Celebrating Okinawa's capital city

Today, and July 8th annually, is Naha Day なはの日 in Japan. Naha is the capital city of Okinawa. And because July 8th, 7/8, can be read as "Na (7) ha (8)" it was chosen as the date for this observance.

Reportedly, it started out as an unofficial anniversary, created by a  listener group of the popular local Rado Okinawa program "I like Naha". Naha City itself later adopted and expanded the observance, officially implementing it from 2001 onwards. 

At its heart, Naha Day encourages residents to join together and nurture a spirit of unity while supporting grassroots town building efforts. The city organizes cleanup activities and civic events to that end. Moreover, cultural sites open their gates free of charge inviting people to reconnect with the city's Ryukyuan heritage.

I stayed in Naha City almost 25 years ago to the day! It was before I had a digital camera and I only had a garakei, so I don't have any photos stored online to share. I just missed the Naha Day celebrations by a day unfortunately. But Naha City, and Okinawa in general, are worth visiting anytime of the year.