Nanjo

Nanjo came together on 1 January 2006 from Sashiki town and the villages of Chinen, Tamagusuku and Ozato, and its 49.70 km² measure about 18 km east to west and 8 km north to south, starting about 12 km southeast of Naha. Its outline looks like a heart, and the city made that its logo along with the bearded mascot Nanjii. It has the smallest population of Okinawa's eleven cities and no police station or high school of its own.

Nanjo holds much of the Ryukyu kingdom's sacred geography. Sefa-utaki, the royal sanctuary and a World Heritage site, faces Kudaka-jima, where the creator goddess Amamikiyo is said to have come down, and the Agari-umaai pilgrimage of the kings ran through Chinen and Tamagusuku. Springs and wells dot the old Tamagusuku area in particular, and Kakinohana Hija is one of Japan's hundred selected waters.

For riders Nanjo makes the classic day out from Naha. Route 331 runs past Azama and Chinen Misaki to the beach cafés at Hyakuna and Mibaru, with Ojima's tempura at the end, and the Niraikanai Bridge drops off the plateau to join it. The city has HELLO CYCLING share bikes and publishes pottering routes of 4.2–6.5 km from the city office.