At the outer zone of Japan's culinary firmament, Okinawa may be a little off-kilter for the prevailing fooderati, but the growing appeal of its cuisine is that, as many locals insist, "Okinawan food is not Japanese food."
Such is the health value of its cuisine, that Okinawa has joined a select number of regions in the world, such as the Greek island of Ikaria, Pakistan's Hunza Valley, and the Ogliastra region of Sardinia, designated as "Blue Zones," areas where health and longevity have been directly connected to lifestyle and diet.
In its healthiest form, Okinawan cuisine is found in yakuzen, or "medicinal food." An almost ayurvedic approach to healing, yakuzen seeks to restore the body's energy levels and rebalance fluids. While the life-sustaining, anti-aging properties of the traditional Okinawan table may be self-evident, I wanted to test the cuisine for myself, so I head in the direction of Itoman, a city in the south of the main island.