Makishi Public Market

This guide to Makishi Public Market in Naha starts with Jennifer, a pig's head propped daily on a butcher's counter, and the old Okinawan saying that nothing from a pig goes to waste. It moves through chiragaa, the marinated pig's face sold nearby, and erabu, a venomous sea snake once reserved for the Ryukyu royal court and still eaten for its restorative broth. Along the way it unpacks nuchi gusui, the belief that food itself can heal. Wander the stalls slowly and listen for how unremarkable all of this sounds to the people selling it.