Blue Seal ice cream, Spam musubi and taco rice have one thing in common: they are uniquely Okinawan, and locals absolutely love them.
Tubarama is a popular Okinawan restaurant and izakaya in Naha. It is famous for its immersive experiences, in which traditional shima-uta, or folk music, is performed, in a setting resembling a pre-war Okinawan village, as local cuisine is served. There are live sanshin – a traditional lute – and other performances every evening on the restaurant’s second floor.
“I eat [taco rice] at least once a week,” says Tatsuyoshi Kubota, manager of Tubarama, who says the dish took hold across the prefecture after World War II, when tacos from Mexico brought over by Americans were adapted to Japanese tastes.
On the surface, this is a simple story of culinary transition. But in Okinawa, American food did not just arrive – it came and occupied.
