Is Okinawa too far and different from Japan?

Hello, so basically i have been trying somehow to find a way to live in Japan, mainly through studying something there (not language school) but the only sure opportunity that i found was in Okinawa. But from what i have seen from what other people say, such as posts in this website and in images on the internet, it feels like Okinawa is like a different country altogether, too far away in the ocean and does not feel like Japan at all for the average person who goes to Japan for the obvious reasons. For example are there any anime or manga stores there and such, not that i need to visit them personally since anime and manga can be accessed from anywhere but if there are then at least it makes it more identical with mainland Japan instead of feeling like you have been banned in an island away from the actual country. In general does Okinawa not feel like Japan at all, such being in Hokkaido or Kyoto?

People in Okinawa like manga and anime too. It's not Hawaii. It feels different from somewhere like Tokyo or Osaka, but it's still very much Japan. You're going to have to be more specific on what differences you are anticipating besides a lack of anime-related stores.

Also there are plenty of study opportunities on the mainland. Far more than Okinawa. Unless you're limiting yourself to a certain field of study only available in Okinawa? Again, more specifics please.

This sounds like a repeat of a post from a few months back, but I couldn't locate the correct thread.

Anyway, you're giving Okinawa a hard time unnecessarily, maybe because it is not near the four largest islands, but that doesn't mean that it is not part of Japan. Although it is only a recent addition (1879), it is still part of the country. While many areas have a different feel to them due to local culture/customs, you should not expect the entire nation to all be identical to (say) Tokyo or Kyoto (it's not).

It sounds like you've already made up your mind. Regardless of what people say here, I think that if you were to go to Okinawa your view would be clouded by these opinions you have formed without even visiting it, and you will always be resentful of the choice. You should go with an open mind, not pre-formed ideas you've gotten from the internet.

Also, you shouldn't take this opportunity just to get to Japan. You need to make sure you really want to be there, or studying what you would study there; not do it just because you'll be in Japan.

I was thinking the same as well about this being a repeat thread JCT.

As mentioned earlier - Japan is a lot more than people dressed in cosplay walking around temples in Kyoto. Living on islands plays an important part in Japanese history and even in the culture.

I'd even say that Okinawa island feels more Japanese than say Hokkaido which has little evidence of history before 1850 (apart from the Ainu which is difficult to find now). Do note that Okinawa Island and the outlying islands are very different. The outlying islands are some of the most interesting in Japan - but would be difficult to live on due to the heat and in some cases remoteness.

�u from what i have seen from what other people say, such as posts in this website and in images on the internet, it feels like Okinawa is like a different country altogether, too far away in the ocean and does not feel like Japan at all for the average person who goes to Japan for the obvious reasons. �v

Okinawa feels more like Japan than any foreign country. Yes, it has it's own unique Ryukyu culture and traditions, but those are blended with Japanese ones in modern life, so it won't feel like "a different culture altogether" from the rest of Japan.

If you've ever been to Hawaii, that will probably provide a good frame of reference. Please understand that I am NOT saying "being in Okinawa feels like being in Hawaii," though. What I mean is that the difference between Okinawa and the rest of Japan feels sort of like the difference between Hawaii and the rest of the U.S. Okinawa definitely feels like Japan, but it also feels a little different from most other parts of the country.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by �uthe average person who goes to Japan for the obvious reasons�v, but since you segue from that into asking about "anime and and manga stores" and such, I'm guessing Japanese pop/otaku culture is a big interest of yours, and a large motivator in your desire to live in Japan. Okinawa may or may not have what you're looking for. Yes, there are stores where you can buy anime and manga, but if you're looking for block after block filled with specialty stores with merchandise for niche/older titles, like you'd find in Tokyo's Akihabara, Osaka's Denden Town, or Nagoya's Osu, you probably won't find an equivalent in Okinawa. And with Okinawa having a smaller, and less centralized, population than Japan's major mainland cities, the otaku community is also smaller, so if you're hoping to spend every weekend going to otaku events like Comiket, Wonder Fes, impromptu cosplay meetups, and limited-time anime-themed cafes, it's going to be harder than in more urban/populated parts of Japan, since those are where those events tend to be clustered.

