North to Cape Hedo

I heard the north end of Okinawa is completely different from the very populous southern side and wanted to do some more exploring so I was up early a few Saturdays ago ready to explore.  First stop - Family Mart (Okinawa equivalent of a Circle K) for breakfast.  After fueling up on Japanese pastries and a couple of cans of iced coffee, I was ready to hit the road - sugared and caffeinated for a day long adventure!  First stop was Yomitan - I wanted to see where the pottery village was located. It was still too early in the morning for anything to be open yet but finding places here is more than half the battle in adventuring!

The further north I traveled on highway 58, the less traffic was on the road...and the more beautiful the beaches became.  I detoured thru Okuma, a gorgeous resort area and beach but didn't stop - it was still too "civilized" for my taste.

The beaches along the way were beckoning and I stopped to photograph many of them but was on a mission to Cape Hedo.  Finally, after just a few hours, I has arrived!  (On a side note - Okinawa stretches a total length of 65 miles - less than the distance from my house in Glendale to Prescott in Arizona but to hear the "locals", you would think it was hundreds of miles - I had several people tell me a trip to Cape Hedo was a "weekend" trip, not a day trip.......I think looking at distances in kilometers instead of miles starts to mess with your head after a while?)

I hit some road construction on the way...had to photograph the construction sign....it's just so "polite".   All the road construction signs had some pretty picture on it - maybe they think it will reduce driver stress if the construction signs are pretty?

I had a hard time getting close enough to the cliffs to convey just how incredible the view is....and the power of the ocean below!  There are many signs warning of the danger of the ocean here....and many lives have been lost when not heeding the power of the water....and the danger of the volcanic rocks!

I think one of the more fun things about being here is the tremendous number of random pieces of art.  It's unfortunate the plaques for the statues are in Japanese and I'm not able to read the stories!

I've seen this pole in a number of areas....and find it beautiful and moving each time.  This one is located in an especially beautiful location - hard not to agree with the sentiment!



This was my route around the northern tip.........including a number of backtracks, criss-crosses and "wait, have I driven down that road" moments.....

I'm closing this post out with beach pictures......enough said!

Shurijo Castle - July 4

On Wednesday, July 4, since I had the day off in observance of America's birthday, I took advantage of the free day to visit one of the closer Japanese historical sites, Shurijo Castle.  Unfortunately my advance planning wasn't so great and the more significant parts of the castle were closed that day for renovation work!  However, the rest of the castle grounds were open for viewing.  The history of the castle is quite interesting - especially given the age of the ruins.  Further information can be found here:  http://oki-park.jp/shurijo-park/english/about/index.html

The inner main gate to the castle gives a hint of the amazing architecture of the castle itself.  This is the second inner gate and is a reproduction of the original that was destroyed during WWII.  Portions of the castle were unfortunately destroyed by the US military forces when the castle grounds were discovered to cover numerous tunnels housing high-ranking enemy military forces.  The destroyed sections have been reconstructed as true to the original as possible.  One interesting part about visiting the castle is that many of the paths, walls and walkways seem to be original from the 14th century construction - the rough coral stone blocks certainly looked as though they were many hundreds of years old!

Some of the inner walls sure look original!

This is a reproduction of the original sundial once in use at the castle.  The timekeeper uses solar tracking but is still 30 minutes off.....makes me feel better about the fact that every timepiece I own has a different time displayed!

This small area, the Suimui Utake, was considered one of the most powerful shrines in the entire castle - all incoming and departing convoys stopped here to pray to the spirits to guide and protect them.

Ancient Ryukyan religion included priestesses, Kyounouchi, who were included as members of the royal family and offered up prayers to specific deities.  This is the area dedicated to the prayers of the women.  Interesting trivia- the Kanji character used to depict the Kyounouchi priestess's has been incorrectly linked to female ninja soldiers - apparently a complete misinterpretation of the ancient Okinawa and Japanese languages.

The views from the tops of the guard walls make it evident why the castle was situated in this location.  Even today, with the enormous development on the south end of the island, clear views can be had of the surrounding land and water.

It is hard to imagine what the view must have been like in the 14th century!  Today, the view is endless construction.  The south end of the island is the most populated and developed end- a stark contrast to the isolated and rural north end.

