Akabanaa

I honest don’t know how this store can survive. I bought the brown sugar candy for $ 5.98 a bag and it was smelly and gross. On the other hand, the yam candy at $ 2.35 was fairly decent. The store simply does not have interesting to buy. I left the store without even knowing what the Okinawas theme is supposed to be.

沢山の沖縄グッズが揃ったお店。
日本人オーナーがアットホームで暖かいまさに沖縄スピリッツ！
日本のお土産屋さんみたいで沖縄からの飲み物やお菓子など品揃えも豊富。
また工芸品も小さいものから大きな物まで見るだけでも楽しいお店です。

Hmmm, not really my favorite place.
I love Okinawa in design, culture and cuisine but this store is not my favorite because of the feeling I feel that it is like a souvenir store in Okinawa that somehow opening in San Francisco.
It is also Kessler selection than other stores in the building.

Akabanaa sells things Okinawan: food stuffs, bakery mixes, artifacts, teas, drinks, cookies, etc.
not having been in okinawa, nothing stood out to me. not sure if my long ago stopover in japan was actually japan or okinawa.
buys: tanenashi hoshi”, seedless sweet & sour plum (2.98)
–similar to li hung mui, aka preserved sour (chinese plums)
–taste similar to above, just a bit more salty,
takeouts:
–everything okinawan here, pricey no doubt.

Interesting store located at the Japan Center in San Francisco. As a small business, I hope that they will survive and grow. There are a lot of items specific to Okinawa. Bitter melon tea is cool. They do need to improve on their inventory though because some of the shelves are rather bare. The prices are pretty expensive but not a bad novelty shop to check out.
Quality: 3
Service: 3
Cost: 3

small and not much in here. it took me about 2 mins to look at everything in there.

Very nice people work at this Japanese specialty shop. The shop has a limited selection but the merchandise in this shop is topnotch. The stock ranges from foods to cloth goods, all exotic and unique with enough of a variety to please the average customer. I purchased sweet potato cookies that were the consistency of fortune cookies yet pink.

Wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.
Bought 2 drinks here during the cherry blossom festival.
I guess you can compare their prices to if your buying in japan. Maybe a little less.
It kinda looks like a small sadder market. Bunch of cracker snacks, sweet drinks.

I went on a two-​week trip to Japan last month and visited Okinawa for a few days. The moment I stepped foot into the store and heard the traditional Okinawan music play, it immediately reminded me of being in one of the gift shops alongside Kokusai-​dori in Naha.
They have a wide assortment of stuff including snacks, cooking ingredients, and drinks.
In particular, I brought back «chinsuko» from Okinawa which is kind of like a sweet shortened finger cookie from Okinawa. My co-​workers loved them. While going through Akabanaa’s shelves, I was so surprised to find them here! Of course, I grabbed a few to buy and enjoy again.
It made me very happy. In general, most of things I was looking for were cheaper here than in Okinawa itself. A very big plus!
The staff here were very kind and very welcoming. For a taste of Okinawa, I would highly recommend this place.

I’m not only not Okinwawan, I’m also not Japanese, I’m your basic white girl.
So, when I walked in here I loved it. I talked to the lady at the counter about the Okinawan people and their longevity, and she had such great insight, a delight.
Anyway we talked about all the factors that make these people healthy, and of course I walked out with some special sea salt, a local tea, and coral mineral powder.
Soon I’ll be glistening with vitality and Okinawan vigor because of this great little shop. :)

I’m ½ Okinawan, but I don’t know the first thing about my culture. I’m sansei, so most of the information has been lost long ago. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not proud to be ½ and when I saw this store, I was really happy!
Akabanaa carries a variety of food items from salt, to snacks to bittermelon tea. We picked up some Okinawan sea salt and pepper vinegar. The owner was very polite too. I would love to see them stock more items. The store is definitely big enough.

