Okinawa info.

Shurijo Castle offers glimpse into Okinawa's past

2006-01-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

Nestled deep in the heart of Okinawa's busiest city lies a beautiful tribute to the island's ancient culture; Shurijo Castle, a fully restored monument to Okinawa's past.

Shurijo Castle dates back to the 14th century where it served as both a royal residence and the center of government and religion. Nearly all important government and religious ceremonies were held at the castle, such as the ceremony Chou-hai-o-ki-shiki, held the first morning of the new year.

In the early 15th century, King Sho Hashi gained control of the three divisions of Okinawa, thus unifying the island for the first time and placing the seat of government at Shurijo Castle. The unifying of Okinawa marks the beginning of the Kingdom of the Ryukyus and the founding of the first Sho Dynasty.

The castle housed the kings of the Ryukyus until the Japanese overtook Okinawa in 1609. After the overtaking, the kingdom was forced into a feudal relationship with Japan.

In 1879, the Japanese deployed soldiers to forcibly demand the turnover of Shurijo Castle, consequently ending the independent rule of the 450-year-old Ryukyuan Kingdom, and establishing the Okinawa Prefecture.

Following the kingdom's demise, the castle was used for a multitude of things. It was first used as a barracks then later as classrooms for Shuri City Women's Crafts School, Okinawa Prefectural School for Industrial Apprenticeships and Shuri No. 1 Elementary School. It was also the site of underground air raid shelters and housing for the Japanese army before World War II.

In 1945, when Okinawa became the site of a fierce battle between Japanese and U.S. forces, the castle was reduced to rubble.

In 1992, after more than six years of renovation, Shurijo Castle was once again open to the public. Although the exterior of the buildings are completely restored, the interiors are still being perfected.

The castle offers visitors a panoramic view of Naha Harbor and is said to be located at an exceptionally fortuitous site full of positive spiritual influence, according to Fengshui, the Chinese practice of predicting fortunes of castles, residences and tombs.

The castle is the site of more than five festivals throughout the year and is open year-round until at least 6 p.m. The castle is illuminated until midnight every night, offering tourists a beautiful view of the high castle walls.

Visitors can expect to see gates and walls decorated in traditional dragons and gold leaf writing. They will be able to explore the castle grounds, fountains and gardens. Tour guides and other hosts are dressed in traditional period clothing. Many of the gardens are under construction but should be completed within the next year.
Source

Okinawa cuisine is worth every bite

2006-01-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

The new year is here, and high on that list of resolutions was one to “try some of Okinawa’s native dishes.”

Right up front, set yourself at ease. It isn’t going to be a traumatic experience where you’ll have to eat beetles or lizards or monkey brains.

Okinawan food is downright delicious.

Okinawa’s reputation for having the longest life spans of any people in Japan is attributed to many things, including the temperate climate here in the southernmost prefecture. More to the center, though, are the combination of Okinawan mindset and diet. An almost stoic acceptance of what life brings, blended with a belief that food is ‘kusiumun’, medicine, leads to the belief that food is ‘nuchigusui’, healthy for life.

Okinawan food is not Japanese food. Aside from embracing rice as a staple, local food is totally different. The Ryukyu Kingdom, the forbearer to Okinawa the Japanese prefecture, picked up much of its culinary styles and techniques from China, as well as other Asian trading nations that included Thailand and Korea.

Pork is the cornerstone in Okinawa cuisine, much as beef is with Americans. It’s been around since the Chinese introduced it in the 14th century, and Okinawans use every single part of the animal in their cooking. Pork’s abundance of vitamin B1, which purges the body of proteins and cholesterol, is attributed to the long life syndrome achieved by Okinawans.

The pork is slow cooked to achieve tenderness and to eliminate fat. Two dishes easily accepted by the western palate are rafute, pork marinated and then cooked in a brown sugar and soy sauce, and soki, a spare ribs dish cooked with soba noodles with seaweed and soup. A couple other pork dishes loved by Okinawans, but which will take the proverbial leap of faith to try, are tebichi and mimiga. Mimiga is pig’s ear, sliced into slender strips and eaten as a snack or a salad. The true delicacy is tebichi, a unique dish with pigs feet being boiled for a long, long time, then slow cooked over a low heat. They’re actually quite good, and very tender.

Vegetables are a staple in Okinawa cooking. There are some which are not part of western cooking styles, such as mugwort, a medicinal herb, and goya, a bitter melon. Goya is chock filled with vitamin C, and is terribly bitter when eaten raw. You’ll find it cooked and served here with scrambled eggs or tuna, giving it a more refined taste.

