The HotelBank Editorial Team tallied 327,524 guest reviews posted for lodging properties in Okinawa over the most recent 24 months by language. Among foreign languages, the largest share came from Traditional Chinese (Chinese written in traditional characters), with 25,923 reviews, or 7.9% of the total. That narrowly edges out English at 24,982 (7.6%), followed by Korean at 19,661 (6.0%). Traditional Chinese reviews concentrate on room size (19.9%), cleanliness (19.9%), location (19.5%) and value for money (12.7%) — a different center of gravity from Japanese and Korean reviews, where food and warm hospitality rank near the top. This article sorts out how evaluation criteria differ by language, then looks at the properties most discussed in Traditional Chinese reviews, the depth of overnight stays from Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong in Japan Tourism Agency statistics, and the operational implications ahead of Lunar New Year 2027.

Traditional Chinese Is Okinawa’s Top Foreign Language — in Contrast to English-Led Hokkaido

Placing the language mix side by side with Hokkaido brings out the difference in guest profiles between the two areas. Tallying 556,688 Hokkaido reviews over the same 24-month window, the top foreign language is English with 52,831 reviews (9.5%), followed by Korean at 5.1% and Traditional Chinese at 3.8%. In Okinawa, by contrast, Traditional Chinese (7.9%), English (7.6%) and Korean (6.0%) sit close together, and the Traditional Chinese share is about twice Hokkaido’s. While English accounts for a smaller share than in Hokkaido, three European languages (French, German and Spanish) combine for 1.3%, above Hokkaido’s 0.6%. Okinawa, in other words, is anchored in short-haul East Asian markets while also drawing a meaningful number of long-haul European guests.

Foreign-language reviews total 77,926, or 23.8% of all reviews. Roughly one in four reviews is written in a foreign language, so it matters to treat foreign travelers as a core audience of reviews.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews)

Evaluation Criteria by Language — Traditional Chinese Values “Size, Location, Value”; Korean Values “Food, Staff”

So what does each language’s reviews talk about? The table below lists mention rates by language for the main evaluation criteria (the highest value in each row is shown in blue).

*Mention rate = share of reviews in that language that mention the criterion favorably. “—” indicates the criterion did not rank in that language’s top 30 criteria. N = review count (November 2024–October 2026).

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews)

What sets Traditional Chinese apart is that it posts the highest value of the four languages on criteria tied to “room, place and price” — room size, location, value for money, proximity to downtown, shopping convenience and station access. Room size in particular stands at 19.9%, 7.5 points above Japanese (12.4%). Proximity to downtown (11.8%) and shopping convenience (9.3%) do not even make Japanese reviewers’ top 30 criteria, which suggests that a travel style based in central Naha is reflected directly in the reviews.

English reviews, meanwhile, are led by room cleanliness (22.6%), location (17.3%) and friendly staff (14.9%), giving more weight to interactions with people. Korean reviews stand out for taste of food (15.6%), friendly staff (13.6%) and the pool (11.6%), pointing to a tendency to rate the resort stay experience itself. Japanese reviews mention quintessentially Okinawan resort elements heavily, such as the beach (11.7%) and the pool (9.2%). Even at the same Okinawa property, the “sentence that resonates” differs by the reader’s language. A nationwide comparison of evaluation criteria by language is analyzed in detail in What Guests Write About in 8 Languages — 3.46M Review Tag Analysis.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews)

Properties Most Discussed in Traditional Chinese Reviews — Naha City Hotels and a Senagajima Resort

Property rankings by evaluation criterion cannot be filtered by language, so here we took as the population the 176 Okinawa properties that appear in the rankings for eight criteria — room size, location, value for money and others — and tallied, for each property, the number of Traditional Chinese reviews and the most-mentioned criteria. The table below shows the 10 properties with the most Traditional Chinese reviews.

*Covers the 176 Okinawa properties that appear in the rankings for eight criteria: room size, cleanliness, location, downtown, near station, shopping, value for money and view. Mention rates are shares of each property’s Traditional Chinese reviews. Period: November 2024–October 2026.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews)

Most of the top properties are city hotels in Naha, and the most-mentioned criteria center on “ease of using the city” — location, downtown, station access and shopping. Locations along the Yui Rail monorail line or around Kokusai-dori Street, where guests can get around without relying on a rental car, appear to underpin these ratings. On top of that, room size and cleanliness are layered in — a structure that matches the overall trend in Traditional Chinese reviews.

STORYLINE Senagajima, in 10th place, is a different kind of property: 45.7% of its Traditional Chinese reviews mention room size and 37.6% mention the view. It is a resort on an island close to the airport, and what stands out is that the spacious rooms and the ocean scenery are talked about together. Picking out a few actual Traditional Chinese reviews, we find expressions such as the following.

The phrase “able to open three suitcases” shows that room size is judged not simply by floor area but in practical terms — whether a family or group of friends can spread out their luggage. For travelers who enjoy shopping, it is presumably a “spaciousness” that also factors in the extra luggage on the way home.

