The Day on Miyagi Island

Okinawa is part of an island chain and is surrounded by other, tiny islands. Many require a ferry to access, but some are connected by long bridges. One Saturday Matt and I invited our friends to travel across multiple bridges to reach and explore Miyagi Island. While we wanted to simply drive around the island, we also wanted a specific place to search out. I chose a cafe found in one of my handy 100-series cafe guides. While the slim book is in Japanese, the stamp-sized map is fairly easy to follow on a tiny island with few roads. We ate at a cafe on the main island of Okinawa before setting out to find this cafe known for its bread. Specifically, bread in the shape of hedgehogs.

The cafe, known as Boulangerie Cafe Yamashita, was within sight of the bridge leading to the island, so it was very easy to find. We all picked out a bread roll to sample, but only I selected the hedgehog bread filled with a chocolate/ red bean paste mixture. The owner was delighted to see us and asked us what base we were from and how we had found the little shop. We explained the cafe book, and she asked the four of us to pose for a photo for their website. I found the photo on their facebook page a few days later with this (translated) caption: 

Camp Courtney they came from, what a modern art published ' Okinawa hundred series " has been found. Japanese is read, but a photo and map to rely on you to say. (thank you! ) (please come here again! )Photo with you want to go!! And that 'Okinawa 100' also nice!!

We did not stay to eat our bread and enjoy the view as we had only recently finished lunch. I ate my little hedgehog as I was starving at the end of the day. It was an interesting mixture of savory and sweet in a crusty shell, but my American palate wished for more chocolate and less bean paste. 

Too cute to eat... until I was really, really hungry. 

We simply drove the perimeter of the island and stopped the car whenever we found an interesting site. There was the seawall covered in colorful murals done by school children. The seawall also had a ladder so we could climb over and see the beautiful turquoise ocean. 

The water was such a beautiful color!

 We found views of beaches from the top of cliffs, and we drove until we found views of beaches surrounded by the same cliffs. There was a sign warning away swimmers, so we simply enjoyed the water from the ankle-down. I highly recommend a day simply spent driving around Miyagi Island. And if any fellow foreigners want to try hedgehog bread you will be treated like celebrities.