If you're interested in history and culture, you'll want to learn about Japan's traditional arts, beautiful scenery, and the people who work hard to preserve them.

Yomitan Village, located about 30 minutes by car from the Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort, a perfect base for your Okinawa trip, is one of the places where you can fully enjoy timeless traditions and nature. It's home to many artists who create traditional art unique to Okinawa.

First, we'd like to introduce you to bingata artist Yuka Aragaki. After graduating from Shuri High School's dyeing and weaving department, she studied bingata at Shuri Ryusen, Tamanaha Bingata Studio, and the Okinawa Prefectural Crafts Guidance Center before going independent. She has won the Grand Prize at the Ryugin Bingata Design Contest two years in a row, and has also won numerous awards at the Japan Art Exhibition and the Japan New Crafts Exhibition. She is an artist who is currently attracting attention. Her reputation has spread to Tokyo, and in 2014 she held solo exhibitions at Seibu Ikebukuro Main Store and Isetan Shinjuku. Her works are also displayed in a prominent location in the aforementioned Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort lounge. Her unique sensibility, combined with the vibrant colors of tropical Okinawa, captivate viewers, and the day is sure to come when her work can be seen around the world. Yukiko Shibahara, born in Osaka, fell in love with Okinawan pottery she encountered while traveling and decided to move there. After training at Yonahara Studio in Kitagama, Yomitan Village, and Toubou Makiya in Shuri, Naha City, she opened her own studio, Kokyu, in Tokeshi, Yomitan Village. Her pottery, crafted using Okinawan clay and glazes, is simple yet charmingly feminine. Her tableware is a perfect match for the Okinawan climate, and is used in cafes around the area. A dish made with lush, vitamin-packed bitter melon, for example, would surely look even more delicious when served in this vessel. Just imagining it in your mind makes it easy to imagine how it would elevate the dining table. One of her distinctive features is the thinness of the cup's rim and angle, carefully designed to make the drink easier to drink. Indeed, when I tried the coffee she brewed for us during our interview, not only was the feeling of comfort exceptional, but the gentle touch in my palm was also very comforting. While we were enjoying the delicious coffee, Shibahara showed me her cup and said, "This is my favorite." It turns out she's quite the alcoholic, and in addition to drinking at home, she often goes out drinking nearby to unwind from her art projects. If you'd like to meet and chat with her, we recommend visiting her studio in person. Of course, you can also purchase her works. Please note that the studio is closed on irregular days, so be sure to check before visiting.

Our final stop is Sangobata, a coral farm in Takashiho, Yomitan Village. Home to 100,000 coral plants, 120 varieties, and over 200 other creatures, this spot offers detailed information about the ecology of coral and other marine life.

Not only can you see and touch the colorful coral, but you can also experience growing coral seedlings, giving you a real sense of the ocean's life. It's extremely popular with school trips and other visitors.

The spawning season is particularly popular, so the studio is open to the public for free. During coral spawning, Okinawa's blue ocean is said to turn a beautiful pink, and the opportunity to see it up close attracts many locals. Of course, all the staff will be happy to explain things to you in detail, so please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. You're sure to become friends with the beautiful ocean through the ecosystem that the coral supports.