ISLAND GUIDE
AEON Mall Okinawa Rycom Okinawa’s newest and largest shopping mall, AEON Mall Okinawa Rycom, opened in 2015. Not only great for shopping, this mall features Okinawan food, culture and entertainment, as well as an aquarium with a one-ton water tank. The Rycom Court Air on the third floor features traditional Okinawan eisa dance performances and sanshin concerts in the daytime. At night, enjoy jazz, rock and other musical performances on the fifth floor roof garden. The Okinawa Rycom AEON Shopping Mall has a total of 80 food facilities including restaurants offering local and international foods.
Camp Foster
THOMAS ALAN SMILIE
Plaza House Shopping Center Constructed in 1954, the Plaza House Shopping Center consisted of Rogers (a department store featuring high-end imported products), Tuttle Book Store (a bookstore specializing in English publications), Getsuen Hanten (considered one of the best Chinese restaurants on the island), and more. The shopping center catered primarily to American service members and their families stationed on Okinawa during post-war rejuvenation and is still going strong.
Overlapping Okinawa City, Chatan Town, Ginowan City and Kitanakagusuku Village, Camp Foster is primarily populated by Marines and families. Several housing areas surround the camp, including Kishaba Housing (the location of Kubasaki High and Zukeran Elementary Schools), Plaza Housing (where the Butler Officers’ Club is located) and others. The camp has a large Exchange and several Express stores as well as a large commissary, a library and education center, chapel, Single Marine Program Center, bowling center, custom shop, framing & fine arts center, theater as well as the U.S. Naval Hospital. Camp Foster also has multiple fitness centers and the largest is Gunners Fitness Center and Foster Fieldhouse. Gunners is a full-service facility featuring top-of-the-line equipment. With a large weight room offering a variety of selectorized and free weight machines and a cardiovascular room equipped with treadmills, stationary bikes, stair climbers, elliptical cross-trainers and rowing machines. Gunners also offers sauna and steam rooms, massage therapists, martial arts classes and free group fitness classes. For people who are interested in team and individual sporting events, Gunners offers a variety of recreational facilities such as softball fields, tennis courts, indoor basketball/volleyball courts, a rock climbing wall and an Outdoor Recreation facility that has camping gear for rent. Gunners is also home to a LifeJuice Café which offers smoothies and freshly-squeezed juices. For the swimmers, Camp Foster features two pools—a 50 meter and a 25 meter. Both pools are open all year-round and heated for the chilly winter months. For divers and water OKINAWA GUIDE 2017–2018 | 167