Naha, Okinawa, Japan

Our last port call in Japan was on the island of Okinawa. It is the largest of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands and lies between the East China Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. During WWII, it was the location of the largest amphibious assault and the last pitched battle of the war. In 1972, the U.S. returned control of the island to Japan, but still maintains a major U.S. air base there. Thanks to their diet of fish and vegetables, the people of Okinawa live longer than most people on earth. Part of their secret is that they stop eating when about 80 percent full.

Okinawa is famous for its Ryukyu awamori liquor, similar to sake, but it is distilled, not brewed like sake. It is only made in Okinawa by a number of distilleries throughout the island. Awamori is made with Thai rice and fermented black koji mold. Apparently, when Commodore Perry visited Ryukyu, he was served aged awamori at a banquet. Awamori is supposed to improve with age.

The major attraction in Naha is Shurijo Castle, which sits high on a hill overlooking the city. Built in the 14^th century, it was the home of the Ryukyu kings for over 500 years. Age and war took a toll on the castle and it was left in ruins in 1945. In 1992, to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the return of Okinawa to Japanese control, the castle was reconstructed using old maintenance records. The builders used 161 wooden pillars to support the immense structure, some that go through two floors. To identify potential problems, they created a 1:10 scale model, which was on display. It was interesting seeing the skeletal structure of the ornate red castle.

Scale Model of Shurijo Castle

We took the monorail to the Shuri Station and walked the short distance to the castle. Music played on the train, making for a nice change. After leaving the station, we ended up taking a roundabout route to the entrance of the castle grounds. But because of that, we got to see a fairly new neighborhood temple that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Temple

The gate leading into the main courtyard of the castle is considered to be one of the most famous in Japan. Unfortunately, it was covered in plastic and scaffolding, so we didn’t get to see it. However, it was very much like the other buildings in the compound in style and color, so we could imagine what it looked like. The courtyard and red painted main building, the Seiden, were quite impressive and looked very much like the pictures we’ve seen of the square and palace in Beijing.

Shurijo Castle Main Hall

On a stage at the edge of the large courtyard, a woman gave lessons to students studying one of the Ryukyus musical instruments, the Sansuen—a thin banjo-type musical instrument. If we had been an hour earlier in arriving, we could have seen a performance of musicians playing the Sansuen.

Music Classes

We had to remove our shoes upon entering the building and carry them with us as we toured the various rooms, including the ornate throne room. I thought it was remarkable that the building was in such perfect condition, but understood why when we learned that it has been reconstructed in 1992. The builders did a remarkable job and it looked quite authentic.

Castle Throne Room

The curators are quite proud that the Seiden or main hall was once the venue for a G8 meeting, this one attended by President Bill Clinton. They displayed the menu for that dinner, along with pictures of the attendees, on large posters. They started dinner with lobster.

The docents or guards around the castle grounds wore a type of traditional robe and headgear that we hadn’t seen anywhere else in Japan. The headgear resembled a large pillbox worn by women in the 1960s.

When we entered the castle grounds, John had been handed a Stamp Collecting Rally form, probably intended for children. It provided a map through the castle grounds and buildings with boxes to put a red stamp at each point. A red stamp pad and stamp, in the shape of the place visited, was provided on a stand at various points. It brought out the kid in John, and he dutifully added the stamps to his form at each stopping point.

When we went to leave, one of the guards at the gate took the form, counted the number of stamps, and checked the answers to the questions on the back of the form. Because John had been given a form in Japanese, and he couldn’t read the questions, the guard wrote in all the answers and told John where to go to collect his prize. We got a good chuckle out of it, and John said he could live without the prize. The guard also gave him the form in English so he could see what the questions were. He still probably couldn’t have answered them correctly.

Castle Guard

As we were leaving the castle grounds, we saw a graceful long-necked white crane sitting on a building near the castle reservoir. Since it didn’t move, we thought it was a model, but then it surprised us by suddenly taking flight. Cranes are beautiful birds and frequently appear in Japanese art.

Crane

Since we were at the most southern part of Japan, the weather was warmer than it had been, and flowering plants were everywhere, including beautiful Hibiscus.

Retracing our route, we managed to find the train station. Again we were impressed with how clean everything was, even along the railroad tracks. A sign posted at one of the train/subway stations said that items dropped along the tracks would not be retrieved during working hours. So if you dropped your purse onto the tracks, you wouldn’t get it back until after closing time.

Young Japanese Women Greeting Customers at Restaurant

Returning to the location of the shuttle pick-up place, we heard a loud commotion and wondered what was going on. Protestors shouted loudly using megaphones and carried posters. One small poster was in English, so we were able to figure out what they were protesting: Chinese goods being imported into Japan. Even in Japan they were appealing to people not to buy cheap Chinese imports.

As the sun began to fade that evening, we sailed away from Japan--hoping one day to return.

British Flag Flying as We Sailed Away