Depth of Demand — Taiwan Accounted for 32.4% of Okinawa’s Foreign Guest Nights in 2025

Let us back up the review language mix with overnight-stay statistics by nationality. According to the Japan Tourism Agency’s “Overnight Travel Statistics Survey” (2025 final figures, properties with 10 or more employees), Okinawa recorded 6,230,110 foreign guest nights, up a sharp 42.2% year on year. By nationality, Taiwan ranked first with 2,017,950 guest nights (32.4% share, +56.5% YoY), followed by South Korea at 1,153,400 (18.5%, +49.9%), China at 736,600 (11.8%), the United States at 728,840 (11.7%) and Hong Kong at 429,870 (6.9%, +17.0%). Taiwan and Hong Kong together account for 39.3%, consistent with Traditional Chinese being the top foreign review language. How overnight stays from Taiwan spread across Japan’s prefectures is examined prefecture by prefecture in Where Taiwanese Visitors Stay in Japan: 54.6% Outside Major Metros.

*2024 and 2025 are annual final figures; February 2026 is the second preliminary figure. 2024 and 2025 are estimates by nationality (place of origin) for properties with 10 or more employees, while February 2026 covers properties with 20 or more guest rooms. Because the survey’s coverage criteria changed from January 2026, February YoY figures compare values on different bases and are for reference only. The February 2026 figure for the United States is omitted from this table.

Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from Japan Tourism Agency, “Overnight Travel Statistics Survey,” Reference Table 1 (properties with 10 or more employees)

Tracked month by month, overnight stays from Taiwan climbed to 236,580 guest nights in August 2025, and no month of the year fell below 100,000. South Korea peaked in October (124,300 guest nights), and Hong Kong in April (51,620), August (52,070) and December (46,020), with holiday periods differing by market. This spread underpins a structure in which foreign-language reviews accumulate at a steady pace year-round.

Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from Japan Tourism Agency, “Overnight Travel Statistics Survey,” Reference Table 1 (properties with 10 or more employees)

Lunar New Year 2027 Falls on Saturday, February 6 — Taiwan Was +79.0% YoY in February 2026

Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6. As the most recent reference point, look at Okinawa’s foreign guest nights in February 2026 (second preliminary figures), when Lunar New Year fell in mid-February (February 17): of a total of 509,850 guest nights (+39.0% YoY), Taiwan accounted for 185,630, up 79.0% year on year (2026 figures cover properties with 20 or more guest rooms and 2025 figures cover properties with 10 or more employees, so the YoY comparison is for reference only). South Korea recorded 109,760 guest nights (+15.1%) and Hong Kong 27,880 (+12.8%), clearly showing that Taiwan is the core of Lunar New Year demand. Note that Lunar New Year 2025 fell on January 29, and Taiwan’s January 2025 total of 134,740 guest nights was heavier than the surrounding months. Keep in mind that the date of Lunar New Year shifts whether demand leans toward January or February. For how Lunar New Year 2027 overlaps with each market’s holidays, see also Lunar New Year 2027: 4 Markets Converge Feb 6–9, Hokkaido ADR 1.18x.

On pricing, MetroEngines Research puts Okinawa’s estimated settled ADR at ¥13,600 in February 2026 (N=486 properties), up 31.0% from ¥10,400 a year earlier. February 2027 is estimated at ¥13,100 (N=454 properties) and January at ¥11,200 (N=488 properties), based on listings at the time of the survey, suggesting that February — which includes Lunar New Year — will again in 2027 be a winter month in which rates can be pushed up more easily.

*Median estimated settled ADR for Okinawa across all categories (business, city, resort, ryokan, capsule). 2027 values are estimates based on listings as of October 2026 and will change. YoY is not calculated for future months.

Source: Compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

Implications for Operators — Put Size, Location and Value in the “First Line”

To sum up, travelers who write reviews in Traditional Chinese evaluate lodging on room size, proximity to the city, and satisfaction relative to price. These criteria can be applied directly to how properties write their room descriptions and plan names.

First, it pays to communicate room size in numbers and in terms of use. Adding usage-based expressions such as “room to open several suitcases” or “comfortable even for a family of four” alongside the square meters aligns the wording with the practical sense of space described in reviews. For properties with larger room types, simply placing those rooms first on the Traditional Chinese page may change the order of appeal.

Second, describe location concretely as “how many minutes, to where.” In Traditional Chinese reviews, downtown, station access and shopping each appear as independent criteria, so listing the nearest Yui Rail station and walking times to Kokusai-dori or large shopping complexes gives travelers moving from search to comparison something to base their decision on.

Third, value-for-money appeal can be built not through discounting but by spelling out “what the price includes.” Showing included elements such as breakfast, parking and laundry in a list can create satisfaction with the price before booking. February, with Lunar New Year, is also a month when rates rise more easily, and communicating included value widens the room to be chosen while maintaining rates.

Fourth, treat Traditional Chinese and English as equal priorities in multilingual support. In Okinawa, the two languages are nearly tied in review volume, and they reach different audiences: the Traditional Chinese page reaches Taiwan and Hong Kong, while the English page reaches a multinational audience including Western travelers. Korean reviews rate food and staff highly, so giving more space to dining and staff on the Korean page aligns the order of information with the evaluation criteria.

Summary

Of 327,524 reviews in Okinawa, Traditional Chinese was the most common foreign language at 7.9%, followed by English (7.6%) and Korean (6.0%). This mix contrasts with Hokkaido, where English leads, and Japan Tourism Agency statistics likewise show Taiwan accounting for 32.4% of Okinawa’s foreign guest nights in 2025. Traditional Chinese reviews concentrate on room size, location and value for money, with Naha city hotels and resorts offering spacious rooms and views being discussed most. Lunar New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6. Given that overnight stays from Taiwan rose 79.0% year on year in February 2026, tailoring how size, location and included value are communicated in each language should be a key to capturing winter demand.

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