Sauteed dishes often integrate goya, as well as tofu an noodles. Champuru is the name for a tofu stir-fried with vegetables. Add somen, a noodle, and somen champuru is a popular dish that includes leeks as well. Noodles are a mainstay of local cooking, served with everything from sanmai-niku, the port we’ve been talking about, with noodles both on the plate and in a soup.

Okinawa noodles are made with wheat flour.

Fish ranks alongside pork as the most popular dishes, with chicken coming in third. Okinawa’s fishing fleets bring a vast variety of fish to islands’ dinner tables. A visit to the Makishi Kousetsu Market, in the Heiwa Dori area of downtown Naha, is an eye opening experience. Be sure to take your camera, because it’s an odds-on bet you’ve never before seen so many different fish, not to mention other foods. There’s even a set of restaurants on the market’s second floor where you can take your fresh purchases for an immediate meal.

There’s more to Okinawa cuisine than the everyday dishes. The royal court of yesteryear is preserved by the Okinawan people, and many of the traditional royal dishes are served today. Some, such as boiled salted pork, suchikaa, sea grapes, tofuyo, a cultured tofu, sukugarasu, tofu with salted fish, and kuubu-irichii, a fried kelp, aren’t too much of a gastronomic leap.

On the other hand…..there are some dishes you’ll have to take on a leap of faith. Nakami soup, made from cow entrails, yagijiru, goat stew, and irabu-jiru, sea snake soup, are a little different for the western palate.

So is inamuduchi, an Okinawa soup made with miso, a bean paste, vegetables and pork entrails. We’d add here that miso is more than okay; it’s the other ingredients that give some cause for thought.

Seaweeds are imported from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, and fit well with many local dishes. Different, we’ll concede, but nutritious and tasty too.

The questions then are “what should we try?” and “what should we do if we don’t like it?” The answer to the first is to try everything. The second will come far less often, and a simple discrete movement with a formerlyconcealed handkerchief will make the offending morsel disappear. You’ll be surprised how delicious Okinawan foods are, and will be anxious to go back for more.
Source

Ancient traditions and omens linked to foods

2006-01-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

The holiday celebrations are in full swing, and will continue through the lunar new year late this month.

Foods are at the heart of many celebrations, and there is more to the process than simply nibbling and eating. Okinawans believe strong meanings are linked to various foods. In essence, eating certain foods evoke certain omens.

Pork is considered a food that brings happiness. Eating yams is believed to keep a person from growing old, and seaweed promotes long life. Want children? Eat fish cakes and fish eggs.

Want to have money…to be wealthy? Fried eggs and yellow chestnuts will lead in that direction. Good health is believed to get a boost from pork intestine soup, and also from tofu.

Keeping the evil spirits at bay is thought to best be accomplished by chowing down on squid.

Holiday festivities used to take days to prepare for, with family members gathering to prepare everything in a single household in anticipation of the celebration. Today, young people consider themselves too busy to commit to all the cooking, and are turning to hotel chefs to work the culinary magic on their behalf. While some housewives are doing the cooking at home, many are ordering from hotels and restaurants.

It’s not cheap, but the meals are delicious and presentation is exquisite. Figure on Y16,000~35,000 for a full food set. The Laguna Garden Hotel in Ginowan is one specializing in holiday feasts. Chefs have been slaving and fretting for days to make everything ready.

Expensive dishes including crab, lobster, shrimp, roast beef, smoke salmon and caviar are extremely popular, and orders have been flowing in for weeks. The tempo is slowing now, but will crank up again for the Lunar New Year.

More food and less exercise is proving a problem to waistlines this holiday season. Medical professionals note people tend to eat over and over, and are gaining weight at an unprecedented clip. Radio and television are now rolling out the post-New Year’s holiday programs promoting fitness. One radio and television magazine is touting the obvious, that people should not be eating before they’re really hungry. The holiday season tends to find people doing lots of snacking and nibbling. Instead of high calory, high carbohydrate foods, the experts encourage a trend toward vegetables.

New Year’s gifts, Otoshidama, are ever popular, with relatives being the principle beneficiaries.

Money is given to children and other relatives, and bosses are doling out money to office staffs. The whole issue is so steeped in Okinawan culture that families are even going into debt to meet the otoshidama requirements. Social counselors point out that many families are now forced to take out bank loans to have the money to “properly” celebrate the new year.

Okinawa base locations

2005-12-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

Okinawa Explorer Guidebook

2005-11-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

A new guidebook called the “Okinawa Explorer” has hit the shelves. It is the end result of a six-year project by author Kenny Ehman, who is a thirteen-year resident of Okinawa. With the help of his sister and brother-in-law, Kim and Tim Streaty, the trio designed and self-published a helpful guide for foreign tourists coming to Okinawa. Unlike past books written about Okinawa, which focused only on specific topics, the Okinawa Explorer covers everything from A to Z in an easy-to-understand format.

