MOTOBU, Japan -- National Route 58, the occupation-era road that leads from Okinawa's prefectural capital of Naha, taking a northerly course through the city of Nago and around miles of razor wire fencing encircling U.S. military bases, is a study in Americana.
The waves of army surplus stores, tattoo studios, bars serving Miller draft and Kentucky bourbon, and steakhouses hung with the Stars and Stripes, crescendo in the roadside settlement of Chatan, with its ersatz American Village and a seaside shopping center and promenade, where children on skateboards hurtle across boardwalks.
