JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: Morning at the Market.

Morning at the Market.

By Keith Graff

21 Sep 2008

If you've taken the time to read my article on our visit to the Kimono shop in Naha, then you remember that we were just trying to get some photos but needed to get out of the weather. We started the day by getting some shots at the local meat and fish market. Even on a rainy day, the place was hopping with activity.

We no sooner got in the door than an ojii-san trying to sell onions accosted my with what I thought was a free sample. Ten minutes and a thousand Yen later (about $10) I was free of him and roaming about the market with my camera at the ready. My friend Mike had already found some interesting stuff and was busy snapping away at the shutter.

We started on the meat market side of the house. One thing you have to know about Okinawa is they eat a lot of pork. I mean a lot of it! If there is a part of a pig that you think isn't edible, guess again, come to Okinawa and you'll probably find someone who has a recipe for it.

After roaming around that half of the market, we shifted gears and moved two isles over to the fish market side of the house. Here they sell all kinds of fish. If it lives in the ocean, you'll probably find it on sale here too. Exceptions to that rule might include whale meat, dolphin (as in Flipper) and Dugong or sea cow. There are places in Okinawa where you can find those three but I'm not telling.

The meat and fish market area covers roughly one city block in the downtown Naha Ichiba. Ichiba simply means market. The whole marketplace covers many city blocks and you can find just about anything you could imagine here. But the really neat thing about the meat and fish market is, if you're hungry, just take the escalator upstairs. Here you'll find the shokudo or kitchen area. This is where many of the people who live and work in the market take their lunch. Buy something downstairs, just take it upstairs and you'll find a vendor up their waiting for you. They'll gladly (for a small fee of course) cook it just how you like it and serve it to you and your friends.