Bise-Fukugi Tree Road

This guide to Bise-Fukugi Tree Road in Okinawa traces what the fukugi trees lining this coastal lane were actually planted for, free protection against typhoons, their dense crowns and tangled roots built to take a storm's worst. It follows the smaller trade that grew from their bark, once boiled for a yellow dye prized in Ryukyu textile work, and the wartime demand for dense, rot-resistant timber that later thinned these same rows. Walk the lane slowly, or ride the water buffalo cart that still ambles down the sand.