This book is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Okinawa. Kenny Ehman will be present for a book-signing event on Saturday, Nov. 26, from 1 - 4 p.m., at the Kadena BX. The book is available at Tuttle Book Store (Plaza House Shopping Center), Naha Seamen's Club, Libro Book Store (Naha Ryubo Shopping Center), Paul and Mike’s Place (Naha) Kadena BX, Camp Foster Book Mark, and Torii Station Shopette.

I am trying to contact someone to find out how people not living on Okinawa currently can order the book.
I will post back in this thread when I have the information.

Ok here's the link to buy the book online for $19.95.

Buy the book

Shisa, Himpun and Ishiganto ward off evil spirits

2005-11-18T07:43:00.000-08:00

Keeping evil spirits at bay has long been an Asian challenge.

Throughout the centuries, evil spirits, bad luck and negative karma have been of serious concern to Okinawans, who developed ways of blocking the bad vibes. Island locals have seized upon shiisa as a principal way of dispelling evil. Shiisa are lion figures, which Okinawans trust to cast away evil spirits.

Shiisa are the most recognizable of Okinawa’s physical markers against the world’s evils. Two other common methods of repelling bad spirits are himpun and ishiganto. Like shiisa, himpun and ishiganto are steeped in Chinese history, tradition and myth.

Himpun, which means partition or fence, is found in traditional Okinawan homes. A himpun is placed horizontally across the entranceway to the home, blocking visitors from direct access. Stemming from the Chinese words ping-feng, himpun serve as partitions or barricades to prevent outsiders from looking inside a home. Aside from the pure physical move of stopping prying eyes, tradition dictates that the himpun wards off both intruders and evil spirits lurking in the neighborhood.

The himpun are typically built of stones, then topped with a traditional Okinawa tile roof or a combination of woods and well trimmed hedges.

The ishiganto, simple stone tablets engraved with three Chinese characters, serve notice to evil spirits to stay away. The characters ishi, meaning stone, gan, which issues a challenge or a dare to outsiders, and tou, meaning hit, are emblazoned onto the tablets. Ishiganto found their way to Okinawa from China more than five centuries ago.

By Chinese folklure, evil spirits are limited to movement only in straight lines. Because of the way homes are constructed, ishiganto are essenntial in keeping evil spirits from wandering inside. The ishiganto are traditionally made from stone, although some carved from wood can also be found around Okinawa. There’s also a Chinese tale that a brave warrior named Ishiganto had the power to alter evil actions or bad luck into positive omens. For that, Chinese families carved his name on the tablets and put them outside their homes for protection.

Shiisa, the lion dogs, are most popular and commonly seen across Okinawa. As with much of Okinawa’s history, shiisa eminated from China, where a vile monster, Nien, terrorized the countryside centuries ago. Neither humans nor animals could defeat the monster in battle after battle. Finally, a lion whipped the monster and sent him fleeing.

Years later Nien returned, and villagers were forced to create imitation lions to scare the monster away. The shiiisa, lion dog, was created.

Traditionally, the shiisa are in pairs, one on the left of the protected area and the other on the right. One has an open mouth to attract positive spirits and good fortune, and the other a closed mouth, admonishing evil spirits to stay away.

Shi-shi dogs, as they’re happily referred to by Okinawans, are a positive influence to locals, and also to tourists. They’re found in all shapes and sizes, and some artisans go the extra steps to make theirs artistic and special. Naminoue Shrine and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum are well known for their shiiisa, but you’ll find them everywhere from RyukyuMura and Gyokyusendo theme villages to the smallest of neighborhoods.

The red clay animals once adorned the roofs of virtually all buildings, but as the red tile roofs began being replaced, the shi-shi dogs found their way to alternate locations around the buildings.
Source:Japan Update

The story of a rope - the Naha Tsunahiki - JapanUpdate.com - Okinawa News, Classifieds, Events, Culture, Forums, and more!

2005-10-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Naha Tsunahiki rope is more than 200 meters (650 feet) long this year, weighs 90,500 pounds, and is 1.56 meters in diameter.

It takes a lot of straw to create the rope used in the Naha Tsunahiki each year, a project done on the southern edge of Naha Military Port. The tug-of-war takes place each year, and the rope is rebuilt—and stretched a bit—every time. Tons of straw are painstakenly handwoven into strands, with each 40 strands being twisted into a thin rope. Nine thin ropes become a larger foundation rope used to form both the main ropes, each about 100 meters long, and to accomplish a band wrap around the bundled individual main ropes.

