{"id":244,"date":"2006-06-18T00:49:57","date_gmt":"2006-06-18T00:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/?p=244"},"modified":"2006-06-18T00:49:57","modified_gmt":"2006-06-18T00:49:57","slug":"heiwadori-public-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/travel\/naha-guide\/heiwadori-public-marketplace","title":{"rendered":"Heiwadori Public Marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Heiwa Dori (Peace Street) Machigwa (public marketplace)!
\nJust off of Kokusai Dori (International Street) exists a
\nsprawling shopping extravaganza.
<\/p>\n

machigwa<\/strong><\/font>
\npublic marketplace<\/font> <\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
\"images\/heiwa_tsukemono.JPG\"\/<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Welcome to the <\/strong>Heiwa Dori<\/em><\/strong> (Peace Street) <\/strong><\/font>
\n Machigwa<\/em><\/strong> (public marketplace)!<\/strong><\/font>
\n Just off of <\/font>Kokusai Dori<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a> <\/em>(International Street) exists a <\/font>
\n sprawling shopping extravaganza.<\/font> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\"images\/heiwa-fugu1.JPG\"\/
\nHeiwa Dori<\/strong><\/font> is a bustling indoor, shopping arcade where you will find tourists and Okinawan residents alike shopping for everything from souvenir <\/font>Shisa<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a> (lion) figurines to <\/font>dried sea snakes<\/strong><\/font><\/a>. <\/font><\/p>\n

P<\/strong><\/font>erhaps my fondest memories of Okinawa are of roaming the <\/font>endless small roads and alleyways<\/font> of Heiwa Dori. It is easy to get lost in the wonder of the countless shops and vendors selling their <\/font>unique wares<\/font>. Just about anything Okinawan can be found in Heiwa Dori. I would walk around aimlessly with <\/font>wide-eyed wonder<\/strong><\/font> at the unusual commodities that were on sale, wishing I could take this place back to Hawaii with me. <\/font> <\/p>\n

Among the items on my shopping list were: <\/font>konbu<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a> (seaweed), shitake <\/em>mushrooms, Okinawan herbal tea, okeiko gi<\/em> (practice kimono for Okinawan dance), Okinawan music CDs (Hidekatsu, Rinkin Band, Nenes, Ara Yukito, and traditional artists), yosudake<\/em> (bamboo castanets for Okinawan dance), Pokemon cards and shisa<\/em> figurines. <\/font> I found all of them, and more, at Heiwa Dori!<\/font> <\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"images\/heiwa-buta.JPG\"\/ <\/p>\n

Tsukemono <\/em>(pickled vegetables) of all varieties can be found here. Most of the vendors are more than happy to offer you a free sample!<\/font> <\/p>\n

\n

a little too<\/strong><\/font> <\/strong><\/font>e<\/strong><\/font>x<\/strong><\/font>o<\/strong><\/font>t<\/strong><\/font>i<\/strong><\/font>c <\/strong><\/font>for me!<\/strong><\/font> <\/p>\n

\"images\/heiwa-tebichi.JPG\"\/ <\/p>\n

Above you see a variety of fish, including the <\/font>Fugu<\/em><\/strong><\/font><\/a> <\/em>(blowfish) which is highly poisonous and can cause death if not prepared properly. Fugu<\/em> is a delicacy in Japan and Okinawa, but unless you highly specialized training and knowledge for product preparation, I wouldn’t suggest attempting to cook it in your own kitchen. Don’t try this at home, kids!<\/font> <\/p>\n

\n

\"images\/heiwa-soba.JPG\"\/ <\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

Your visit to Okinawa would not be complete without having a bowl of <\/font>Ashi Tebichi<\/em><\/strong><\/font> (pig’s feet) soup. <\/font> <\/p>\n

\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

After you go shopping for your uncooked Ashi Tebichi <\/em>or fresh fish, you can bring it upstairs to have one of the many restaurants cook it for you! If you prefer not to pick out your lunch from the Machigwa<\/em>, you can simply order a bowl of Okinawa Soba <\/em>(noodle soup in pork or beef-based broth with spareribs, green onions, ginger, and fishcake)!<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Heiwa Dori (Peace Street) Machigwa (public marketplace)! Just off of Kokusai Dori (International Street) exists a sprawling shopping extravaganza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-naha-guide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

There is never a loss for pork dishes in Okinawa and you’ll soon find that they are very resourceful in using almost every part of the pig. In this picture, you see in the package on the left is called <\/font>Mimiga<\/em><\/font> (pig ears) and to the right is <\/font>chiragaa<\/em><\/font> (pig’s head). Mimiga<\/em> is actually quite good when prepared in a peanut butter and miso <\/em>(soybean paste) <\/font>sauce<\/strong><\/font><\/a>, although I haven’t ventured as far as to try any dishes prepared with pig’s head. <\/font> <\/p>\n