Kiyo's Okinawa Kitchen · the Yanbaru hills, northern Okinawa

People come to my island looking for the reason. I have only ever had the food.

The book is $9.99. The 30-Day Challenge is free. 7-day refund.

The Okinawan Way, the book The 30-Day Okinawan Kitchen Challenge, the workbook

No. 1

The Okinawan Way

A book by Kiyo Higa: one hundred and eighty entries on the sweet potato years, the garden, the shore, the household and the village.

200 pages180 entries12 chaptersPDF and EPUB7-day refund

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No. 2 · Free

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Put your email in the box and two things open on the very next page, both free: the whole 30-Day Okinawan Kitchen Challenge, and Chapter 1, The Everyday Table and the Imo. Thirty days in a Yanbaru village kitchen, one plain thing each day. There is nothing to install and no card to enter.

We keep your address so Kiyo can write to you now and then with something worth reading. One click stops it for good. We never sell it and we never pass it on.

Everyone who has heard of my island expects the same things. This book gives none of them.

Below is exactly what people usually come looking for, and what they get instead. I would rather lose the sale than promise you any of it.

Nothing on this page is a promise about your health, your weight or how long you will live. I am not able to make that promise, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

  1. No. 3

    A food or two that add years to your life

    No such food exists.

    Instead: the real meals an Okinawan village family actually lived on. Chapters 1 to 4 · 60 entries

  2. No. 4

    A strict diet or eating plan to follow

    No plan was ever followed.

    Instead: a whole year of growing and gathering it yourself. Chapters 5 and 6 · 30 entries

  3. No. 5

    One secret ingredient nobody else knows

    There was never just one.

    Instead: family, village and the daily rhythm, in full. Chapters 7 to 9 · 45 entries

  4. No. 6

    A doctor explaining the science

    Kiyo is not a doctor.

    Instead: her own belief, always named plainly as belief. Every chapter, marked as opinion

  5. No. 7

    The words “Blue Zone” on the cover

    Someone else's brand name.

    Instead: the real place, and what actually happened there. Chapters 10 to 12 · 45 entries

$9.99. Once. The pot on my stove has not changed in sixty years.

Get the Book · $9.99

This book makes no claim about your health, your weight or how long you will live. It describes one household's way of life in one place. What you take from it is yours to decide.

No. 8

The Imo Bed, and Why It Beat Everything Above Ground

  1. The garden bed on an ordinary morning: the cane at the edge, the goya on its frame, the sweet potato under the ground.
  2. Then the typhoon. Some years it came twice.
  3. It took what stood above the ground.
  4. The imo was under it. The week after, we dug.

In the book: Chapter 1, The Everyday Table and the Imo · Chapter 5, The Garden Bed and the Subtropical Year

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12 chapters, 180 entries, 200 pages.

Every entry is one page. The old way, in her own words. Then how you might bring a little of it into your own home today. Then one line worth remembering, and a photograph, because a description of an old pantry is worth far less than a picture of one.

You do not need to read it start to finish. Open it wherever your own life needs it that week.

  1. No. 9 · Chapter 1 · 15 entries

    The Everyday Table and the Imo

    The entries
    1. Imo, the Root That Carried Us
    2. The Morning Basket
    3. Kandaba, the Leaves We Also Ate
    4. Nmukuji, the Starch From the Bottom of the Bucket
    5. Jushi, the Rice We Made Go Further
    6. The Miso Soup That Was the Whole Meal
    7. Chikina, Salted Greens Fried in the Pan
    8. Hirayachi, the Rainy Day Pancake
    9. Okinawa Soba, Which Is Not Japanese Soba
    10. Suumashi, the Clear Broth
    11. Barley and Millet, From Before the Imo
    12. The Cold Imo Taken to the Field
    13. Rice, the Thing We Almost Never Had
    14. The Week After a Typhoon
    15. The Extra Bowl by the Door

