Where Is Okinawa? There is a bow-shaped group of islands called Nansei Shoto (or Southwestern Islands) stretching for around 1,200 km (746 miles) from the southern tip of Kyushu to the northeastern tip of Taiwan. Okinawa Prefecture consists of over 170 of these islands stretching south from the largest one-Okinawa. The meeting of G8 Heads of State and Government will be held in the city of Nago, on the island of Okinawa. Okinawa Prefecture's capital is Naha. If you were to draw a circle around Naha with a radius of 1,500 km (932 miles)-the distance from there to Tokyo-you would find that within that circle are located several major Asian cities, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong in China and Seoul in the Republic of Korea. In around the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries Okinawa's unique location allowed trade with China and the countries of Southeast Asia to flourish, along with other forms of exchange. Okinawa has long played a role as Japan's southern gateway to the other countries of Asia.