An artist’s rendition of Kokusai Street Yatai Mura scheduled to open Friday.

People love to eat food at Japanese style food stalls called “yatai” that are mostly present at various festivals that the island has almost every weekend, especially during the summer.

From tomorrow, people will have a place to go whenever they crave for a dose of the local snacks, as the Kokusai Street Yatai Mura will open permanently for business. The Yatai Mura is built on the site of the former Grand Orion movie theater at 3-11, Makishi, Naha City.

It will have 22 stores, of which 20 will serve food and drinks. The variety includes stalls selling sushi, yakiniku, yakitori, kushiage (deep-fried skewers), teppanyaki, hamburger, Okinawa soba, tempura, original local foods, goat meals, pork dishes, pizza and pasta, and a gelato shop. The shops are generally open from 11:00 to 23:00, although hours can vary from shop to shop. Prices also vary but meals are expected to come to an average of ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 per customer.

The food stalls can each seat about 6 to 8 customers. There’s also a music stage for live entertainment.

The Naha City Kokusai Street Shopping District Promotion Association, Makishi Urban Area Redevelopment Preparation Association and Kokuba-Gumi Co, Ltd. operate the Yatai Mura on a joint venture basis.

In addition to food stalls, a center on the food culture of Okinawa’s various islands called “Ritou Marche” has a shop in the facility that sells some 2,000 different souvenir items, and a tourist center are a part of the same facility.

Yatai-mura has an official Japanese language website at http://www.okinawa-yatai.jp/index.html

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