As summer unfolds its humid embrace, finding respite from the relentless Okinawa heat becomes a necessity rather than a luxury. Beyond its radiant beaches and blue waters, there are a plethora of indoor activities in Okinawa to beat the heat.

Indoor Activities in Okinawa: Arts and Crafts

Bingata is Okinawa’s distinctive centuries-old dyeing technique. It is a form of stencil dyeing with bright colors on natural fabrics that feature flowers, fish, water, and other Okinawan nature motifs. There are a few indoor Bingata experiences on the island, but I highly recommend checking out Gusuku Bingata Dyeing Studio in Urasoe. They are fit for groups big or small, family friendly, and the staff are incredibly kind.

After you paint the fabric, you take it home to let it dry for 5-7 days. Then, you follow the take-home instructions to wash off the starch. Prices range depending on the type and size you choose, but I spent ¥3,500 for my “Merry Christmas” art. It was a super fun way to spend a couple hours learning the history of Bingata and making my own!

Ryukyu Glass Village in Itoman offers workshops from making your own original glass to painting shisa and decorating photo frames. Their most popular experience, Ryukyu glass workshop, is partially outdoors, but you get to make your own glass cup, so it’s worth enduring the heat! However, they also offer indoor crafts. You can make gel glass, necklaces or bracelets, photo frames, or paint a shisa. Another great option for a hot afternoon!

For more hands-on learning, pottery studios offer workshops with Okinawa clay. Yonabaru Satosi Pottery Studio is open daily and accommodates for ages 4 and up. Toushingama Pottery has classes for shisa making, tableware, and wheel-throwing. They also have a café (Yachimun Café Gunjo) where you can enjoy wood stove pizza.

Indoor Activities in Okinawa: Sight-Seeing

Churaumi Aquarium is one of Okinawa’s most famous tourist spots. You can observe the world’s largest fish, whale shark, and over 80 species of corals.

The Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Naha offers displays of nature, history, and culture of Okinawan life. The information exhibited at the Museum draws from its vast collection of materials and considers Okinawa’s distinctiveness from a wide range of disciplinary lenses, including geology, biology, anthropology, archaeology, history, folklore, and arts and crafts. The museum regularly holds events highlighting different aspects of its impressive collection. The Art Museum mainly features — but is not entirely limited to — modern and contemporary works of art nurtured by the distinctive aspects of Okinawa. In the Art Museum, you will see a wide range of media on display, including oil and watercolor paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and videos.

Indoor Activities in Okinawa: Arcades

My personal favorite way to spend a couple hours in the evening (and several hundred Yen) is at the arcades in American Village. GiGo has dozens of claw machines with the cutest plushy prizes and tons of arcade games to play. It’s adults only after 10pm, but before then, bring the kiddos! GiGo also has several different photobooths to try out.

Round 1 and Joy Jungle are other arcade options to check out.

Indoor Activities in Okinawa: Afternoon Tea

The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa and Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort offer afternoon tea throughout the year. Enjoy yummy teas and delicious bites in the air-conditioning. And it makes for the perfect excuse to get dressed up! The Ritz-Carlton is ¥6,000 and the Hilton is ¥3,800 (as of the date of this article). The Ritz-Carlton had a strawberry themed offering when I went, and it was delicious!

Misc. Indoor Activities in Okinawa

If you are in the mood to browse, there are plenty of malls and shopping centers to explore. Aeon Chatan, Aeon Rycom, Parco City Mall, and Ashibinaa Outlet Mall are just a few options (Click here to read all about shopping malls). There are lots of local shops to walk around in American Village, too.

Blue Seal Ice Cream is the perfect treat to cool off. With hundreds of locations throughout the island, you are sure to run into one wherever you go!

The Okinawa heat and humidity during the summer months shouldn’t mean not enjoying the island. While this is not an exhaustive list, I hope it helps you find fun indoor activities to enjoy!

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