  2. No. 10 · Chapter 2 · 15 entries

    A Block of Tofu and What a House Did With It

    The entries
    1. Shima-Dofu, Our Own Tofu
    2. Yushi-Dofu, Before It Sets
    3. The Grinding Stone and the Morning Work
    4. Okara, the Pulp Nobody Threw Away
    5. Champuru, the Word for Mixing
    6. Goya Champuru, the One Everybody Knows
    7. Fu Champuru, When the Tofu Ran Out
    8. Somin Champuru, the Noodle Version
    9. Tofu Fried and Salted to Keep
    10. Tofuyo, the Cube That Waited Six Months
    11. Jimami-Dofu, Made From Peanuts
    12. The Soybean Row in the Garden
    13. Miso, Made in the House
    14. Andansu, the Oil Miso in the Jar
    15. The Tofu Woman Who Came Down the Lane

  3. No. 11 · Chapter 3 · 15 entries

    One Pig, and the Year It Fed

    The entries
    1. The Pig in the Corner of the Yard
    2. What the Pig Was Fed
    3. Killing Day, Before the New Year
    4. Everything But the Squeal
    5. Rafute, the Belly Cooked Slow
    6. Ashitibichi, the Trotters and the Kombu
    7. Nakami-Jiru, and the Washing That Took All Day
    8. Mimiga, the Ear
    9. Chiragaa, the Face
    10. Soki, the Ribs on the Soba
    11. The Lard Jar
    12. The Broth Under Everything
    13. Sharing It Around the Lane
    14. Fish From the Reef, the Other Meat
    15. Sukugarasu, the Little Salted Fish

  4. No. 12 · Chapter 4 · 15 entries

    Sugar, Tea and the Clay Pot in the Corner

    The entries
    1. Kokuto, the Black Sugar
    2. Sugar Cane Chewed in the Field
    3. Sata Andagi, the Fried Sugar Balls
    4. Muuchii, the Mochi Wrapped in a Getto Leaf
    5. Chinsuko, the Biscuit Made With Lard
    6. Sanpin Cha, the Jasmine Tea in the Big Kettle
    7. Bukubuku-Cha, the Foam on Top
    8. Shikuwasa, the Sour Little Citrus
    9. Kugani, When It Turns Gold
    10. Candied Peel and Nothing Wasted
    11. Awamori and the Black Koji
    12. Kusu, the Pot That Slept
    13. The Cup Passed Around
    14. The Cold Tea Bottle in the Shade
    15. Imo Mashed With Sugar, Which Was Dessert

  5. No. 13 · Chapter 5 · 15 entries

    The Garden Bed and the Subtropical Year

    The entries
    1. The Imo Bed, and Why It Beat Everything Above Ground
    2. Slips, Not Seeds
    3. Goya on the Frame Over the Door
    4. Nabera, the Sponge Gourd Eaten Young
    5. Toogan, the Winter Melon That Kept for Months
    6. Green Papaya, Treated as a Vegetable
    7. Handama, the Purple-Backed Leaf
    8. Nigana, the Bitter One
    9. Fuuchiba, the Mugwort by the Wall
    10. Shimana and the Salt Tub
    11. Shima-Rakkyo, the Island Shallot
    12. Ucchin, the Turmeric at the Fence
    13. The Bed That Was Planted Every Month
    14. Growing Where the Typhoon Comes Twice
    15. Seeds Kept in the House

  6. No. 14 · Chapter 6 · 15 entries

    What the Shore and the Forest Gave

    The entries
    1. Mozuku, the Slippery Seaweed of Spring
    2. Aasa, the Green Laver on the Rocks
    3. Kombu, the Seaweed That Came by Boat
    4. Kubu-Irichi, the Fried Kombu Dish
    5. Umi-Budo, the Sea Grapes
    6. The Reef at Low Tide
    7. Shells Prised Off the Rocks
    8. Salt Boiled From the Sea
    9. Tanaga, the Prawns in the Yanbaru Streams
    10. Fuuchiba Gathered Wild on the Bank
    11. Bamboo Shoots From the Hill
    12. Getto, the Shell Ginger Leaf
    13. Wild Shikuwasa on the Hillside
    14. The Boar That Came Down to the Fields
    15. What the Forest Was Not For

  7. No. 15 · Chapter 7 · 15 entries

    The House, the Family and the Open Door

    The entries
    1. The Fukugi Trees Around the House
    2. The Hinpun, the Wall Just Inside the Gate
    3. Red Tiles and the Shisa on the Roof
    4. The Yard Where Everything Happened
    5. The Tunguwa, and the Fire in It
    6. The Butsudan, and Eating With the Ancestors
    7. Three Generations Under One Roof
    8. The Grandmother's Job
    9. The Children's Jobs
    10. The Well and the Water Jar
    11. Rooms With Almost No Walls
    12. The Shutters and the Night It Came
    13. The Bride Who Came to the House
    14. The First Bowl a Child Was Given
    15. The House That Was Handed On