�uIn general does Okinawa not feel like Japan at all, such being in Hokkaido or Kyoto?�v

While Kyoto is many ways feels stereotypically Japanese (lots of Shinto shrines, traditional Japanese arts, kimono shops, etc.), most people who live in Japan would probably say that after Okinawa, Hokkaido feels the least like mainland Japan. Like Okinawa, Hokkaido has a unique indigenous culture that influences local language and cuisine. It's weather is also different from the rest of Japan, communities are much more reliant on cars, and its major cities are far newer than in the rest of the country.

If you'll excuse me for possibly sounding like I'm trying to quash your dreams, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment by being overly specific/picky about too many things at once regarding living in Japan.
1. You want to go as a student
2. You don't want to go to a language school
3. You don't want to live somewhere that feels different from the mainstream image of Japan
4. You want access to anime/manga shops (and possibly events)

None of those are bad, or even deal-breakers on their own. Trying to check all those boxes, though, is probably going to make things hard for you. Again, if you'll pardon me for being presumptuous, the fact that you're not personally knowledgeable about the local culture/lifestyle of Okinawa and Hokkaido vs. the rest of Japan makes me think that you might not have spoken with that many Japanese people, and thus that your Japanese language proficiency isn't very high yet. If that's the case, wanting to go to Japan as a student, but not to study Japanese, is going to severely limit your options, since you're basically looking for programs that are teaching other subjects in English, which is a pretty small subset. Expanding your search to language schools, or study abroad programs at universities that cover both language and other subjects (like the ones offered by Waseda, Sophia University, etc.) would probably make it much easier to find a way to live in a city that will offer you the lifestyle you want in Japan.

While I think there's a chance you're selling Okinawa a bit short, moving overseas is a very big decision. If from what you've researched about Okinawa you're not feeling very enthusiastic about living there, it might be best to go with your gut feeling and look for another way to move to Japan.

Actually, not even many locals realize that Japan is an extremely diverse country. Even within the prefecture of Tokyo, there are vast wilderness where you wouldn't even spot a convenience store. And the majority of the people, including the youth, in Tokyo have never visited anime/manga shops.

If you want to experience life Tokyo, you have to live in Tokyo or a commutable area. If you want to experience Osaka, same thing. You can't live in Glasgow and expect London. You can't live in Dallas and expect New York. But Glasgow is the UK, and Dallas is the US, and Okinawa (whether you're going to live in Naha, Miyako or the tip of Haterumajima) is still Japan in its own way.

@Mfedley - just on Hokkaido, it would probably surprise most people to know that other than a tiny local population, the vast majority of the five million people that live there have moved there and only lived there in the last 100 years - they are essentially immigrants and foreigners. Before the late 1800's it was more an administered district (I can use different terms), but it's inclusion and integration into Japan is quite recent.

for the average person who goes to Japan for the obvious reasons.
Having shown hundreds of people around the country over the years, in my case the "average" person likes to experience the food, history, scenery and culture. Architecture and temples/shrines/castles also feature. Those are the obvious reasons.
A small minority want to see cos-play/anime or things associated with idol-groups or a cat-cafe.

@JapanCustomTours That is not really true, virtually everywhere when Japan is mentioned outside the country the central theme is always anime and manga, this has always been the foundation that made Japan unique and popular in comparison to other places and it has been rising, the driving factor behind people wanting to experience secondary things such as food, history, scenery and culture has always been through the influence of anime which is actually the root of all these, especially when it comes to the architecture of temples, shrines and castles that are very common in the yokai and ayakashi genre. Although now anime has become a very large and global medium that has expanded outside of Asia and into the rest of the world with many aspects, but the origin has still been in Japan.

Without anime and manga websites like this one would not even be necessary at all, the people who come here have anime as the first thought regardless of the age or occupation and this is completely normal as anime has everything for everyone, saying that only a minority goes there for that is ridiculous, it would actually be surprising if even a few people went to Japan without having anime as the primary influence since that is almost impossible. This does not mean that everyone who goes there has to physically visit anime related places since there is not enough room for all of the people anyway, with the internet and other means you can now access anime and manga content wherever you are, but the main reason and primary motivating force behind wanting to go to Japan has always been because of anime.

