuni.'
Correct answerShureimon
The 2,000-yen note carries Shureimon, the graceful Chinese-style gate of Shuri Castle bearing a plaque that reads 'Land of Propriety.' Destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa, it was among the first structures rebuilt, in 1958, and still speaks for the kingdom's courteous spirit.
Hint: Different from so-called 'soba' (buckwheat).
Correct answerTrue
Okinawa soba contains no buckwheat: its noodles are wheat flour worked with alkaline water, served in a broth of pork and katsuobushi. When the very name 'soba' was challenged in 1976, negotiation won the label 'authentic Okinawa soba' — commemorated every October 17, Okinawa Soba Day.
Source:沖縄そば - Wikipedia
Hint: Okinawa is sometimes called a pioneer of Cool Biz.
Correct answerTrue
Kariyushi wear is sewn in Okinawa and expresses Okinawan identity; it has become established as summer formal wear in place of a dress shirt and tie. When Cool Biz began in 2007, all cabinet ministers wore kariyushi wear, and it remains recognized by the Ministry of the Environment as acceptable Cool Biz attire.
Source:かりゆしウェアの定義・歴史
Fifteen questions that step deeper into daily life and landscape: the dyework that dressed the royal court, Naha's pottery quarter, what the forested north of the main island is called. Hard-to-read place names, islands and bridges, the present reality of the base towns — and the pivotal question of what befell the kingdom in 1609. A couple of holidays here will not be enough to sweep this tier.
Hint: The domain of the Shimazu clan.
Correct answerSatsuma domain
In 1609 Shimazu forces invaded Ryukyu and Shuri Castle capitulated. The kingdom entered an age of dual subordination — governed by Satsuma while continuing tribute missions to China. Its royal form survived, but its trade and diplomacy now ran under Satsuma's control.
Source:首里城公園琉球侵攻 - Wikipedia
Hint: Read as 'bingata.'
Correct answerBingata
Bingata is the stencil-dye art that flowered under the Ryukyu Kingdom, dressing royalty and gentry in bold colors that hold their own against southern light. Passed down in Naha workshops today, Ryukyu bingata is recognized among Japan's designated traditional crafts.
Source:琉球びんがた - KOGEI JAPAN
Hint: Home to 'Yachimun Street.'
Correct answerTsuboya
Tsuboya was born in 1682 when the royal government gathered scattered kilns into one quarter of Naha. Its ware, fondly called yachimun, still lines Yachimun Street's workshops — though when city smoke rules made wood kilns difficult, many potters moved their kilns to Yomitan.
Source:壺屋焼 - Wikipedia
Hint: Also included in a World Natural Heritage site.
Correct answerYanbaru
Yambaru names the deeply forested north of Okinawa Island, home to one of Japan's largest subtropical forests and to creatures found nowhere else. Yambaru National Park was created in 2016, and in 2021 the area joined the UNESCO World Natural Heritage listing.
Hint: About 3,540 m long.
Correct answerIrabu Bridge
The Irabu Bridge, opened in 2015, spans 3,540 meters between Miyako and Irabu islands — the longest toll-free bridge in Japan. From its deck the gradations of 'Miyako blue' spread on every side; the crossing itself has become an attraction.
Source:伊良部大橋 - Wikipedia
Hint: Famous for American Village.
Correct answerChatan
Chatan — a reading its kanji will not surrender easily — is a central-island town much of whose land has long been occupied by U.S. bases. On the returned site of Hamby Airfield rose Mihama American Village, a Ferris-wheeled shopping town that is now a sightseeing fixture.
Source:北谷町 - Wikipedia
Hint: The home of the Hokuzan king's castle.
Correct answerNakijin
Nakijin — another reading no first-time visitor guesses — was the seat of the Hokuzan kings. Its great fortress wraps the hilltop in gracefully curving walls, stands among the World Heritage Ryukyu gusuku sites, and each January blushes with early-blooming kanhizakura cherries.
Source:今帰仁城 - Wikipedia
Hint: Grown in places like Ogimi Village in the northern main island.
Correct answerShikuwasa
The shikuwasa, known formally as the hirami lemon, is a small citrus native to Okinawa; its name is said to mean 'the one that feeds you sourness.' Squeezed green over sashimi or into drinks, it turns sweet enough to eat as it ripens.
