The Dojo - Naha

The owner brought myself and my fiancée to a dojo where we were given a karate lesson by both himself and his own trainer sensei. It was very generous of him to do so as he didn't gain any money or anything for the gesture. His bar is cool... go there.

An excellent combination of a real traditional dojo right across the street from a rea,l intimate, lively bar (run and owned by the same proprietor). If you're serious practitioner in karate you can train hard at their dojo and then unwind with a refreshing beverage or just stopped in after a hard day of work and do the same and talk about everything especially karate and the martial arts. Congenial, fun bilingual staff (Japanese/English). Decent bar food. My favorite was the Okinawa Pizza (nice sauce and soft crust topped with bacon, cheese, spinach and a soft sunny side up egg) made fresh in their own kitchen. If you order the Spicy Pizza, and want it spicy, let them know that you want EXTRA jalapenos! The rattlesnakes in the jars are not just for show it's an actual drink. Don't forget to tag the wall.

Great casual bar. Bar has martial arts and staff are all practicing martial artists. Staff are friendly, speak English, Japanese and some even speak a third. Food is good and the drinks are good and a fair price. For me it was a welcome break.

A must for all visiting martial artists. A fun place for everyone else too. Very chilled out, easy going and with a friendly owner.

For the karate tourist, this is a good place to start with. James is very friendly and readily answered some questions I had. One of the bartenders is Yuri, who's local, and she has a wealth of suggestions on places you can visit when in town. Even if you're not a karate tourist like me, its a cool place to hang out. I've come in a few times for the past couple of weeks, just to type up my blogs. Good atmosphere, good music, good pizza. Oh, and the fried squid legs are a personal favourite.