Summer in Japan’s islands: Okinawa and Shikoku

If you’re looking at Japan in June, July or August, summer looks quite different in each place.

Okinawa

• About May 10 to June 21: the rainy season, in a typical year.
• June to September: typhoons are possible. When one comes through, flights and ferries can be canceled, so leave a spare day at the end of the trip.
• The sea warms from around 70°F in February to nearly 86°F in August.

Shikoku

• July 22 to 24: the Ushioni Festival in Uwajima, every year.
• Around August 9 to 12: the Yosakoi Festival in Kochi.
• Around August 12 to 15: the Awa Odori in Tokushima.

When I’d go

If I were picking, I’d go to Okinawa from late June to mid-July, after the rains and before the busiest stretch of typhoon season. For Shikoku, I’d go in August for the festivals, or in spring or autumn if the heat is a concern.

Okinawa was the Ryukyu Kingdom for about 450 years, until 1879, and it still feels like its own place. Shuri Castle in Naha was the royal palace. It burned in 2019, and the rebuilt main hall opens to the public on November 23, 2026.

It’s also one of the original five Blue Zones, the places where people tend to live the longest, and the food is a big part of why: lots of vegetables, sweet potato, tofu and bitter melon. A bowl of Okinawa soba, with a bonito broth, runs about $7 or $8. Karate started here too.

One of the experience companies I work with runs hands-on sessions with local makers: Tsuboya pottery, bingata dyeing, Ryukyu lacquerware, and awamori, the local spirit, at the distillery. It also runs a sabani workshop and cruise. The sabani is a traditional wooden fishing boat, built without metal nails and moved by paddle and sail.

Up north is Yanbaru, the forested end of the island, part of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site since 2021. It’s for forest walks, river trekking and sea kayaking. And the Kerama Islands are 50 minutes from Naha by high-speed ferry, for a day of snorkeling or diving.

Miyako is about 55 minutes from Naha by air. Locals call the color of the water “Miyako blue,” and the island is known for snorkeling and diving. Rosewood opened a resort here in March 2025, and the neighboring island of Shimojishima has a private aviation terminal for anyone flying in privately.

Ishigaki is about an hour from Naha and the hub for the Yaeyama Islands. From there, Taketomi is a short ferry ride, a preserved Ryukyu village of coral stone walls, low traditional houses and water buffalo carts. Iriomote is wild and forested, part of the same World Natural Heritage site as Yanbaru, and it’s where you paddle up mangrove rivers and hike to waterfalls. Each island has its own character, so it’s worth hopping between two or three.

Shikoku is best known for its pilgrimage, a loop of 88 Buddhist temples around the island tied to the monk Kobo Daishi, who lived from 774 to 835. On foot, the whole route is about 1,200 km, or about 750 miles, and it takes more than a month.

Most people do a part of it. You can walk a section, cycle one, or go by car and walk the stretches between the closer temples. Temples 66 to 88 are all in Kagawa, near Takamatsu, and they sit close together, so you can see a few in a morning or spend several days finishing the loop.

Some temples take overnight guests. You stay in the temple’s lodging, join the morning service, try zazen meditation and eat shojin ryori, the vegetarian cooking of Buddhist temples. These need booking ahead.

Naoshima, Teshima and Shodoshima are known around the world for contemporary art. Naoshima has Yayoi Kusama’s red pumpkin and the Chichu Art Museum, designed by Tadao Ando, and Benesse House is a museum and a hotel in one. Ferries leave from Takamatsu.

One of the experience companies I work with runs a chartered-boat day of art and architecture on Naoshima, a two-day tour of Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima, a farm lunch on Teshima, and a visit to a soy sauce brewery on Shodoshima.

Every three years the islands host the Setouchi Triennale, an art festival held over three seasons. The 2025 festival drew more than a million visitors. The next one is in 2028, and the dates are below.

Summer is festival season. The Ushioni Festival in Uwajima is every July 22 to 24. In August, Kochi has the Yosakoi Festival and Tokushima has the Awa Odori, where groups of dancers fill the streets for days. Both draw big crowds, so book early.

Only twelve castles in Japan still have their original keeps, and four of them are in Shikoku: Matsuyama, Marugame, Uwajima and Kochi.