For the original post, the city Naha in Okinawa is pretty large and it feels similar to a lot of other cities in Japan, it also has this metro that travels from above, there are some anime and manga related shops there as well such as Ani-Mall and anImate, one of them called Manga Shouko is pretty large and has a lot of content as well.

@Guest, you are completely wrong. I am a Western tourist who has visited Japan five times in six years, and my influence has not once been anime or manga. Shocking though it may be, people can actually discover the food and culture independently of pop culture!

An American friend who visited Japan last year didn't even know what the word "manga" meant.

If by having an anime store makes it identical to Japan, as you say, then China, Hong Kong, Thailand South Korea and Taiwan are identical to Japan. Okinawa is a bit different, but it is Japan.

<q>For example are there any anime or manga stores there and such, not that i need to visit them personally since anime and manga can be accessed from anywhere but if there are then at least it makes it more identical with mainland Japan instead of feeling like you have been banned in an island away from the actual country.</q>

Yes, there are. Not as many as in Tokyo or Osaka but it's natural considering its population.
https://www.goyah.net/okinawa_otaku/figure/

@Guest, anime might be YOUR main reason for wanting to go to Japan or having interest in Japan , but from there to state that if even a few people went to Japan without having anime as the primary influence since that is almost impossible. is a FAR way.

I have yet to read any manga or watch a single anime. Actually I have no idea what the difference between manga and comic is. Apart from country of origin. I am not proud of my ignorance but it simply doesn�ft interest me. There are many other things that I have no interest in at all. And other people are interested in them. If we�fd all be interested in the same, this world would be a boring place. And I don�ft pretend that everyone else is interested in what I am interested in (cycling, traveling...)

I have lived in Japan 3 years, speak and read Japanese reasonably well, work in a Japanese company, go to Japan normally for about 4-5 months a year and have traveled more than many. But still no interest in manga/anime.

Haha, I would bet that most tourists above, let's say, 45 year old, are not interested in anime/manga at all.
My parents/uncles/etc who went to Japan definitely did NOT go to Tokyo to visit anime shops :)

As for "Is Okinawa too far and different from Japan?"... I have never been to Okinawa myself (not interested in beaches, or sea, at all), but from the pictures, Naha looks pretty much like an average Japanese town... The major chains, CoCo ICHIBANYA, Yoshinoya, Big Echo karaoke, etc... are there.
Google street view can help too? I would be more worried about not understanding their accent :p

But since you are planning to stay there several months, or years, maybe you should at least visit it once before actually moving.

Yeah I doubt I knew what anime and manga were the first time I visited. I knew about the existence of things like Pokemon and Gundam, but didn't know anything beyond that. Definitely had nothing to do with my main motivations for visiting and nothing to do with the motivations of a lot of other people I know. In fact I don't think I know anyone who has ever visited Japan as a tourist who has anything more than a passing interest in anime. Also I'm in my early to mid-30s, so not an old lady.

Something that i would like to add on Guest's comment after seeing this thread, if it was not for Anime and Manga, not only would Japan have a completely different impression throughout the rest of the world but the entire world would be radically different in a lot of ways if it was not for anime, most likely to the worse. Some people greatly underestimate the major impact and changes that anime has influenced the world whether it is in art, religion, literature, technology, merchandise and practically every good aspect of mankind. Anime has basically presented the world with the most perfect, beautiful and emotional aesthetics in existense, rather than saying anime was created, it is more wise to say that it was a divine aspect of the essence of God, linked with the redeemed creation, waiting to be discovered at the anointed period and now that it has been an essential part of mankind it has improved many aspects for the better, and also gives potential hope and revelation of how the pure spiritual world should look like in the afterlife whether in Heaven or Hell, since anime makes everything looking with the highest perfection.

So to answer the thread's question, since the poster does not need to visit the anime places personally then Okinawa will not be much different than the other places in Japan although it does have anime places as well, in Naha it will rarely feel like an island in the first place, it is a very vast place.

@Guest - sooooo wrong and misguided.