okinawa

What is the cheapest way to travel from kobe to okinawa?

The only way to travel to Okinawa is by air. The cheapest would be the Yokoso Welcome to Japan fare (if you are traveling to Japan internationally). Both JAL and ANA offer the fares.

JAL: http://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/

ANA: http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/travelservice/reservation...

If you are traveling from someplace other than the US, call your local (or nearest) JAL or ANA office.

More info can be found here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

If you don't have the airfare discount options, you can check the ferries There's one from Osaka to Naha.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html

If I'm not mistaken, that ferry was operated by A-Lines which went out of business last year.

There is a ferry that runs to Naha, Okinawa from Kagoshima. Here is the website:

http://www.marix-line.co.jp/

The Marix website is in Japanese, sorry. However, you can translate it online through a number of websites including Google toolbar.

If I'm not mistaken, that ferry was operated by A-Lines which went out of business last year.

I believe you are mistaken. A-Lines did not go out of business last year. That was Arimura Line, which operated on the Nagoya-Osaka-Okinawa-Taiwan route.

A-Line on the Osaka-Okinawa route is still operating:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355_01.html#f13

A-Line Ferry changed their name to MARUEFERI (Marue Ferry) in June of 2005. (The A-Line link is dead, by the way, on your ferry webpage.) So, technically, A-Line ferry does not exist (although the route is still there.)

But let's not bicker over trivia, although you may want to update the link and webpage.

A-Line is still A-Line and the link works at least on my browser:
http://www.aline-ferry.com/