  8. No. 16 · Chapter 8 · 15 entries

    The Village and the Word Yuimaaru

    The entries
    1. Yuimaaru, the Word for Doing It Together
    2. Moai, the Circle That Met Every Month
    3. Rebuilding a Roof After the Storm
    4. Planting and Harvest Taken in Turn
    5. The Kaa, the Village Well
    6. The Village Green Under the Tree
    7. The Utaki, the Grove Nobody Cut
    8. The Women Who Kept the Rites
    9. The Funeral and Who Did the Cooking
    10. A Wedding Cooked by the Whole Lane
    11. The Elders and the Meeting
    12. Children Belonged to the Lane
    13. The Sanshin Coming Out After Dark
    14. Kachaashii, the Dance at the End
    15. Nobody Ate Alone

  9. No. 17 · Chapter 9 · 15 entries

    The Shape of a Day in a Yanbaru House

    The entries
    1. Up Before the Heat
    2. Tea First, Then Work
    3. The Morning in the Field
    4. Breakfast Was Yesterday's Pot
    5. Carrying the Water
    6. The Long Midday Rest
    7. The Afternoon in the Shade
    8. The Woman's Day
    9. The Man's Day
    10. The Children's Day
    11. The Rainy Day's Indoor Work
    12. The Evening Cool in the Yard
    13. The Bath and the Last Fire
    14. Supper, Everybody at Once
    15. Real Dark, and Sleep

  10. No. 18 · Chapter 10 · 15 entries

    The Turning Year and Its Days

    The entries
    1. Sougwachi, New Year by the Old Calendar
    2. Jyuurokunichi, the Sixteenth Day
    3. The Week the Cold Has a Name
    4. Hamaori, the Third Day of the Third Month
    5. Shiimii, the Picnic at the Tomb
    6. The Rains, and What Goes Mouldy
    7. Haarii, the Boats in May
    8. Typhoon Season, and the Watching of the Sky
    9. Obon, and the Three Days the Dead Come Home
    10. Eisa, the Drums Through the Lanes
    11. Ungami, the Sea God Festival
    12. Tsunahiki, the Village Rope
    13. The Harvest Dance the Women Kept
    14. Winter, and the Sugar Boiling
    15. Tanka, the First Birthday

  11. No. 19 · Chapter 11 · 15 entries

    Work, Craft and What the Hands Knew

    The entries
    1. Bashofu, the Cloth From a Banana Tree
    2. Three Years for One Bolt
    3. Splitting the Fibre by Hand
    4. Ryukyu Indigo and the Fermenting Vat
    5. The Loom in the Rainy Months
    6. Yanbaru Charcoal
    7. The Boats That Carried the Wood South
    8. Arayachi, the Unglazed Water Jar
    9. The Tiler and His Lime
    10. Cutting and Laying the Thatch
    11. The Coral Wall Built Without Mortar
    12. Baskets Out of Split Bamboo
    13. Straw Rope and Straw Sandals
    14. The Sanshin and Its Snakeskin
    15. Mending Before Replacing

  12. No. 20 · Chapter 12 · 15 entries

    Growing Old, and the Reason to Get Up

    The entries
    1. No Word For Retirement
    2. Ikigai, the Reason to Rise
    3. The Field Kept Small on Purpose
    4. Toshibii, the Year of Your Own Sign
    5. Kajimayaa, the Ninety-Seventh Birthday
    6. The Grandmother Who Still Ran the Kitchen
    7. Teaching a Child to Weed
    8. Handing Over the Fire God
    9. Walking to Somebody Every Day
    10. Being Needed, Not Only Minded
    11. Sitting Under the Fukugi in the Afternoon
    12. The Conversation With the Ones Who Went First
    13. The Elder Who Remembered Everything
    14. Doing a Little Less of the Heavy
    15. What I Would Tell You Last
Get the Book · $9.99 Or read one chapter first, free
Kiyo Higa at her table, the red tile roofs behind her
No. 21Kiyo HigaBorn in a village in the Yanbaru hills, in the north of Okinawa. Has not lived anywhere else.