You can also sleep in a castle, and it’s the splurge in this post. At Ozu Castle, one group a night stays in the keep, with dinner, breakfast and evening programs. It’s ¥660,000 a person when two stay, about $8,350 for the two of you. It takes up to six guests and isn’t offered in August or from December through February. At Marugame Castle, guests stay in a building on the castle grounds, with dinner, breakfast and a private night tour of the keep, for about $8,010 for two.

Iya Valley is a deep gorge in the mountains of Tokushima. Its vine bridge is rebuilt every three years, and Hotel Iya Onsen runs its own cable car, five minutes down the gorge to its baths by the river.

If you cycle, the Shimanami Kaido is about 70 km of bike paths over bridges and islands between Onomichi in Hiroshima and Imabari in Ehime, with bike rental along the way.

• United starts flying San Francisco to Naha three times a week on March 27, 2027.
• Tokyo to Naha is about two and a half hours by air. Naha to Miyako or Ishigaki is about an hour.
• Tokyo to any of Shikoku’s four airports is 80 to 90 minutes by air. From Osaka, Okayama or Hiroshima you can get there by train, ferry or bus.
• To combine the two, fly from Naha to Osaka, then take the train or bus to Shikoku.
• The ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass, bought before you arrive, is ¥12,000 (about $80) for three days or ¥20,000 (about $130) for seven.

Here are three ways the days could run, as a starting point.

A few places to start with. Rates change with the date and the season, so treat these as a guide. Where I give one, it’s the lowest published rate I found in October 2026, for two people, with what it includes.

Okinawa

• The Uza Terrace Beach Club Villas, on the west coast of the main island, has 48 villas, each with a private pool. From about $1,090 a villa a night, with taxes.
• Hyakuna Garan, on the south coast, has 18 suites built from local limestone and red tile. Guests 10 and older.
• The Terrace Club at Busena is built around a pool of seawater for thalassotherapy. Guests 13 and older.
• Rosewood Miyakojima opened in March 2025, with 55 villas and houses.
• HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island has 48 rooms on Taketomi, the island with the preserved village.

Shikoku

• Benesse House on Naoshima is a museum and a hotel in one.
• Naoshima Ryokan ROKA has 11 rooms, with dinner and breakfast. No children under 12.
• Kotohira Kadan sits above the town of Kotohira and its shrine. From about $230 for two, with dinner, breakfast, service and tax.
• Hotel Ridge is on a cliff above the Naruto whirlpools. From about $750 for two, with dinner, breakfast, service and tax. No guests under 16.
• Hotel Iya Onsen has its own cable car down to its baths by the river.
• NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town has 28 rooms in restored buildings across the old castle town.
• Kiya Ryokan in Uwajima is a whole house for two to ten. From about $290 for two, with a light breakfast and tax.

Traveling with children

Both islands work well for families, but several of the best places have age limits, so check before you book:

• Hyakuna Garan takes guests 10 and older.
• The Terrace Club at Busena takes guests 13 and older.
• Naoshima Ryokan ROKA doesn’t take children under 12.
• Hotel Ridge doesn’t take guests under 16.

And a few that suit a family well:

• The Uza Terrace has villas with up to four bedrooms.
• Kiya Ryokan in Uwajima is a whole house, let to one group of two to ten.
• The Ozu castle stay takes up to six guests, and Marugame up to four.

2028 is a big year for this part of Japan.

• The Setouchi Triennale runs in three seasons: spring, April 14 to May 28, summer, July 25 to August 20, and autumn, September 29 to November 12.
• Mandarin Oriental is expected to open two hotels in 2028, one with 92 rooms in Takamatsu and a 22-room ryokan on Naoshima.
• There’s a legend that if you do the pilgrimage in reverse order in a leap year, you’ll meet Kobo Daishi along the way. 2028 is a leap year.

If 2028 is on your list, it’s worth starting the conversation early, because reservations fill quickly in a festival year.

Decide first whether you’re going for the sea, the temples and the art, or both. For Okinawa, pick your dates around the rains and the typhoons, and leave a spare day at the end. For Shikoku, pick the festival or the art you want to see, then book the rooms early. If you’re doing both, give Shikoku at least a week.

My Japan page has the other seasons, and my posts on spring and winter cover Yamagata, Matsumoto and Niigata. If you’d rather write first, send me your trip and I’ll start looking. Or bring your dates to a free fifteen-minute call, and we’ll work out which island fits you!