In Search of The Karate Kid : Okinawa

By William Urbanski

It is difficult to imagine a movie franchise that has had more of an impact on my life than The Karate Kid. A true underdog story, this epic tale is cemented in the minds of anyone born in the 1980s and features the enigmatic Mr. Miyagi who mentors the young Daniel (aka “Daniel-san”) in all things karate and life. Mr. Miyagi hailed from a mystical corner of Japan called Okinawa, and it is this island which serves as the backdrop of the second (and best) Karate Kid movie. With Covid-19 travel restrictions all but eased, it was finally time for me to make my own pilgrimage to the birthplace of karate and maybe learn a crane kick or drum punch along the way.

From South To North

There is a plentiful abundance of things to see and do in Okinawa, and for this reason, it is advisable to rent a car. While public transportation definitely exists, and there are all sorts of bus tours and stuff that depart from Naha (the main city), a lot of the really nice spots are slightly off the beaten path and hard to access without wheels. I had an overwhelmingly positive experience renting a car from SIXT rental agency. Located just a few hundred meters from Miebashi Station in Naha, it was easy to make a reservation and pick up the car. Even though it was my first time driving on the other side of the road (which was slightly nerveracking), drivers there were extremely courteous and cautious, which made it easier overall. If you decide to rent a car in Okinawa, just be sure to get full auto insurance and pick up your international driver’s license from the designated police station in your area (which costs eight thousand won and takes about twenty minutes). As well, just like in the rest of Japan, Google Maps works amazingly well, so navigation is not an issue.

While a person could spend months exploring the island and pondering the nature of Mr. Miyagi’s stunningly effective karate tutelage, for the sake of brevity, I will focus on one special thing from the north and one from the city of Naha in the south, both of which had shockingly little to do with karate or The Karate Kid franchise.

Churaumi Aquarium

Located in the northwestern part of the island about a two-hour drive from Naha, this massive, fourstory aquarium was incredible. Starting on the top floor, visitors can see all sorts of crazy crustaceans and frisky fish that range from scary-looking to extremely rare and beautiful. The real star of the show was the gargantuan aquarium which features one of the few whale sharks in captivity. This huge tank, despite having few references to Daniel-san’s attempts to master the drum punch in face of Mr. Miyagi’s unorthodox teaching methods, was still one of the most impressive structures I have seen in person.

A bonus that came with the admission fee was that my wife and I were able to watch a really entertaining dolphin show which was much better and funnier than we expected.

There are some online criticisms of the Churaumi Aquarium which revolve around the notion that it is inhumane to capture, house, and feed sharks, dolphins, and various other types of ocean life. To that, I would say it makes no sense for people to go through so much trouble to build and maintain the aquarium facility if they just wanted to mistreat the sea life. Overall, the admission price of twenty bucks was a bargain.

Shuri Castle

Located right in Naha, Shuri Castle is an impressive and historically significant fortress complex which is easy to access from the monorail line. It is possible to just walk around the fortress free of charge, but to enter the main complex, it will set you back about five bucks (or “go hyaku,” as they say in Japanese). A word of warning about the main complex: Shuri Castle was completely razed by a fire a couple of years back, and it is undergoing an extensive reconstruction. While that may sound like a definite bummer in the summer, it also provides a glimpse into the reconstruction process and an opportunity to grasp the painstaking lengths Okinawans are going through to rebuild the castle in the most authentic way possible. What I personally found the most interesting is that the rebuilding process is not just about repairing the edifice but also passing down the knowledge of construction methods to the next generation.

While I would have much preferred that Shuri Castle included an activity that involved breaking blocks of ice with your bare hands as a test of strength, much the way Daniel-san did in the iconic scene from The Karate Kid 2, I would say it is still a really cool place to spend a couple of hours.

THE KARATE KID: THE SEARCH CONTINUES

One of the things that surprised me most about Okinawa was the serious lack of spontaneous karate demonstrations as well as the virtual dearth of enigmatic old men who were willing to use unconventional training techniques to turn me into a karate-fighting machine in mere days. But apart from this, Okinawa is by far one of the most beautiful places I have visited in Asia, and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than either Osaka or Fukuoka.

Even though it turns out the second Karate Kid movie was filmed entirely in Hawaii, Okinawa should definitely be on your list of places to visit. That’s what Mr. Miyagi would have wanted.