“I cannot tell you why we lasted. I can tell you what we ate.”

I was born in a village in the Yanbaru hills, in the north of Okinawa. I have not lived anywhere else, and I have never wanted to.

People began arriving some years ago with questions and notebooks. They wanted to know what we ate, and why the old ones here kept working so long. I told them the truth then and I will tell you the same now: I do not know. I only know what we grew, what we cooked, and how little of it we wasted.

So that is this book. Not a plan, not a cure, not a diet. The sweet potato that fed whole generations, the garden bed, the shore at low tide, the block of tofu, the pig at festival time, and the neighbours who never let anyone eat alone.

The deal this book makes with you.

A promise that this food adds years to your lifeNo page in this book claims that, and none ever will. What is here is how the food was made, and why, nothing more.
A doctor, a scientist, or a clinical claimKiyo is not a doctor. Where she believes something works, the book says so plainly, as her own opinion, never as a fact.
The words “Blue Zone” anywhere in this bookThat name belongs to someone else's brand. This book tells you about the real place and the real household instead.
A diet plan, a meal schedule, or a rule to followThere is no plan here. Only a description of how one household actually ate, in its own words, across a whole year.

Read it in any order. Start wherever your own kitchen needs it.

No. 22 · The book

Read it for a week. If it is not for you, I do not want your money.

Read it for seven days. If it has not given you something worth keeping, write to me at hello@kiyosbooks.com and I will refund every cent, no questions. Pay once and it is yours to keep, on your phone, your tablet, or printed at your own kitchen table.

It is a book to dip into, not to finish in one sitting. 12 chapters, each one a different part of the same life.

180Entries
200Pages
7Day refund
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The 30-Day Okinawan Kitchen Challenge, cover

No. 23 · The month

The 30-Day Okinawan Kitchen Challenge

Thirty days in a Yanbaru village kitchen. The sweet potato, the typhoon shelf, the pot and the year, one plain thing each day.

  • Week one: the sweet potato and a garden that survives the wind
  • Week two: the typhoon shelf, from kombu to goya chanpuru
  • Week three: the pot, and what the mainland got wrong
  • Week four: the year and the people, writing it down, and a day cooking with somebody younger

A few things come from an Asian grocer: kombu, bonito flakes, goya, miso. I tell you what to use if you cannot find them. The two days I would not skip are the chanpuru on day fourteen and writing it down on day twenty-seven.

Send me the free challenge

The challenge is free. The Okinawan Way is $9.99.

Watch how the challenge works

Questions people ask

Is this a diet book?

No. It is a description of a way of living, food included. It makes no promise about your own health, your weight or how long you will live.

Is there medical or financial advice in it?

None, deliberately. Kiyo is not a doctor, a nutritionist or a financial adviser. Where she shares her own belief about why something worked, the book marks it plainly as her opinion, never as guidance.

I cannot buy goya, or any island vegetable, where I live.

Most American shops do not sell it, and the book was written knowing that. Every entry that leans on an island vegetable names what an ordinary American shop actually sells that will do the same job, and says plainly where the swap changes the taste.

Is any of this historically accurate?

The food and customs described are real, checked against the historical and cultural record. Kiyo tells it in her own voice, the way a grandmother would tell it at her own table.

Why doesn't the book use the words “Blue Zone”?

Because that name belongs to someone else's brand. This book describes the actual place and the actual household instead of borrowing someone else's label.

What do I get, and is it a subscription?

Two files, emailed the moment you buy: a 200-page PDF for reading or printing at home, and an EPUB for Kindle and e-readers so you can set your own type size. You pay once. Nothing renews.

Can I get it on paper?

Not as a printed book. It is a digital book you can print yourself, which is what keeps it at $9.99 instead of what a 200-page illustrated hardback would cost.

No. 24 · The last one

There was never a secret on this island. Only a garden, a shore, and people who kept each other close.

12 chapters on the food, the garden, the shore, the household, the village and the turning year of a northern Okinawan village. 200 pages, 180 entries, a photograph on nearly every one. $9.99, once.

Get the Book · $9.99

7-day refund · emailed instantly · PDF and EPUB · or read one chapter first, free