Japan · Okinawa · Naha
Kume, Naha — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Kume, the old Kumemura, is a district of Naha whose scholar families ran the Ryukyu Kingdom's bureaucracy and its dealings abroad.
Hotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Where to stay in Kume
One nearby area has its own guide — here's what it is best for.
NahaJapana neighbouring district for stays built around the Kumemura museumsTomari
The Tomari end of Naha, a walk from the Kumemura blocks and the Naha City Museum of History. Lodging is scarce in this area; reserve in advance.Tomari →Hotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Find hotels in Kume
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Kume
All three district museums, the Kamejiro Senaga and the People's History Museum among them, stand inside Kume. Beds are limited here, so book early.Find hotels in Kumepairing the Ryukyu royal capital with the scholar quarterShuri side
Nearer Shuri, the Ryukyu Kingdom's capital, with the Kume museums a short ride off. Few places to stay nearby — book ahead.Find hotels in Shuri sideHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Kume
What are the main landmarks in Kume?
Three museums sit in the district. The Naha City Museum of History covers the city's past, the Okinawa Postal Museum holds a narrower subject, and the Kamejiro Senaga and the People's History Museum carries a name that fixes one figure to its collection. The rest is street-level.
Kume runs the Kumemura name through its blocks, and the yukatchu households that served the Ryukyu Kingdom show in the quarter's standing rather than in monuments.
What is the history of Kume?
The date is 1392. Chinese immigrants settled at Kumemura in that year, held by long tradition to be the ancestors of every family in the quarter, and their descendants formed the yukatchu, an aristocratic class of scholar-bureaucrats. Naha was the port; Shuri was the court.
The yukatchu dominated the royal bureaucracy of the Ryukyu Kingdom, serving as government officials at home and as diplomats in dealings with China, Japan, and other states. Learning stayed the quarter's business.
Where is Kume?
Kume takes up part of the port city of Naha, near Shuri, the royal capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, with Tsuji and Tomari as neighbouring districts.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Kume?
Kume: days spent between the Naha City Museum of History and the Okinawa Postal Museum. Tomari: a neighbouring district for stays built around the Kumemura museums. Shuri side: pairing the Ryukyu royal capital with the scholar quarter.
More areas in Naha
Updated October 2026