After some family thought and discussion, my children decided that they would rather go to Okinawa (and Tokyo) than to Italy. I put Tokyo in parenthesis because it is something we all want to do but I am really limited in my knowledge of the region and, therefore, in my ability to determine if it is feasible to visit both places.

The girls definitely want to go to the aquarium and I would definitely like to visit some WWII sites. I quickly looked up hotels - the Washington Hotel in Naha sounds like it is centrally located (important as I have no plans to drive).

Basically, a quick primer would be greatly appreciated - good times of year to consider going, getting around by public transportation/taxi, places to visit, financial things to be aware of, should we do mostly Tokyo with a side trip to Okinawa or vice versa, etc.

Thanks a bunch!

What's with the Tokyo fascination? If you want to go to one city in Japan, I'd pick Kyoto over Tokyo any day of the week, and it's not a close call.

What do you like? What do "the girls" like? Why did you pick Okinawa in the first place? How old are "the girls"?

Depending upon those answers, you'll get better information.

You can get discounted domestic airfare r/t from Tokyo/Naha for ¥10,000-13,000. Depends on the airline you travel to Japan with. See here for more details:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Check out the whole Japan Guide site as it is full of the information you are looking for

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2273.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7116.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7101.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

Do a little research and come back with more questions. If you really want to visit Tokyo and Okinawa it is easily doable and I think a great trip that I would like to do one day. You can click onto my screen name and read a few trip reports I have done that include trips to Japan. You might get a few ideas from them if you can stand the diatribe,lol

Aloha!

Thanks for the replies.

BigRuss - The girls are 17 and 7 and we picked Okinawa to be able to see a friend who moved there last year. Why would you suggest Kyoto over Tokyo?

Hawaiiantraveler - thanks for the tips!!

Kyoto is such a nice city with a relaxed air about it even for a major metropolis with over 1 million people. It has great food, interesting areas like Arashiyama and Gion, the Nijo Castle, the innumerable shrines and temples, proximity to Nara and Himeji, the fantastic Inari shrine.

We really liked Kyoto. Go to the Japan Guide site and you'll see all the really cool places to go in Kyoto.

Tokyo is a big, busy, fussy city. It has more people than New York, a more populous metropolitan area, and is nearly 20% smaller than NYC. (It's also far cleaner than NYC, but that's not a reason to go). It's better for side trips (Nikko, Mt. Fuji) than for getting a feel for Japan, I think.