The red-tiled building of Wansaka Oura Park with three shisa on the roof and outdoor terrace seating

Farm Markets #17

Wansaka,
ten villages deep

Ten hamlets on the quiet east coast put in ¥900,000 each and built their own shop. The mangroves out back are a designated natural monument.

Nago, east coastOpened 2011Renewed 2024Fact-checked Aug 2026

Mangrove boardwalk ¥400adults · ¥200 primary school · under 6 free

The mangroves

In short

three things to know before you take the boardwalk

Owned by the villages themselves

Ten hamlets north of Futami each put in ¥900,000 to start this. Most of the vegetables come from the growers' own back gardens — buying here goes straight back to the community.

Mangroves you can walk into

The Oura River mangrove was designated a Nago City natural monument in 1995. A boardwalk runs through it for ¥400, or you can paddle it by kayak.

Sunrise over the water

East coast means the sun comes up over the water. That's why the sunrise sea-kayak trip exists here and nowhere on the resort side.

Ataigwa is the Okinawan word for the small vegetable patch beside a house. That is literally where a lot of this shop's stock comes from — and it is also what they named the kitchen. Nothing about this place is designed for tourists, which is exactly the appeal.

The Oura River

Walk it, or
paddle it

The mangrove behind the park is among the largest on Okinawa's main island and has been a designated city natural monument since 1995. The boardwalk is the easy version; the kayak is the good one.

Mangrove Road, unguided

¥400

¥200 for primary school, free under 6 · fees maintain the boardwalk and the forest

Mangrove kayak

¥8,800About two hours, drone photography included. ¥4,950 for ages 3 to primary school.

Sunrise sea kayak

¥13,200About 90 minutes on Oura Bay as the sun comes up. The east coast's own trip.

Guided boardwalk

¥5,500Two hours with a guide, minimum two people, book by 17:00 the day before.

Practicalities: no food, drink or pets on the boardwalk, and no toilets or vending machines once you're on it — go before you start. Opening hours for the trail differ between the park's own pages, so check on the day; last entry is an hour before closing.

! Why the water here is unusual. Surveys of Oura Bay have recorded over 5,000 marine species, including several hundred kinds of coral and seagrass beds that dugong feed on. Subtropical forest, river mangrove, natural shoreline, reef and seagrass all meet within a few kilometers — a continuity that's rare anywhere in Japan.

Ataigwa Kitchen · added 2024

Cooked from the back gardens

The 2024 refit added a restaurant and a big playground. The kitchen cooks Okinawan home food from whatever the village patches produced that week — the daily plate is ¥1,400, the miso-soup set ¥1,000, and Okinawa soba runs from ¥650 for a plain bowl to ¥950 for the house special.

For children there's a ¥650 plate and a ¥650 pumpkin keema curry. Weekday service 11:00–14:30, weekends to 15:00.

Off the shelves

Over a hundred kinds of vegetable and forty kinds of fruit across the year, plus the heirloom Futami aka-karashina mustard greens and agu pork.

Own-brand goods worth the shelf space: andansu oil miso, a chilli-sesame stir-fry of the local mustard greens with agu pork, pumpkin curry bread, custard pudding made with Yagaji eggs, shikuwasa cheesecake, and a shikuwasa andagi doughnut made with the peel of local fruit.

There's craft too — bingata dyeing, plaster shisa, and bamboo and gettō basketry from a local heritage group.

The playground

Slides and trampolines shaped after mangrove creatures — and the design was chosen by a vote among local nursery and primary school children.

Showers and lockers

Hot showers, changing rooms and lockable storage, because half the visitors here have just come off the water.

E-Cafe

A beef specialist added in September 2024, open 11:00–19:00 — later than anything else on site. Closed Wednesdays.

Getting there —
90 minutes, total

By car

About 90 minutes from Naha Airport — expressway from Naha IC to Ginoza IC, then across to the east coast. On ordinary roads (Route 329) it's about 150 minutes.

From Nago city hall it's about 20 minutes on Prefectural Route 18. Free parking: 46 cars, 3 coaches, 2 priority bays.

By bus — with a taxi at the end

Highway bus 111 to Ginoza IC, then route 77, getting off at Futami Iriguchi. Services are sparse and it's a further hop to the park — the operator suggests a taxi from the stop.

Note: the airport shuttle to Kanucha Resort passes nearby, but tickets are not sold here and cash isn't accepted on board — buy online in advance. Kanucha itself is about 10 minutes away by car.

