Motobu

Motobu wraps around the western end of the peninsula, with Ie-jima offshore to the west and Izena and Iheya on the horizon to the north. Yaedake and Motobu-Fuji rise behind the town, and the Manna River runs through the lowland below them. The town counts about 12,000 people.

Food here means soba. More than 60 places in town serve Okinawa soba, Route 84 through Izumi became known as the soba road, and on Soba Day, 17 October 2010, Motobu declared itself the town of soba. Kishimoto Shokudo in Toguchi has been at it since 1905.

The 1975 Ocean Expo left the town Ocean Expo Park, and the Churaumi Aquarium now stands inside it. North of the park the fukugi lanes of Bise run down to the sea, and in January the road up Yaedake climbs through 7,000 cherry trees. The town gives an annual mean of 22.5 °C and notes that the mountains around Yaedake can fall to 4 °C.