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- Hari 51
- Selasa, 28 Juni 2016 09.00
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Ketinggian: 86 mi
JepangChinen Misaki26°10’24” N 127°49’34” E
Memorial
28 Juni 2016, Jepang ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
As you may know, Okinawa has been the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific in WWII. As a testament to that there are several monuments to commemorate the event spread across the island. The majority of them in the south part of the island where the fighting was the fiercest. I went to see the biggest one which also hosts a museum. It took me a while to find the right bus stop with al the timetables being written in Japanese. Luckily there is always the internet to help you on your way a little bit. I tried to ask some people but a lot of people on Okinawa don't speak English, something that surprised me seeing as there are so many American bases on the island.
I had to transfer at Itoman busstop where the connecting bus had already departed because my bus was 4 minutes late. A smiling taxidriver offered to bring me to the monument because he already knew that the next bus would not leave for another two hours. I accepted because the ride was fairly reasonably priced and there was no way i was going to wait 2 hours in the blistering heat. The ride itself was pretty exciting as the driver did not care about traffic laws that much and he actually seemed to enjoy it. Again getting a good conversation going was impossible since he only knew as many English words as i knew Japanese. So i kept him and myself entertained by just saying al the Japanes words i know. That is, until i said Matteyoo. He slammed the breaks and was about to pull the car to the side as i tried to let him know everything was ok. Apparantly saying "Wait!" in a taxi is not a very wise thing to do. :-P
The driver pulled over at the taxistand. I payed him and got out of the taxi. He was about to drive off as i noticed i left my phone in the taxi. A quick tap on the window got his attention and he had to laugh out loud as i grabbed my phone of the backseat.
The museum was very impressive with a first space devoted to the history and how Okinawa got involved in the fighting. The second part is mostly about personal tragedy and people losing familymembers or friends. I won't get much into details but the thing that horrified me the most is that the local people were caught in between the fighting with nowhere to go. Some of that had to hide in the small tombs of their ancesters. Sometimes being sent away by the Japanese soldiers trying to hide themselves. Whole families have died this way and the estimated deathtoll under civillians was over 100.000, a bone chilling number. The facts and events were told without sugarcoating it and that's a good thing.
Just outside the museum are rows and rows of marble walls, with all the names of the people who died during the battle on it. Be it Japanese soldiers, American soldiers or Okinawans. More impressive than any number you read. There was also a monument specifically for the fallen Koreans, people who treated as 3rd rate civilians and forced to do horrible things just to survive. Something
acknowledged by the Japanese government.
Luckily the bus back to Naha was quick to arrive and a friendly older man, Megumisan, helped me on my way and we had a nice chat in the bus.
I had seen posters around town the last couple of days that two baseball teams were about to play against eachother in the baseball stadium and decided to check it out. I am not a big baseball fan myself as it is mainly a tactical game. But the atmosphere here totally makes up for that. The girls walking around with their beer backpacks and the singing crowds that go at it for as long as the game is not finished. I walked around at first and got some pictures with one team's mascottes before buying the cheapest seats in the back of the field. It's only a grassy hill that you could sit or stand on but my guess was that this was also the place where most of the singing would take place. I was right. Pretty soon the first people with drums and trumpets joined me there and they started singing right away. Even before the game had started. Meanwhile a 4 year old kid had arrived on the stands with his father and he was soon challenging me to chase him. Which i did of course. Eventually I ended up running through the croud with him for half the game and he kept screaming "muikai" which means "again". :-) The game ended and i took the monorail back to the hostel and straight in to bed.Baca selengkapnya
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- Hari 52
- Rabu, 29 Juni 2016 09.00
- ⛅ 30 °C
- Ketinggian: 12 mi
- JepangYamakawa26°41’39” N 127°52’41” E
Aquarium
29 Juni 2016, Jepang ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Up until now I had spent most of my time in the southern part of Okinawa but today I was going up north. I had heard about the Ocean Expo Park that was on a peninsula just above Nago. Its main attraction is the Churaumi Aquarium but there are several other attractions of which the traditional Okinawan village attracted my attention. It would be quite a long ride but i figured that if I started early i could easily make it in time and maybe even had some time left for a nearby waterfall. There was a highway bus line that had a stop near Furuja station on the Yui monorail line. It took me a while to find it but was pleasantly surprised to see that the bus would arrive in about ten minutes. I was sweating heavily already and was happy with the idea of sitting in a nice airconditioned bus for a couple of hours. The bus was right on time but only one passenger was allowed to board because the bus was full. He shut the doors of the bus and drove off. There i was, knowing that the next bus would only arrive in about two hours and the risk of it also being full i went back on the monorail to go to the starting point of the bus line, Naha airport. I grabbed some food on the way and i arrived at the airport with time to spare. Eventually the bus came and i had to hurry a little bit to get the correct change before entering the bus. I got in and the airconditioning was on at full power. So cold and so good. I found a seat and slept for most of the ride. I woke up just a couple of minutes before we reached the expo and after getting of the bus, looked for a konbini to get some lunch. I walked back to the expo and quickly found the aquarium. This one is famous for having one of the largest fish tanks in the world, with a really big glass pane so you can see the entire aquarium in one beautiful view. Unfortunately upon entering I saw so many people entering the aquarium and inside it was hard to get a nice spot to view the different basins. There were just so many people crammed together that quietly enjoying the aquarium was not possible. The aquarium itself is setup nicely with nice explanations of the various fish and marine creatures. The big tank is really a spectacular sight and the schools of fish are exceptionally beautiful to watch. I did have some mixed feelings about some of the bigger fish, mainly the whale sharks. Yes they are beautiful creatures to watch but they are a migrating species that travel thousands of kilometers every year. I am no expert but i am not sure if a tank in an aquarium, however big it is, would be a good substitution. On the other hand the animals seem to be taken care of and the folks of the aquarium study their behaviour to help understand and treat them in the wild.
