【Dreamtravelworld】Okinawa’s Hip Spot – Minatogawa Foreign Residential Street

Transforming old U.S. military housing into an arts district—that’s what Minatogawa Foreign Residential Street in Urasoe City, Okinawa, is all about today.

The foreign residential street is a small commercial area beloved by hipsters, thanks to its many handmade goods, artisanal coffee shops, dessert bakeries, Japanese sundries, handcrafted breads, and international restaurants gathered here. Each shop along the street has transformed an old house into a unique boutique.

This commercial area around the foreign residential street isn’t very large. It takes just over 10 minutes to stroll through if you’re just here to look around. But because so many people come here for its fame, allowing time for photos plus a meal or afternoon tea could easily take 1 to 2 hours.

OKINAWA CERRADO COFFEE Beans Store in the Minatogawa area of Urasoe City’s foreign residential street mainly offers freshly roasted, in-house coffee beans.

OKINAWA CERRADO COFFEE Beans Store is a beloved local coffee shop in Okinawa and is considered the top homegrown café in the prefecture. Many institutions and businesses in Okinawa, as well as well-known cafés offering afternoon tea such as oHacorté Bakery and CAFE UNIZON, use their coffee beans.

Unlike other coffee shops, it only serves coffee-based drinks—no cakes or tarts. The focus here is entirely on the coffee. At the entrance, there are pots of coffee available for tasting, so you can choose the one you like before purchasing.

Another notable spot in the Minatogawa area of Urasoe City’s foreign residential street is the highly popular dessert shop oHacorte オハコルテ.

oHacorte currently has five branches in Okinawa, specializing in fruit tarts. The shop displays various fresh fruit tarts in glass cases, along with a selection of cookies and cakes.

Every type of fruit tart is limited in quantity daily, and many are available only for limited time periods or during certain seasons. oHacorte uses seasonal fruits to make its fruit tarts, ensuring everyone can enjoy juicy, flavorful offerings. However, oHacorte’s fruit tarts aren’t cheap, costing around 500 to 800 yen each. Whether the value is worth it is something you’ll have to taste for yourself.