Kouri Bridge stretching across turquoise water to Kouri Island

Island Stations #07

Sorahashi,
the sky bridge

Drive 1,960 meters across turquoise water and it's right there on your left — eight kitchens, a fishing co-op counter, and showers for after the beach.

Kouri Island, NakijinOpened 20229:00–19:00Free bridge, free parking

Kouri soba set ¥1,400island mozuku · stewed pork · tempura

See the food

In short

three things worth knowing before you cross

At the foot of the bridge

Cross the 1,960 m Kouri Bridge — free, and the most photographed drive in Okinawa — and Sorahashi is immediately on your left, beside the beach.

Eight kitchens under one roof

Okinawa soba, seafood bowls from the fishing co-op, soy-milk hot dogs, shaved ice, gelato, sata andagi. Roughly 100 seats, all of them walk-up.

A beach base, not just a shop

Showers, changing rooms, a foot-wash and toilets — plus SUP and snorkeling bookings and bike rental. You can swim first and eat after.

Kouri is the island Okinawans call Kui-jima, the island of love — where the local Adam-and-Eve story is set. Sorahashi is what waits at the end of the bridge: a landing pad with lunch, showers and somewhere to put the car.

The food court

Eight kitchens,
one counter each

Sorahashi opened in 2022 and runs like a small food hall rather than a shop with a canteen. Each tenant keeps its own hours and its own day off, so on a quiet weekday not everything will be open — but the soba shop and the market almost always are.

Okinawa Shokudo Sorahashi

¥1,400

Kouri soba + jūshī rice + mozuku tempura set · local seaweed, stewed pork belly

Nakijin tomato soba

¥1,100The house original — Nakijin tomatoes and mozzarella in Okinawa soba. Odd on paper, very good in the bowl.

Kouri Island blue curry

¥1,380Yes, blue. Also on the menu: agu pork and Nakijin tomato keema at ¥1,780.

Gōyā chanpurū

¥700The cheapest way onto the menu, and the most Okinawan.

Uminchu SeaFood

Co-op runOperated directly by the Nakijin fishing cooperative — garlic shrimp, poke bowls, mozuku ramen. Closed Mondays.

Shima-no-Kakurega

Soy milkSoy-milk hot dogs and smoothies. Closed Tuesdays.

Chura Ten-ten

Sata andagiFried doughnuts and jūshī rice, 9:00–17:00. Closed Thursdays.

Oppa Nyugyo

GelatoSoft serve and gelato from the dairy up the coast, 9:00–18:00, no closing day.

! Looking for the famous sea urchin bowl? That's Shirasa Shokudo, a separate restaurant elsewhere on Kouri — not Sorahashi. Their uni bowl set runs about ¥2,500 in season, and it's worth knowing the difference before you arrive hungry.

Why the island matters

The island
of love

Kouri is called Kui-jima, the island of love, and it carries Okinawa's own creation story. A boy and a girl lived here on rice cakes that fell from the sky. When the cakes stopped falling they learned to farm — and after watching dugongs mate, they understood they were different from each other and covered themselves with kuba leaves. A monument marks the spot as the birthplace of humankind.

The island is only about 2 km across and 8 km around, which is why the bike rental at Sorahashi makes sense: you can ride the whole thing in a morning.

Heart Rock at Tinu Beach on Kouri Island — Heart Rock at Tinu Beach, on the island's north shore.

Chigunu Beach on Kouri Island, where the creation legend is set — Chigunu Beach — where the story is set.

The view over Kouri Bridge from the south-end viewpoint — The south-end viewpoint, for the whole-bridge photo.

1,960 m

The bridge itself is free

Kouri Bridge opened in 2005 and was, at the time, the longest toll-free bridge to a remote island in Japan. There's no charge to cross, no charge to park at Sorahashi, and no admission anywhere on this list — rare in a part of Okinawa where most attractions charge.

The station's name says it plainly: sora is sky, hashi is bridge. Drive it once and you'll understand the choice.

Swim first, then eat

Kouri Beach is directly in front of the station, and Sorahashi has what a beach day needs: showers, changing rooms, a foot-wash and toilets, plus a marine-sports desk taking bookings for SUP, snorkeling and banana boats, and beach yoga.

Cards work here too — Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners, Discover, transport IC cards, WeChat Pay, QUICPay and iD — which is not something you can assume at a farm shop in Okinawa.

Getting there —
rent the car

By car

About 1 hour 30 minutes from Naha Airport: expressway north to Kyoda IC, Route 58 north, then across Yagaji Island and over Kouri Bridge. The station is immediately on your left.

Free parking, over 100 spaces across two lots. The first fills up fast in summer — the second, behind, is much bigger and almost always has room.

By bus — technically possible

Take the Yanbaru Express Bus airport line from Naha, change to the Sanshima line at Nakijin Castle Entrance, and get off at Kouri Island Station Sorahashi.

