Pauline Chardin’s Week of Bakeries and Beaches in Okinawa, Japan
The French creative director, photographer, and author of the new cookbook, "A Spoonful of Sun," shares her favorite spots from her trip to the Japanese island in our new series devoted to design-centric travel itineraries handpicked by those who know best.
The French creative director, photographer, and author of the new cookbook, "A Spoonful of Sun," shares her favorite spots from her trip to the Japanese island in our new series devoted to design-centric travel itineraries handpicked by those who know best.
Welcome to Beach Week, a celebration of the best place on earth.
Provence, France–based creative director and photographer Pauline Chardin had been to Japan several times before visiting the Okinawa Prefecture, a collection of more than 150 islands at the southernmost point of the Japanese archipelago. "People told us: If you ever go, don’t try to do mainland Japan and Okinawa," Chardin says. "There are several islands, so it’s a real destination in itself." In April 2018, Chardin and her husband, François Guillaume, traveled to Okinawa Island in search of a more laid-back version of a country they already knew they loved. For Chardin, whose recently released cookbook, A Spoonful of Sun, is devoted to exploring "where the Mediterranean diet meets design," much of the trip revolved around visiting local eateries and admiring traditional crafts. Here, Chardin shares some of her favorite spots from her trip, including a bakery housed in former U.S. military barracks and an Okinawan pottery village.
Day 1: Rent a car and head to your Airbnb
Naha, the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture, is located on the southeastern coast of the main island (above left). Chardin and Guillaume stayed in a quaint Airbnb surrounded by a sugarcane field near Okinawa’s southwestern coast (above right).
Photos by Pauline Chardin
"Unlike the rest of Japan, there isn’t a lot of public transport on Okinawa Island, so we rented a car with Nissan in Naha, the capital. Ahead of your trip, you have to get your driver’s license translated to Japanese so it’s valid there. Driving in Japan is one of my favorite things because the people drive really slowly; it’s a very relaxing experience.
We rented an Airbnb on the south coast of Okinawa Island near Nanjo (about 30 minutes from Naha) in an area that feels like the countryside. The house was built in a traditional Okinawa style but with a modern design eye. It’s a long, rectangular house with double sliding doors so you can open it up or put the bug screens down. The owners are quite cool; the wife is a photographer and the husband is a builder-architect."
Day 2: Shop for ceramics and taste vegan dishes in Naha, then soak at a nearby onsen
"Some parts of Okinawa feel like mainland Japan, but you also really see the difference," Chardin says. "The vegetation has more of a tropical look, with tree ferns, palm trees, and colorful flowers, and the sea has a turquoise tone that ranges from crystalline to deep blue. These hues can be found everywhere on the island—on building walls, ceramics, and signs."
Photo by Pauline Chardin
"Naha is pretty cool to hang around; it has plenty of shops and restaurants. There’s a nice ceramics shop called Miyagiya, as well as a clothing store called Kerouac. One thing about Okinawa Island that’s surprising and a bit different from mainland Japan is the abundance of vegetarian and vegan restaurants; there's a delicious vegan café in Naha called Mana. (There’s also one we loved near our Airbnb—a vegetarian restaurant in the countryside called Be Natural.)
Mana café (above left) and Miyagiya ceramics shop (above right) are among Chardin’s favorite spots to eat and shop in Naha.
Photos by Pauline Chardin
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