There’s a question which divides any pub table in the land. No, not politics, or money, or even football. The question is: "If you could live forever would you choose to?" 

Anyone who’s read this column over the last year will know that I fall very much into the "more, more, more" category. Sure, as Annie Lennox sang, "dying is easy, it’s living that scares me to death", but, you know, even a minute of hearing my husband hamming up a bedtime story so my kid laughs so hard he begs for mercy is a gift. Also there’s cheese. I’ll take an unlimited lifetime of that, please. So yes, I am very much a squeeze the toothpaste tube of life to the very end type of woman which is why I knew, when we embarked upon our month in Japan, I was headed to Okinawa in Japan where folk live longer and happier.

If you're unfamiliar with Okinawa you're not alone. Though it’s the holiday destination of choice for many Japanese tourists from the mainland - indeed, whenever I told people that our next stop was Okinawa they gave dreamy-eyed sighs like I was talking about their favourite J-pop idol – it’s still somewhat underexplored by overseas tourists, with most favouring the "Golden Route", an arching itinerary through Japan’s hotspots from Kyoto to Tokyo despite much-reported crushes of crowds. Why Okinawa is overlooked in this way is a mystery to me since you can leave the Blade Runner neon spectacle of Tokyo and reach a white sand paradise with  serene turquoise sea and jewel-coloured tropical fish, by plane in a mere two hours, 40 minutes for around £45.

The island itself has a population under 1.5 million and is perhaps best known for the longevity of those citizens with a 2020 census revealing men lived to an average age of 80.27 and women reached 87.44. Much of this is credited to the Okinawan diet which incorporates unprocessed carbs, vegetables and soy products, notably purple sweet potatoes, kelp and tofu with very small amounts of meat and fish.

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On our first night Peter and I were lucky enough to have an Okinawan six-course "body and mind" menu at the Hyatt Regency Seragaki, which included clear soup of wild sea bass, shiitake mushroom, watershield with myoga ginger and a tuna sashimi with Okinawan-speciality sea grapes and daikon. I don't know if I felt that my lifespan was increased by the end of the meal but I do know that my husband looked at his wagyu steak course in a way that he looked at me on our wedding day.

Perhaps the most marked difference from mainland Japan that makes Okinawa unique is the atmosphere. We found mainland Japan to be astounding and frenetic but highly structured. We spent a lot of time learning the etiquette which included not walking while eating or blowing your nose in public (both quite challenging with a three-year-old) and my not wearing leggings or showing my tattoos. In contrast Okinawa had the sort of relaxed surfer vibe you’d expect of an island.

Indeed, in 1970 Okinawa introduced the Kariyushi shirt, similar to the Aloha shirt, which is now acceptable as business dress as part of Japan’s "Cool Biz" campaign encouraging the reduction of the use of air conditioning. If, like me, you're a fan of Brutalist architecture (or Brutalist-adjacent at least) you will also take delight in the the concrete buildings of the island, made to withstand the earthquakes and tsunamis, colourfully painted and lined up like yellow, pink and green blocks of ice-cream. Added to the island’s signature miniature snubnose cars and the Pokemon-adorned monorail running overhead and it is undeniable that Okinawa epitomises the Japanese term "Kawaii" with its innocent charm and simplicity.

However, as with many island nations, Okinawa faces challenges ahead. Firstly, there are the much-disputed American military bases, 32 in total, and comprising 75% of US bases in Japan.

While for most tourists these bases will only make themselves known in the presence of American franchises and delicious "taco rice" there is a vocal anti-base movement in Okinawa with the campaigners drawing attention to both gender-based violence and ecological harm caused by the bases.

It is not surprising that Okinawa is home to outspoken protesters since it is also fiercely independent. Indeed, in 2014 a group of independence activists visited Scotland to take inspiration from our own movement towards autonomy and in 2023 local Okinawan budgets were cut by the central government in what was considered by many as a punitive measure for the prefecture’s failure to toe the line.

fine dining, Okinawa-stylefine dining, Okinawa-style (Image: Kerry Hudson)

We were utterly taken with the island’s unique energy and local outlook, as we visited a noodle shack with butterflies floating around and ate hand-pulled noodles, or wandered the Hydrangea Garden Yohena, the 10,000-square-metre hillside of flowers, created by a local grandmother, a symbol of spirit in itself. And in Naha, a city with all the usual delights of hyper-Japan: karaoke, nightclubs, a giant Don Quixote discount shop selling everything from a "men's face lift-up belt" to crates of Saki to turd-shaped pencil erasers.

Yes, I bought them. Then in  10 minutes you can wander to beautiful back streets and admire traditional neighbourhood storefronts with their pyramids of tropical fruit and stop for a truly excellent coffee and a Japanese nut tart at the painfully hip Rokkan Coffee Creators - which wasn’t so cool that they didn’t find a blanket to drape over our snoring, sleeping toddler.

In Okinawa I spent much of my time staring out of our car window and repeating to myself how deeply special the place is for the landscape, the culture, the food and the hospitality. And even now, when I ask my toddler, back at home and tucking into chicken dippers, what the best part of his month in Japan was he doesn’t say Disneyland, cartoon mascots on every street corner, or cuddling micro-pigs in Harajuku, he answers: "Going to the flowers with Kahoru" - Kahoru being our wonderful local guide.

With over 120 direct flights per week to nine cities across Asia it does seem inevitable that more travellers like us will find themselves flying in and out of Okinawa to reach the mainland. While I hope that it avoids the fate of Osaka’s wild over-tourism, I sincerely hope that more people get to experience the beauty, serenity and genuine warmth of an island forged on gratitude for the everyday and a true spirit of independence.