2021.05.15
Visiting Ryukyu Shouten: Finding local Okinawa products while walking around Chatan
The Ryukyu Shouten market is now open at Mihama Depot Island area and they are excited to share their enthusiasm for local Okinawa products.
This local shop offers a great variety of locally sourced Okinawa items that have been carefully selected by the shop’s owner. Nobu Kaneshiro takes pride in choosing items that he believes each visitor to his shop will find unique and enjoyable.
The Ryukyu Shouten market offers a great selection of Okinawa seasoning and cooking products to choose from. Most displayed items have an English language description so it’s easy to understand exactly what you’re buying. For visitors that are interested in cooking Okinawa dishes, this is surely a great place to start.
If you need assistance, please ask for Mr. Kenjiro Emi. He is the shop manager and is happy to speak to you in English to answer your questions. Mr. Kenjiro enjoys talking to visitors that come to the shop and he’s a very interesting person. He is a member of the World Kite Championship team and loves to talk about Okinawa products as well as kite exhibitions and kite competitions.
This shop is very unique and special because they offer items that can’t be found at other shops. For example, one special item that is offered at this shop is Hateruma Jun Kokuto which translates to “Hateruma Island Pure Brown Sugar.”
Okinawa is famous for quality brown sugar but this brown sugar is from Hateruma Island and is processed with special care to produce the highest quality and the best flavor. They offer free samples of this pure brown sugar as well as 100% Okinawa produced fruit jams, fresh sea grapes, and peanut tofu. Please feel free to ask for a tasting sample if you would like to try something before you buy.
The shop also offers a prepackaged set of ingredients to make Okinawa soba at home! Each set contains noodles, soup base, pork, and a seasoning packet to prepare delicious soba to enjoy at home. This is very convenient and we hope you will try it! If you want to elevate your soba to the next level, you can also buy pork meat that has been carefully vacuum sealed for freshness to add to your soba.
Ryukyu Shouten market also sells many types of Okinawa teas with a variety of health benefits. It is believed that goya tea is good for reducing blood sugar, lemongrass tea is good for antibacterial benefits, and Shikuwasa tea is good for digestion. One specialty tea that is available and particularly interesting is Butterfly Pea Flower tea. This tea has recently grown in popularity because it changes color from blue to violet when lemon juice is added. It’s amazing to see and is a good conversation starter!
The most recommended item for the upcoming summer season are the 100% fresh Okinawa fruit smoothies. You can choose either fresh pineapple or fresh mango and the smoothies are made to order. A fresh Okinawa smoothie can cool you down on a hot summer day and also give your body good vitamins and energy.
During this special time of year you can also purchase fresh pineapple and fresh mangoes at the store. It is currently harvest time and they are offering fresh green mangoes for sale. These are very popular during this peak season so please visit the shop and buy this delicious fresh fruit as soon as possible.
First come first serve, so don’t miss it!
And finally for the many people that love chicken, this shop offers their famous Sanpei Fried Chicken Skin. This chicken skin has won the golden award at the Japanese fried chicken Grand Prix an impressive total of seven times!
This delicious and crunchy fried chicken skin is made fresh daily and always sells out quickly so please buy this if you get the chance and you will become addicted! While you’re there you should also consider buying a hot and fresh Yakiimo also known as the Okinawa sweet potato. They are delicious and made fresh daily.
Let’s all visit this shop and offer our support of local Okinawa products.
Ryukyu Shouten hopes to build a bridge between their shop on Okinawa and all of the visitors wherever they are from.
Open: Weekdays 11:00~20:00 Weekends and Holidays 10:00~21:00
Address: Depot Central Bldg. 1F 34-3 Mihama Chatan (Depot island area)
Tel: 098-989-5898
Major Credit Cards available
Instagram: @ryukyushoten
FB: @ryukyusyouten