Outside the actual castle grounds are several areas that have been preserved as gardens.  There is a beautiful Buddhist shrine (Bezaitendo) surrounded by a reflecting pool (Enkanchi-Pond) that was donated as a gift by the King of Korea to the Okinawa royalty.  Unfortunately the pool was more green murk than reflective waters during my visit, LOL!  The stone bridge leading to the shrine was quite spectacular though.

 After spending a few hours wandering around the castle grounds, I made my way next door to the royal burial site, the Tamaudan.  This area has been determined to house three key areas - the body preparation chambers and the East and West crypts that held urns containing the bones of the royals.  The walls surrounding the Tamaudan where very clearly the original walls, made of more limestone and coral and fitted together with exquisite care.

  

More information about the royal mausoleum can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaudun

Okinawan and Japanese cultures hold a great deal of honor and respect for their ancestors.  The accepted burial rites include cremation of the body and internment of the bones which are kept in ornate ceramic urns.  The museum attached to the Tamaudun had many photographs and reproductions of the beautiful royal urns.

Outside the walls of the mausoleum itself was a gatehouse manned by members of the royal guard.  Much of the excavations and restoration of the chambers were based on first-person accounts of the royal guards.  This photo was taken from the guardhouse.

This is one of the castle guardsmen inside the main gate.  I felt a bit badly for the poor guy - it was a sweltering hot day and he was forced to wear a heavy costume replicating traditional garb of the royal guardsmen.  At least he was in the shade, the was another guard further inside the castle who was posing for repeated tourist picures in the full sun!

Kokusai Street - Shopping galore!

The boys in my office had mentioned that I needed to go to the "shopping mecca" of Okinawa last week but, after they told it it was "the" shopping destination for tourists, I essentially crossed it off my list thinking it would be another dreadful endless stretch of over-priced junk shops.....sort of like airport gift shops.  Then I met a neighbor in my housing complex who also mentioned that he had been to Kokusai.......and in 4 hours had only managed to see a small portion of what was there....I was  little more intrigued.  On Wednesday afternoon, after I finished my morning adventure (stay tuned for a separate post on Shuri Castle)......I tried to find my way to Kokusai street.  The major roads here do a decent job with signs alerting tourists and visitors to historic, cultural and tourist destinations.  That is, they do a good job until you turn OFF the main road and onto the innumerable tiny side streets!  I circled for what felt like hours - going through the same streets but somehow always managing to miss what I was looking for.  Then, magically, I turned left instead of right and there is was....spread out in all its' glory!  Literally a mile of nothing but shops, one after another........

First priority - parking!  Just for the record, parking is a premium item around here, and failure to adhere to the rules will reward unlucky lawbreakers with a $180 (American dollar) parking ticket!  So, being the good citizen I am, I followed the signs (the "international" sign for parking happens to be a road sign with a blue "P", just in case you're wondering....honest, I read it in a guide book!) and ventured into a underground parking garage.  To my amazement...the parking garage had a automated "car rack" in it - to maximize the number of cars it could hold.  A nice attendant waved me to back my car into a slot, folded my side view mirrors in for me and handed me a ticket. 

This is my cute little rental car being swept away into the storage racks.......it was sort of like the dry cleaners when it was time to return the car to me, LOL!  They checked my ticket, pushed a few buttons and the racks re-arranged themselves until my car popped out.




Kokusai is called the "Miracle Mile" by many....it is literally a mile long length of road that houses thousands of stores and shops.  This was one of the fastest areas of recovery following WWII and it originally started as a black market for goods.  As the island further recovered from the devastation of the war, legitimate trade replaced the black markets and today it is renown shopping area know throughout Asia.  The stores range from very high end department stores akin to Neiman-Marcus or Saks in the states down to shops that are akin to being on the back streets of Mexico - complete with dirt floors!  The main street itself consists of actual stores fronts....but spaced throughout the street are entrances to the back market alley.  These markets are roughly divided into districts - I only made it as far as the Heiwa-dori street which houses many clothing shops including stores with seamstresses standing by to make any alternations on the spot. 

 These picture were all taken from a single spot - I just turned 90 degrees to the four corridors and took the pictures. 

