Tropical Dream Center (熱帯ドリームセンター)

The site grew out of the Okinawa International Ocean Exposition (沖縄国際海洋博覧会), held in 1975. Following the exposition, a national commemorative park opened on 1 September 1976; it is now run by the Okinawa Churashima Foundation (沖縄美ら島財団). The park is organised around a three-word theme, 'sun, flowers and sea', in which the Tropical Dream Center stands for the flowers.

The centre opened in February 1986. The park describes it as a 'dream palace' unlike any other in the world, devoted to tropical and subtropical flowers, above all orchids and flowering shrubs, displayed all year round.

In 2026 the centre's fortieth anniversary coincides with the park's fiftieth. To mark the occasion, a public call ran from September to November 2025 to find it a nickname and a catchphrase, with results due to be announced on 8 February 2026. The official website now presents it as '美ら島植物園' (Churashima Botanical Garden), with the catchphrase '360° tropical experience'.

The Tropical Dream Center stands out for architecture that recalls ancient ruins, a choice the park highlights as one of the site's attractions. The complex brings together several greenhouses, each devoted to a group of plants, among them a Vanda house, a fruit-tree house and a Victoria house where aquatic plants and freshwater fish share the same pools.

The symbol of the site is a 36-metre observation tower (遠見台). Its top gives an overview of the gardens and, beyond them, of the East China Sea. The sources consulted do not name the architect of the complex, nor do they give the floor area or materials of the greenhouses.

Orchids are the heart of the collection: more than 2,000 plants are on permanent display, and a whole greenhouse is given over to Vanda. The greenhouses also show tropical flowering trees and shrubs and fruit trees, including the jackfruit (パラミツ), described as bearing the largest fruit in the world.

In the Victoria house, the Paraguay water lily (パラグアイオニバス, Victoria cruziana), a giant water lily with huge floating leaves, shares its pools with freshwater fish such as arowanas and piranhas. Guided flower tours take place every day and introduce the rare plants in the collection.

The Tropical Dream Center lies in Ocean Expo Park at Motobu, about fifteen minutes' walk from the exit of the Churaumi Aquarium; a park sightseeing vehicle also reaches the greenhouses in about twelve minutes. An hour to an hour and a half is enough for the greenhouses and the climb up the tower. Guided tours run daily and an audio guide is available. A visit combines naturally with the aquarium and the park's other attractions, laid out around the theme of sun, flowers and sea.