The catch: the Sanshima line runs a handful of services a day rather than hourly, so check the current timetable before you build a day around it.

323-1 Kouri, Nakijin
Okinawa 905-0406

9:00–19:00 · open year-round (typhoon closures) · free parking, 100+ spaces

Open in Google Maps →

Need a taxi? Here's how it works in Okinawa

You're on a small island at the end of a bridge — the least convenient place in Okinawa to be without transport. Three ways to get a taxi that work:

Use an app. GO — Japan's main taxi app — works in Okinawa with an English interface. DiDi and Uber cover parts of the island. Install before your trip.

Dial with +81. From a foreign phone, replace the leading 0: 0980-XX-XXXX → +81 980-XX-XXXX. Wi-Fi calling works too.

Ask the staff — show them this:

タクシーを呼んでください

Takushī o yonde kudasai

Nearest stations from here

Kouri is the far end of the northern run. Coming back down, the stations line up neatly along the route home.

See the whole series →

4.5 km · ~10 minRikarika Warumi, Nakijin — A drive-in at the foot of Warumi Bridge, on the way to Kouri.

7.4 km · ~15 minNakijin no Eki So-re, Nakijin — A farm market run by the village women who founded it.

13 km · ~20 minHaneji-no-Eki, Nago — Local chicken and eggs, and a free view over the inland sea.

14 km · ~25 minMichi-no-Eki Ogimi, Ogimi — A forest visitor center in the village of longevity.

Practical information

Address323-1 Kouri, Nakijin Village, Kunigami District, Okinawa 905-0406

Phone0980-56-2128 (from abroad: +81 980-56-2128)

Hours9:00–19:00 overall; individual kitchens vary (the restaurant takes last orders at 17:00, later in summer)

ClosedOpen year-round — but closes for typhoons and high winds, which happen several times a summer

ParkingFree — 31 standard + 5 large in the first lot, 75 standard + 8 large in the second

PaymentCash plus Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners, Discover, transport IC, WeChat Pay, QUICPay, iD

FacilitiesShowers, changing rooms, foot-wash, toilets, bike rental, marine-sports desk, tourist information

AccessibilityWheelchair loan, accessible toilet and parking, assistance dogs welcome, hot water for baby formula

NoteNot a nationally registered michi-no-eki — it's a privately run island station, opened March 2022

Questions, answered

Is Sorahashi a michi-no-eki?+

No. Okinawa has ten nationally registered roadside stations and this isn't one of them — it's a privately run 'island station', opened in March 2022. In practice it does the same job: parking, toilets, food and information, all free to enter.

Does Sorahashi serve the famous sea urchin bowl?+

We couldn't confirm that it does. Kouri's well-known uni bowl is at Shirasa Shokudo, a separate restaurant on the island, at around ¥2,500 for the set. Sorahashi's own seafood counter is run by the Nakijin fishing co-op and does poke bowls, garlic shrimp and mozuku ramen.

Is there an observation deck?+

Not at Sorahashi — despite what some listings say, we couldn't verify one. Kouri Ocean Tower, a separate paid attraction, sits 82 m above sea level — the tower itself is much shorter than that figure suggests. For bridge views, use the south-end viewpoint on the Nago side.

Can I get there without a car?+

Barely. The Yanbaru Express Bus reaches the island via a change onto the Sanshima line, but services are spaced out across the day rather than hourly. Check the timetable first; a rental car is the simpler answer.

Sources

Sorahashi official site for tenants, hours, parking and menu prices, checked August 2026 · Uminchu SeaFood (Nakijin fishing co-op) · Koi-no-Shima tourist information and Okinawa Story listings · 古宇利島の駅ソラハシ（おきなわLovers 日本語版）. We dropped the "observation deck" and "motorbike rental" mentioned in our Japanese article: neither could be verified against the operator.

Every station

nearest first, from where you are now

Rikarika WarumiNakijin · 4.5 km Nakijin no Eki So-reNakijin · 7.4 km Haneji-no-EkiNago · 13 km Michi-no-Eki OgimiOgimi · 14 km Michi-no-Eki Yui-Yui KunigamiKunigami · 22 km Wansaka Oura ParkNago · 23 km Michi-no-Eki Sunrise HigashiHigashi · 23 km Michi-no-Eki KyodaNago · 28 km Yanbaru Pineapple HillKunigami · 30 km Michi-no-Eki GinozaGinoza · 34 km Onna-no-Eki NakayukuiOnna · 49 km Uru MarcheUruma · 55 km Umi-no-Eki AyahashikanUruma · 56 km Michi-no-Eki Kina BanjoYomitan · 58 km Michi-no-Eki KadenaKadena · 62 km Happy More IchibaGinowan · 72 km Michi-no-Eki ToyosakiTomigusuku · 94 km Minami-no-Eki YaeseYaese · 97 km Michi-no-Eki ItomanItoman · 98 km

Sorahashi,the sky bridge