 I was scared to venture too far....it seemed like there was a new corridor every hundred yards or so...I was convinced if I went too far into the side alleys, I would be lost forever in there.....it felt remarkably like Alice in the rabbits hole!  I'll be back though, and next time I'll be a little more adventurous in my explorations.....

I've been told that further along the way, there is a street/alleyway that specializes in foodstuffs including fresh fish and meats that can be taken into many of the restaurants on location and cooked to order, and finally at the very end, an area of pottery shops.

Speaking of food - lunch was my first stop once I finally made inside to Kokusai....this was one of the best and cheapest lunches I've had so far - it was 720 yen - about $10 and included a salad, miso soba noodle soup, rice, tuna sashimi, shrimp tempura and some strange pickled vegetable....no idea what the veggies were but they were delicious!

I also had my first experience with a "traditional" Japanese toilet at the market.  Thankfully I had done some research before I left Arizona and I knew what to do when I saw the toilet, LOL!

For those of you who may be wondering, you crouch over the bowl and do your thing - hanging onto the water line is encouraged because losing your balance could result in a very unfortunate experience.  And yes, there was a stall with a "western" style toilet in the restroom however, it was occupied when I entered the bathroom....and when you need to go, you take what's available.......

Random Sunday Fun - July

Let's go ahead and start this entry with an apology for being behind.......I've been out exploring so much, I haven't had time to show everything I've seen and done in the past week or so.  Anyway, here we go -

My Sunday, July 1, started out with me being awake early - of course!  I either can't sleep in and am annoyed....or conversely, I do sleep in and then I'm aggravated at losing out on perfectly good exploring time!  In any event, I was awake, it was early and I needed to get out of the house so my temporary roommate could sleep in peace....so exploring I went.

My original intention was just to find the east side of the island - shouldn't be too difficult a task since it's not very far.  I got a little sidetracked turning down roads that looked interesting though, and before I knew, I wasn't exactly sure where I was.  I'm sure I've mentioned that my car does have a GPS navigation system....in Japanese...and it was of NO help.  I was on a fairly narrow road somewhere in the middle of the jungle when the narrow road started getting even narrower because there were cars parked on one side.  And a fence on the other side.........I turned a corner and discovered myself in the midst of a very local, very Japanese "park and swap"....and they take the term literally - the cars were simply parked on the side of the road and the folks set up tables with their goods on them.  I got a lot of curious looks from the people there -apparently a slightly crazed looking redhead desperately gripping the steering wheel of her car isn't an everyday sight!  I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures but my overwhelming thought was to get out of there before a car showed up headed in the opposite direction!  Of course, it eventually happened and, when it did, one of us was forced to squueeeezzzee our cars into a minuscule spot in order for the other car to inch past - literally!!  After I got through the mile long stretch of it, I was sorry I hadn't stopped and walked back for photos!  Anyway, on to the next stop.....

I finally made to the east side of things and found a little bay and a very large park next to it - there was even a skate ramp in it.

Even in Okinawa, everyone wants an ocean view from the hillside!

After walking around a bit, I noticed that the park next door was filling up rapidly with lots of families and kids.....and the kids were all wearing some kind of colored vest.  I ended up watching them for well over an hour.....waiting patiently for something to happen......

There were all sorts of speeches made, the kids stood at attention, then sat down, then stood back up....all of the "ceremonies" took well over an hour....and still nothing was happening!

The families were all supportive, each with a tent, refreshments, and drums!  It was the drums that had originally caught my attention - I was wondering if it was some sort of a drumming competition?

After more than an hour in the sun....I gave up and made my way back to the parking lot.  It was then I realized what was about to happen was a track meet - apparently each of the different colored vests represented a class or maybe a different school and they were there for an old-fashioned track meet - sort of like field day back when I was in school!  I've seen track events now on three different occasions - it is evident the Japanese are VERY supportive of their kids and sporting events - between track events and baseball tournaments, there are kids and parents out every weekend at some type of event together.

