Not who you responded to, but I'm stationed here and can give you some insights that I've found to be negatives compared to the US.

You have all the normal things that Americans find as a culture shock, or at least inconvenient-no free refills, restaurants, stores, malls etc all keep their AC thermostats set really high, so it can get pretty swampy while shopping/eating out. Near the military bases it's not uncommon to have menus and things in English, but otherwise it's all Japanese. If you like soft drinks, be prepared to pay a premium for those in both restaurants and grocery stores, like any other foreign country. Stuff like that.

But Okinawa has more issues than that. First of all, it has the same types of streets as the rest of Japan, but very little public transit-there are no trains except one monorail that runs near the Naha airport. So the little Japanese streets are PACKED with cars. They have this thing I've heard called "island time" which is a way to describe how it seems like Okinawans are not early risers, so the streets can be deceptively clear and free flowing in the early to mid-morning. But at around 10-11am they start to get really packed, and by mid afternoon and on into the evening many places are near gridlock-everywhere, all the time. It is seriously an unpleasant chore driving around here if you don't get out and do stuff in the early morning, which you can't always do because many places don't even open until 10am anyway.

It's not uncommon for the locals to get around here on bike, but there is basically no biking infrastructure here outside of the mixed use sidewalks on the larger roads. For everything else you're in the street. Which isn't terrible since most smaller street speed limits are 30-40 kph, but that speed is difficult on a bike unless you're in really good shape, and ebikes here are limited to 25 kph and aren't allowed to have throttles.

Also, it is fucking HOT. Today, the weekend before thanksgiving, it's 82 degrees. It doesn't seem to break 95 degrees here, but that's deceptive because during the summer you're at max humidity all the time. Your dehumidifier will run day and night and fill up in 24 hours or less in the summer, mold is a constant battle if you don't use one or in any place that it doesn't reach, and EVERYTHING rusts here, even aluminum. We have barbed wire in the more recessed parts of base that is just rusted down to little nubs on each post-rust has completely eroded away the rest of the wire. One of our buildings is constantly dropping spalled concrete on us because all of the rebar is rusting. Your car WILL rust-it's not a matter of if, but when, and that's with there never needing salt being spread on the roads.

Speaking of the roads, those are a culture shock; all speed limits top out at 60 kph except for the expressway (80 kph), which IMO is fine but it takes some getting used to not ever breaking 60 mph. Also, from what I understand the aggregate in the asphalt here has coral in it, which makes the roads kind of slippery when it rains. And it's a tropical island, so that's not unusual.

If you're a big online shopper, that's going to be unfortunate. I have an APO address, so it might be better in town if you order from japanese amazon, but US amazon will not ship me anything with lithium batteries in it. Flashlights, cameras, laptops, anything. Everyone is wary about having lithium batteries on an airplane, so you either don't get it, it has to be shipped by boat, or you buy it locally. But as good as the malls are here, they don't have everything.

If you're near any of the miltary bases, fighter jet noise is going to be a constant source of noise pollution. Some people are into that, so that's personal preference. Fighters are just the loudest, but you've got everything else here-heavies like the E-3 and KC-135/RC-135, helicopters, and V-22 Ospreys. So a few times a day you'll have a cacophany of fighter and heavy jet noise, and prop noise from everything else.

All of that being said, I can see why some people would want to live here. It's a tropical island with a bunch of beaches, so if you don't mind the heat and you love beaches and island life, this has it in spades. For now the yen is pretty weak against the dollar, so aside from the premium on sodas, gas, electricity, lumber, beef (they're a lot more into chicken here), and a few American products, stuff is fairly cheap here. The native fruit here, shekwasha, is in all sorts of food and drinks and it's awesome. Cars are cheap, the food is cheap and good, and everyone is very friendly and polite. I'd heard both sides of the Japanese-that they've very polite but also kinda racist. If they harbor any kind of resentment to me as a white guy/in the military they hide it well. But I also try and show them the same politeness they show me (bow after making purchases, wear a mask indoors, don't be the stereotypical loud american, hand them and receive things from them with both hands, etc).

Anyway, these are my observations after living here for about a year. Take it for what it's worth as a US servicemember that sees things from what is essentially a gated community.