Source:シークヮーサー - Wikipedia
Hint: Founded in 1957.
Correct answerOrion Beer
Orion Beer was founded in 1957, amid Okinawa's postwar reconstruction. With its main brewery in Nago, it has poured through the prefecture's dinner tables and celebrations ever since — nearly seventy years on, the name is shorthand for an Okinawan summer.
Hint: A symbol of postwar recovery.
Correct answerKokusai-dori
Kokusai-dori runs about 1.6 kilometers through central Naha. It takes its name from the postwar Ernie Pyle International Theater that once stood here, and its swift rise from burnt-out ruins to bustling main street earned it the title 'Miracle Mile.'
Source:国際通り - Wikipedia
Hint: Uses a Guinness-record rope.
Correct answerNaha Great Tug-of-War
Each October, Naha's Great Tug-of-War pits east against west over a rope totaling some 200 meters and more than 40 tons — certified by Guinness as the world's largest straw rope. Carrying home a strand afterward is said to bring good luck.
Source:那覇大綱挽まつり - Wikipedia
Hint: Said to have originated in Kin Town.
Correct answerTaco rice
Taco rice — taco fixings piled on rice — was born around 1984 in Kin, a base town, when a local diner devised a filling dish for U.S. servicemen whose dollars had thinned. It has since grown into comfort food for the whole prefecture.
Source:タコライス - Wikipedia
Hint: The town name became the base name itself.
Correct answerKadena Town
Kadena Air Base covers roughly 2,000 hectares -- the largest U.S. air base in the Far East, with twin 3,700-meter runways. It occupies over eighty percent of Kadena's town area. The roadside station next to the base, Michi-no-Eki Kadena, has a rooftop observation deck overlooking the runways.
Source:嘉手納飛行場 - Wikipedia
Hint: Hirugi (mangrove trees) are representative.
Correct answerMangrove
Mangroves are trees of the brackish zone where river meets sea, their breathing roots laced through the mud, sheltering fish, shellfish and birds. Vast mangrove forests line Iriomote's Nakama River, emblematic of the island wilderness now inscribed as World Natural Heritage.
Hint: It opened on land returned from a U.S. military facility.
Correct answerAEON Mall Okinawa Rycom
AEON Mall Okinawa Rycom opened in April 2015 on land in Kitanakagusuku Village returned from a U.S. military facility, and boasts one of the largest sales floor areas in the prefecture. It draws shoppers from across and beyond Okinawa, becoming a new hub for daily life and tourism.
Source:イオンモール沖縄ライカム - Wikipedia
The last fifteen go one layer down: the king who founded the Second Sho dynasty, the castle-builder of legend, how to read the kingdom's holiest sanctuary. Rare creatures of Yambaru and Iriomote, fermented delicacies, and the rites that keep ancestors close all appear. Questions on life under U.S. administration carry the weight of this island's modern history. Solve these, and the top titles of the real quiz are within reach.
Hint: Acceded to the throne in 1470
Correct answerKing Sho En
Sho En, born Kanamaru on Izena Island, rose through service to the first Sho dynasty and took the throne after the upheaval of 1469, founding the second Sho line — the dynasty that would rule until the kingdom's end in the early Meiji era, some four centuries later.
Source:首里城公園尚円王 - Wikipedia
Hint: The end of the Ryukyu Kingdom
Correct answerThe Ryukyu Disposition
The Meiji government made the kingdom into 'Ryukyu Domain' in 1872, then in 1879 — backed by troops and police — demanded the surrender of Shuri Castle and established Okinawa Prefecture. This was the Ryukyu Disposition. The last king, Sho Tai, was removed to Tokyo, ending 450 years of monarchy.
Source:琉球処分 - Wikipedia
Hint: Rivaled Amawari of Katsuren
Correct answerGosamaru
Gosamaru, a fifteenth-century lord remembered as a master castle-builder, raised Zakimi Castle and later moved to Nakagusuku at royal command to guard against Amawari of Katsuren — who attacked him in 1458, driving him to his death. His artistry survives in those castles' exquisite stonework.
