Jack's Place on Kadena

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist


Shortly after my arrival on Okinawa last summer my boss took me to dinner at Jack's Place, a privately owned restaurant located on Kadena Air Base.  It is a great place to dine with most meals in the $15 to $30 range.  The rambling restaurant is three stories tall with a very nice dining area,  bars and lounges, and an outdoor bar on the roof with blazing tiki torches.  Tonight I was back for my second visit at Jack's with my group of buddies - as my birthday celebration continued to drag itself out over the week.   There were five of us present including two relatively new members to the group, and two of our regulars were AWOL (temporarily stateside).

The friends that I have made here are the absolute best part of living on Okinawa.  The civilians are like our military counterparts in that people come and go.  Just as you are getting to know someone they move on - or you do - and new people come in.  We tend to become a very fluid society.  We are also very good about looking out after one another - something that is extremely important in a foreign culture where those of us who are single - including everyone in our group - do not have extended families of blood relatives nearby to rely on in times of need.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and I hereby declare my birthday at an end!  Fortunately Murphy has one coming up in mid-April, so we can have another excuse to party!