I spent five years in Okinawa and it seemed like this is the type of store that would be in the lobby of one of the big hotels.
That being said, Akabanaa carries shiikuwasa candy, teas, and mozuku (Okinawan seaweed). Some of the drinks are produced in the US and not Okinawa, though. The store does seem a bit bare but they have the traditional Okinawan pottery and blown glassware.
There is also a shamisen instructor who gives lessons on Wednesday nights for a fee. I spoke with the lady behind the counter and they are also going to start selling Okinawan shamisen sometime in the future.
I think the Hawaii factor that Andrey C. mentions is actually a thing that was invented by someone who wasn’t from Okinawa. If you go to Hawaii, you will find the Okinawan culture well integrated into the Hawaiian culture. But if you go to Okinawa, you don’t really find that the Hawaiian culture is integrated into the Okinawan culture.
Now, if we can only have an excellent Okinawan restaurant that serves sooki soba, we would be in business, né!

Completely biased review, but for good reason:
1) The store is run by my high school buddy’s family, who are super nice
2) They have an interesting assortment of specialty goods from Okinawa, which has a unique culture of its own
3) They offer English translations of cooking directions for some of their specialty food items… with hopefully more to come!
I visited the store for the first time on their one-​year anniversary on July 1, 2007, and was treated to a small performance by my friend’s sister, who is taking Okinawan-​style dance lessons, and her dance group. Akabanaa really prides itself in sharing Okinawan culture, which seems to have a little bit of Hawaiian flavor to it (I guess because of the common motif of hibiscus flowers?).
Anyway, let’s get to the point: Akabanaa sells a variety of imported goods from Okinawa, including aprons, totes, and other fabric items featuring a uniquely Okinawan stencil printing style. The store also offers a large number of specialty foods, from snacks to teas to cooking staples, made from local ingredients like bittermelon, turmeric, hirami lemon, and lots and lots and lots of brown sugar.
One of their best sellers are bittermelon chips and brown sugar coated peanuts. Teas of all varieties are also hot, and many have health benefits to them. You can ask the owners for more info about that!
So if you ever happen go by Japantown (you know you love visiting that dollar store Ichiban Kan), make sure to walk inside the mall and check out Akabanaa!

I was try to dodge this one girl who appeared to be selling something either services or something obscure as I arrived at the second floor of the Miyako Mall and veered from her approach and went in here. Dodge successful. :)
The store seems bare but had some interesting food products, tea, decorative item. The cute lil bottles of star-​shaped sand from Okinawa was very interesting and caught my eye. Wasn’t cheap though…
Other than that, the store owner/​keeper was very friendly and I really want this store to do well, hopefully his business picks up or at least get more items to be stocked…

I checked out Akabanaa after reading Toro’s informative review. There isn’t a whole lot stocked. The store is pretty bare. Food items range from fermented tofu to brown sugar coated nuts. There are also drinks on shelf and in a refrigerated case. The prices are a bit steep. Aside from food, they sell other miscellaneous goods, like colored star shaped sand from Okinawa in miniature bottles, which I thought looked cool. The staff is pleasant. Support these folks; drop on in the next time you’re in J-​Town. (There’s a big Grand Opening banner. Ya can’t miss it!)

A new store in Japan Town that opened on 1 July 2006 featuring all things Okinawa. Okinawa, a group of islands in southeast end of Japan, is a popular tourist destination with unique local food a culture.
Owner told me that products sold beyond expectations in the first few weeks that they were extremely low on their current inventory. He expects another shipment directly from Okinawa in mid-​August (2006).
They have cool snacks like dried bitter melon (niga-​uri or goya) and candy made of Okinawa black sugar. I really liked their drink selection (some are cooled) which included guava tea and Utchin-​tea. They even carry Okinawa style sake. They also have a wall full of colorful bags and decorative items.
Current state is more like 3 stars, but I give it 4 based on the potential of this store and on their braveness to open such a unique business. Prices are currently high. For example, bag of dried bitter melon is $ 8.98. If you are crazy about dried bitter melon, sure, it’s much cheaper than flying to Okinawa. Assuming, not many has tried this product, paying $ 9 for something you’ve never ate is a bit too steep. I’m hoping that once business picks up, prices would go down and number of products would increase. I’m hoping to start seeing some pig feet, Orion Beer, and other cool products. It might be a good place to pick up an unique gift.
They are located on second floor of Miyako Mall (same area as Ichiban-​Kan). It’s definitely worth a look.