Source:護佐丸 - Wikipedia
Hint: A site of state ritual in the kingdom era
Correct answerSefa-utaki
Sefa-utaki — the reading defeats first-time visitors — was the kingdom's holiest sanctuary, where the chief priestess Kikoe-Okimi was invested in the Oaraori rite. Known for the Sangui chamber formed by leaning megaliths, it is a component of the Ryukyu World Heritage listing.
Source:UNESCO World Heritage Centre「Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu」斎場御嶽 - Wikipedia
Hint: Immigrants from Fujian, China lived there
Correct answerKuninda
Kuninda was the Naha quarter of the 'thirty-six families of Min' who came from Fujian. Their skills in diplomatic writing, interpreting and navigation carried the kingdom's tribute trade, and with its Confucian temple the village served as Ryukyu's window on Chinese culture.
Hint: Described as a new species in 1981
Correct answerOkinawa rail
The Okinawa rail, a nearly flightless bird found only in Yambaru, was described as a new species as recently as 1981 and is a National Natural Monument. Predation by mongooses and cats and road deaths remain its chief threats, met by ongoing protection and traffic-safety efforts.
Hint: Discovered in 1965
Correct answerIriomote cat
The Iriomote cat lives on Iriomote Island alone, with an estimated population of about one hundred. Its 1965 discovery was hailed as a biological find of the century. A Special Natural Monument, it is guarded by night-driving limits and warning signs against road accidents.
Hint: Squares of five and four in the kasuri pattern
Correct answerMinsa (Minsa weaving)
Yaeyama minsa is a cotton sash woven with alternating five- and four-square kasuri motifs — a pledge that love last 'for five and four worlds,' given, so it is said, from woman to man. Indigo-grounded and ribbed in texture, it is a designated traditional craft.
Source:八重山ミンサー - KOGEI JAPAN
Hint: Cheese-like flavor
Correct answerTofuyo
Tofuyo is island tofu fermented for months in koji, red koji and awamori — a delicacy descended from Chinese fermented bean curd and refined at the Ryukyu court as both medicine and luxury. Dense as fine cheese, it is shaved off in slivers to accompany awamori.
Source:豆腐よう - Wikipedia
Hint: Okinawa consumes a lot of it
Correct answerKelp
In kubu irichi, 'kubu' means kelp and 'irichi' a stir-simmer: shredded kelp braised with pork, indispensable at celebrations. Okinawa grows no kelp of its own — that this dish took root at all is a legacy of the old trade routes that carried kelp south.
Source:クーブイリチー 沖縄県 - うちの郷土料理
Hint: Sometimes called a "graveside picnic" around tiered boxes
Correct answerShimi (Qingming festival)
Shiimii gathers an extended family at the ancestral tomb around the solar term of Qingming. Introduced from China and formalized by the royal government in 1768, it spread widely thereafter. Tiered boxes of food are offered, then shared on the spot — a bright spring day spent with the ancestors.
Source:清明祭（せいめいさい）
Hint: Said to represent a mother's womb
Correct answerTurtleback tomb
Turtleback tombs, their roofs rounded like a tortoise shell, are peculiar to Okinawa. The shape is said to figure the womb — the dead returning whence they came. Once reserved for the gentry, they spread to commoners after Meiji, and many are built large as clan tombs.
Source:亀甲墓 - Wikipedia
Hint: A national event commemorating reversion to mainland Japan
Correct answerOkinawa International Ocean Exposition
Ocean Expo Park is the national park laid out on the site of the 1975–76 International Ocean Exposition, held in Motobu to mark Okinawa's reversion. The old fairgrounds live on as a great seaside park of aquarium, gardens and beaches — the hub of northern sightseeing.
Correct answerThe currency used was the U.S. dollar / A passport was required to travel to mainland Japan / Cars drove on the right-hand side
Under U.S. administration Okinawans used B-yen scrip, then dollars from 1958, and needed passport-like travel papers to visit mainland Japan. Cars kept to the right until July 30, 1978 — six years after reversion — when the '730' switchover returned the roads to left-hand traffic overnight.
Correct answerOkinawa Island → Iriomote Island → Ishigaki Island → Miyako Island
By area: Okinawa Island (about 1,208 km²), then Iriomote (290), Ishigaki (222) and Miyako (159). The main island dwarfs the rest, while second place goes to lightly developed Iriomote — a reminder that in these islands, size and population tell different stories.
Source:島面積 - 国土地理院