A visit to this unique cultural vault, effectively a natural history museum and an art gallery of national significance under one enormous, architecturally spectacular roof, should feature as a standout experience on every Okinawa itinerary.
The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum (okimu.jp/en) hosts a vast, permanent, indoor and outdoor display entitled "Sea and Island Life – Seeking Prosperity, Beauty and Peace," which is as expansive and insightful as it is magnificently curated, exploring life on the islands from ancient times to the present day. Excellent multilingual interpretive commentaries are easy to understand and are complemented by audio guides (available for hire). The museum also hosts visiting exhibitions relating to Okinawan history and culture. Its repository holds around 94,000 artifacts, only a fraction of which are on permanent display.
The Art Museum houses an ever-expanding collection of works from local artists and artists with a connection to Okinawa from pre-Ryūkyū times to the present day. In total the space has around 3700 artworks. The "Collection Exhibition" presents the most beautiful and relevant pieces on the walls of the museum's concrete cathedral-like gallery halls. A visit is a must for all art-lovers.
Oki-mu (or Oki-myu, as it's affectionately known), is located about 15 minutes' walk from Omoromachi Station and is itself a work of art. It's a striking monolith of white-gray concrete in the style of an Okinawan gusuku (fortress), a building unlike any other. Closed on Mondays, both museums are open from 9am to 6pm Tuesday to Thursday and on Sunday, and until 8pm on Friday and Saturday.