465-7 Aza Oura, Nago
Okinawa 905-2267

Shop 10:00–17:00 weekdays, from 9:00 weekends · closed 2nd & 4th Wednesdays · free parking

Open in Google Maps →

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

The east coast of Nago is thinly served, and the operator itself suggests calling a taxi from the bus stop. Three ways to do it:

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

Oura is on the east coast north of Nago, where the road goes quiet. The nearest stations are all a drive away — this is a destination rather than a stop.

See the whole series →

11 km · ~20 minMichi-no-Eki Kyoda, Nago — Okinawa's first station, and discount attraction tickets from 8:30.

11 km · ~20 minMichi-no-Eki Ginoza, Ginoza — A free water playground and climbing frames on the east coast.

13 km · ~25 minHaneji-no-Eki, Nago — Local chicken and eggs, and a free view over the inland sea.

14 km · ~25 minMichi-no-Eki Sunrise Higashi, Higashi — Sunrise, pineapples and mangrove country on the east coast.

Practical information

Address465-7 Aza Oura, Nago, Okinawa 905-2267

Phone0980-51-9446 (from abroad: +81 980-51-9446), 9:00–18:00

Shop & parlour10:00–17:00 weekdays; 9:00–17:00 weekends and holidays

Ataigwa Kitchen11:00–14:30 weekdays; 11:00–15:00 weekends (last orders 30 min before)

E-Cafe11:00–19:00, closed Wednesdays

ClosedSecond and fourth Wednesday of the month

ParkingFree — 46 cars, 3 coaches, 2 priority bays

Mangrove Road¥400 adults, ¥200 primary school, free under 6. Hours differ between the park's pages — check on arrival; last entry an hour before closing.

TypeNot a nationally registered michi-no-eki. Officially the Nago City Futami-and-North community hub, run by Wansaka Co., the company the ten hamlets formed.

Officialwansaka-o.jp · kayak.wansaka-o.jp

Questions, answered

Is Wansaka Oura Park a michi-no-eki?+

No. It's a community-run farm stand — officially a Nago City community hub facility — operated by a company the ten local hamlets formed, each contributing ¥900,000. It calls itself a seaside farm stand, not a roadside station.

What day is it closed?+

The second and fourth Wednesday of each month. E-Cafe closes every Wednesday. Some listings say Tuesdays — that's wrong.

What does the mangrove boardwalk cost?+

¥400 for adults, ¥200 for primary-school children, free under six. Guided walks are ¥5,500 for about two hours, minimum two people, booked by 17:00 the previous day. Kayak trips run from ¥8,800.

Can I get there by bus?+

With difficulty. Highway bus 111 to Ginoza IC, then route 77 to Futami Iriguchi — and the operator recommends taking a taxi from there. A rental car is much simpler.

Sources

Wansaka Oura Park official site and its kayak site for hours, prices, menu and the founding structure, checked August 2026 · Ryukyu Shimpo on the 2024 refit · Nago City Tourism Association · WWF Japan and Okinawa Prefecture publications for the Oura Bay species surveys · わんさか大浦パーク（おきなわLovers 日本語版）. We corrected the closing day, the weekend hours, the driving time and the bus route number, and removed the claim that shuttle tickets are sold here.

Every station

nearest first, from where you are now

Michi-no-Eki KyodaNago · 11 km Michi-no-Eki GinozaGinoza · 11 km Haneji-no-EkiNago · 13 km Michi-no-Eki Sunrise HigashiHigashi · 14 km Nakijin no Eki So-reNakijin · 18 km Rikarika WarumiNakijin · 19 km Kouri SorahashiKouri · 23 km Michi-no-Eki OgimiOgimi · 24 km Michi-no-Eki Yui-Yui KunigamiKunigami · 34 km Umi-no-Eki AyahashikanUruma · 34 km Onna-no-Eki NakayukuiOnna · 36 km Uru MarcheUruma · 36 km Yanbaru Pineapple HillKunigami · 37 km Michi-no-Eki Kina BanjoYomitan · 46 km Michi-no-Eki KadenaKadena · 47 km Happy More IchibaGinowan · 55 km Michi-no-Eki ToyosakiTomigusuku · 78 km Minami-no-Eki YaeseYaese · 78 km Michi-no-Eki ItomanItoman · 81 km

Wansaka,ten villages deep