I had enough of all the crowds and went outside past the tanks with manatees and turtles to go and find the Okinawan village. I was only a short walk but the crowds were completely gone so i had a great view of the village itself. Each building had nice information about it's history and the style of building. It was a very pleasant sight after the aquarium. It had gotten past 4pm and i realized i wouldn't be able to make it to the waterfall anymore so i got back on the bus and took another nice cold nap. The last bit of the ride i noticed how deadlocked this city is. Traffic jams are truly everywhere and this road was no exception. It took us a good half an hour longer to get back to the monorail station but from there everything went smooth. I figured it was time for a quick shower and to see if Jack was back from the north as well so we could go out for some food and drinks. He texted me he was back in Naha and that he would soon be back at the hostel. Meanwhile i had taken a shower and got some beers from the Union supermarket. (even this smaller supermarket has it's own repeating commercial blasting through the speakers.) Jack arrived and we went out to an Izakaya that was recommended by the staff. An Izakaya is both a restaurant and a bar and it usually holds no more than ten people at the same time. Not that there is a door policy, more people just don't fit in. This one, named Ryuen, was renowned for it's Soki Soba, a noodle dish with spare ribs instead of pork belly. Very different but not less yummy! Of course washed down with a couple of Orion beers and it made for a great time and meal.
We got some more beers on the way back to the hostel. When we got there it was way after closing time of the hostel so we went straight to our dormitory and to bed.Baca selengkapnya
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- Hari 53
- Kamis, 30 Juni 2016 09.00
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Ketinggian: 6 mi
- JepangKenchōmae-eki26°12’44” N 127°40’45” E
Izakaya
30 Juni 2016, Jepang ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
The last full day! :-( It's hard to believe that more than 7 weeks have already passed since I touched down in Sapporo. Oh well better make this day count then.
First up was Seifa Utaki. The Ryukyu islands had their own religion and Sefa Utaki was one of the most important sites for rituals and ceremonies. Located about an hour busride from central Naha, Seifa Utaki lies in the southwestern part of Okinawa, close to the shore. I had gotten more experienced in the bus system and so bus 38 was quickly found. Halfway through the ride there was a transfer. Not to a different busline, just a smaller bus. When i got off the bus, the friendly busdriver pointed me to the sites ticket counter and where to catch the bus back to Naha. I quickly got a ticket from a vending machine (yes) and walked to the entrance of the site. Seifa Utaki consists of three different spots were the various rituals were performed. The water seeping through the rocks was collected in pots and considered holy water. The site, although not very big, is a beautiful one with lots of great picture opportunities. The spots have information boards explaining the various spots and informing you about their significance in the Ryukyan kingdom. I walked back from the site to the bus stop to find i had about a half an hour before the next bus would come and i went and made good use of it by eating supper on the waterfront.
The busride had a gain this peculiar transfer but went very smoothly, apart from a small discussion with the driver about the amount of inserted money in the machine. He was convinced (but wrong) that i hadn't payed enough but decided to give up after a minute or so.
Back on the monorail to get to Shurijo. I had seen plenty castles on my trip but this was a totally different castle than the traditional ones here. It has bot Japanese and Chinese influences and so had its own style, a bit more lavish than most traditional Japanese castles. The entrance was a bit hard to find but once insided all went well. A guided tour leads you around the castle with information about it's rulers and the history of Okinawa.
I had one more shopping thing to do and that was to look for tshirts with kanji prints on them. I went back to the same. I had to make my own design so it was kind of a challenge to tell her how i wanted it to be but a lot of pointing and hand gestures later and i have this really cool one-off shirt.
I got back to the hostel for a refreshing you know what. ;-) I met Junpei from Kyoto who is here on vacation and after talking for a while he joined me to the Izakaya i was yesterday for again a bowl of Soki Soba and some Orion beers. We had a really fun time with the staff of the bar and one of the girls, Sakura, from HongKong joined us to the karaoke. I hadn't been doing karaoke as much as i originally wanted too but it was so cool to do this again at the last full day of my vacation. I am not going to give you the list of titles of the songs but you can probably make an educated guess. It atleast involved a song about a boat that hit an iceberg haha. We completely forgot the time and so ended up singing until half past two, which meant i was going to have 3 hours of sleep max. Yikes! I said goodbye to my newly made friend and went to bed, hoping for at least some sleep.Baca selengkapnya
