Okinawa Buses

I am lucky enough to be able to go on an 8 week trip to Japan (my second time to the country) starting in January. Early in my trip I will be in Okinawa for 4 nights and I'm a bit nervous about taking the buses, as I love and am used to the simplicity and ease of using the train system in the rest of the country (especially with an IC card).

Can anyone with recent experience in Okinawa answer a few questions:

Are Naha-centric buses still a 220Y flat fee?

How exactly do the change machines work on the buses, e.g. if I put in a 500Y coin, what comes out?

I understand that bus stop names are in Japanese, but are they at least spoken on the bus so I can hear it and compare it to the romaji I may have written down?

On long distance buses, are only coins accepted, or are notes accepted also?

An finally, on long distance buses, do I place the ticket in the same place that I put the money for the fare at the end of the trip? Or only the money?

Thanks heaps in advance!

Have a look at this http://youtu.be/E99PYoGWFIk

I tried it myself, and without knowing Japanese, wasn't able to get where I needed. Iended up joining a tour the next day to see the sights. I would recommend a tour.

Where are you planning on going?

bus fare within Naha is now 230 yen flat fare.

on long distance buses, you put both the seiriken (paper with the zone number) and fare in the same box. Some drivers want you to show them the seiriken first. if the fare is over 1000 yen and you don't have coins, put the note into the changer then dump all of it into the farebox and add the additional amount.

The stop name is announced in japanese but the volume may sometimes be difficult to hear. At stops for tourist destinations their may be an additional english language announcement. on older buses only the stop name in kanji is displayed, on newer buses both kanji and romaji are displayed, sometimes also with a list of upcoming stops.

I found this site to be very helpful when planning my bus travel on my recent trip: http://www.kotsu-okinawa.org/en/index.html

Thanks for the detailed info, guest!

In terms of my plans in Okinawa. I will be staying in Naha next to Asahibashi Station, close to Monorail and Bus Terminal. My main attraction to see is the Aquarium. I will probably take the Yanbaru Express Bus as it is direct with no changing of buses (not looking forward to a 2hr bus ride though).

In terms of other attractions, Shuri Castle and the Prefectural Museum are on my list. Since they are close enough to the monorail stations, that will be fine. American village is just a 40 minute bus ride, so I will go there too.

I am also intending to see the Peace Memorial Park, and Former Navy Underground Headquarters.

I you have time, take the Yui Yui loop bus to Shuri castle as stops at other sightseeing destinations enroute. It runs every 30 mins so you can spend 25-55 mins (or more) at each destination of interest before moving on to the next. An all day pass is 660 yen.

http://en.nahama-i.jp/image/pdf/en_kr_map.pdf
http://en.nahama-i.jp/image/pdf/en_kr.pdf

Unless you're claustrophobic, you should as see Gyokusendo cave. It's pretty easy to get to, though the ride long and not particularly scenic. The attached Okinawa World is somewhat of a tourist trap though. There's also Gangala Valley next door (I did not visit).

http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/okinawa-world

http://www.gyokusendo.co.jp/okinawaworld/en/