Later in the day, I was ready for some beach time and decided to head to Zanpa Beach located on Cape Zanpa.  The beach has a full beach club on it, complete with umbrellas and beach chairs that are cheerfully set up for you by an attendant.  Since I was alone, I just spread my towel on the sand to the side and got in a little lounging time.  The swim area was clearly marked and surrounded by netting to prevent dangerous creatures like jellyfish from ruining anyone's day.  The beach attendants take the designated swim area very seriously, I was reprimanded for getting in the water on the wrong side of the net, LOL!

This is the tropical beach sand I had envisioned - it was powdery white sand....the kind that sticks EVERYWHERE!

Swimmers obeying the rules and staying inside the designated swimming area.  Lots of kids and parents enjoying the day.  The beach offers great amenities-a full snack bar, bathrooms, umbrellas, chairs....everything necessary for a day at the beach and all free of charge!

 Every beach should have this - an air compressor for blowing up your inflatable water toys!

 I thought this was sort of funny - a class teaching folks how to snorkel!  Then again, I'm not a very good snorkeler so I might want to consider taking the class??

 One of the best things about the beach facilities- an area for washing off your feet!  The sand was definitely sticky and the foot washing area was quite popular.  The facilities included a full bathroom and shower room as well - no reason to ride back home sandy, salty and uncomfortable after a day at the beach!

On my way back to Chatan-chi.....once again, I took the "scenic" route....Betty-speak for turning down a road that looked interesting and finding myself deep in the midst of some crazy neighborhood.  The road eventually made its way to the fishing marina.  It was interesting....until I realized I was the only one around, then it got a little bit creepy....

There are a lot of random things found on the sides of the roads here.....this is an example of one.  I have no idea what these statues represent (other than maybe someone's idea of a practical joke?) but they turn up fairly frequently.

This one might have be the protector of chickens....he was seated right next to the chicken coop......

My final random sighting in Japan is the hardware store.....its called the Mikiman store (or monkey-man because the logo looks like a monkey dressed in a tool belt)....what struck me as funny is that orange is apparently the universal sign for hardware stores....just like Home Depot!  It must be a guy thing.......

Futemna Flight Festival

The Futemna Flight Festival was originally scheduled for a few weeks prior - but Hurricane Guchol managed to mess with the planning and the events were rescheduled for this weekend.  The Marine camp at Futemna is open to the public for two days and an impressive collection of military equipment, planes, ground vehicles and other fun stuff is laid out on the flight tarmac for everyone to get up close and personal.

The size of the blades on the rotor was impressive!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMH-361

Click here to learn more about the history of the Flying Tigers!

 Felt a little silly when I realized Okinawa is the home of the Flying Tigers!

This plane just looks fast-even sitting still on the ground!

This cargo plan is outfitted at a humanitarian rescue flyer - they had the plane set up to demonstrate how a patient and crew would be carried during flight - in 2011, more than 150 critical "life flights" were made to carry a patient to a facility capable of handling their needs and many hundreds of other less critical patients were transported as well.  Pretty impressive stuff!

This picture is for my firefighting people - you know who you are!  I spent quite a bit of time chatting with the crew and ended up spending my only American cash to buy raffle tickets....after they explained the money would be used to outfit their station with some basic necessities like paper towels and dish soap...apparently military funding only goes so far!  At least they get to play with a pretty nifty rescue vehicle.

 

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 I talked for quite some time to the crew chief for this scary looking helicopter..who coincidentally has parents that live in New River, AZ! The chopper is used to drop teams into hostile territory as well as pick up military personnel when necessary - the picture doesn't do justice to just how fearsome the thing looks!

 

Another chopper with extraordinary blades!

This is one of the humvees outfitted for use in Afghanistan and Iraq - inside it was incredible to see how thick the protective glass is!  I chatted with the crew and they all agreed, when you stop thinking about the fact that these vehicles are designed for war, they make for a heck of a lot of fun out playing in the field!

I ended the day talking with many of the military personnel with less glmaorous jobs - the fuelers, the communications teams and the mobile radar guys.  They were all happy to tell me about their jobs, their feeling about life in the military and how they liked being assigned to Okinawa.  In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't think to take their pictures for every one of you to be able to see the "face" of our military forces.  Every one of them, regardless of their branch of service, Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine, was proud of what they do - even if it was chatting to a Redhead in Okinawa.