For the 13th straight year, Naha Military Port’s 835th Army Transportation Battalion has volunteered its land as a construction site. It’s a secure area for construction, where more than 20 workers labor more than two months fabricating the rope and stretching to rest along 60 pallets.

Although the Ryukyu Kingdom Festival has endured for centuries, and the modern tug-of-war era more than three decades, the tsunahiki came to international attention in 1997. The Guinness Book of World Records saw the tug-of-war in Naha, and documented the giant rope as the largest in the world made from natural materials (and used in a tug-of-war)."

Kijimuna

2005-09-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

In Okinawa there's a kind of ubiquitous sprite known as kijimuna, though in the northern area it is called sema or bunagaya. Most all of the stories describe the sprite as a child-like creature with a red face and red hair living in the hollow of big old trees such as the banyan tree (called gajimaru in Okinawa). The kijimuna is said to like fishing, but it dislikes octopus. It also has a penchant for eating the left eye of any fish it catches. Sometimes it carries along a flame or firebrand while walking through the forested foot of the hills and mountains or along the beach. (That wandering light is called kijimunabi "kijimuna firebrand/torch"). Also it has been known to approach a sleeping person, and to press itself on the person's chest making it impossible for the person to get up. Being mysteriously tied down and immobilized like that is called kanashibari in mainland Japan. There are stories of persons who managed to get on good terms with the kijimuna and as a consequence became rich. But when the relationship went sour, the person ended up chasing away the kijimuna by throwing octopus at it. But recently there are few reports of kijimuna being encountered.

Kijimuna (fairies or bogeys) live in villages in Okinawa. In some places people call Kijimuna 'Bunagaya', which means a living thing with a large head. Kijimuna usually live in big old trees,especially Banyan trees. People in Ogimi and Kunigami village, Okinawa, say that Kijimuna are fairies.

Kijimuna are short, like little boys or girls of three or four years old. They have long brown/red hairs that cover all of their bodies. Kijimuna come out from the big trees in the evening, and sometimes attack people. They then cover the person with their bodies. Women usually get covered by male Kijimuna. It is unusual for a man to be covered by a female Kijimuna. A person who is attacked by a Kijimuna can't move or breath.

Kijimuna is a good fisherman. IF a person becomes Kijimuna's friend,it takes that person on it's back and flies over the mountains and the sea. Kijimuna hates it when humans break wind. If a person breaks wind on Kijimuna's back,he or she is thrown off, over the mountains and the sea, and their skin is sprayed with poison.

People Drifted to Okinawa in the Jomon era?

2005-08-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

There is a famous piece of folklore about the origins of the Okinawan peoples. It says, in the Jomon Era (13,000–300 B.C.), they migrated from mainland Japan by way of the Black Stream.
　In an attempt to check the truth of the legend, a group named, Nirai Kanai began a unique experiment. On August 1st, they threw 1,000 wooden tops into the waters off Yonaguni.
　3 buoys with tracking technology were also included in the experiment to help follow their path. The tops contain messages written by local children in a variety of languages, including English and Japanese.
　They ask that the finder please call and report the location at 03-3341-6852 or send an e-mail to ocean@nirai-kanai.org"

2005-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Okinawa as viewed from Space shuttle mission STS-43,1991.

Okinawa 200 mi. map

2005-07-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Okinawa 4500 mi. map

2005-07-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Typhoon alley

2005-06-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Kuroshio Current, warm current in the western Pacific Ocean. It flows northeast from the Philippines along the eastern coast of Japan. Near northern Japan, the Kuroshio merges with a cold, southeastern current. The two currents become the North Pacific Current, which runs east through the Pacific Ocean and brings mild temperatures to the west coast of North America. The Kuroshio Current carries tropical waters and heat energy into the temperate latitudes along the east coast of Asia.

The Kuroshio Current is narrow and fast-moving. It is 80 km (50 mi) wide and reaches speeds of 3.5 knots. Like its equivalent in the North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream, the Kuroshio varies in speed and meanders like a giant river, often straying from its normal course. The strength of the current varies with the seasons, reaching its peak between May and August. Its name, which is Japanese for “black stream,” describes its dark appearance in comparison to the surrounding water when viewed from a distance. At closer range, however, the waters of the Kuroshio take on striking blue-green hues. See Ocean and Oceanography.

The Kuroshio Current is sometimes referred to as Typhoon Alley because of the severe tropical storms that follow its warm-water energy path to strike the coasts of the Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea. The Kuroshio region has the world’s highest incidence of severe tropical storms, with most occurring between July and October.

Sato Eisaku (1901-1975)

2005-06-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sato Eisaku (1901-1975), Japanese statesman and Nobel laureate, born in Tabuse. Sato received a law degree from Tokyo Imperial University in 1924 and joined the ministry of railways. He was elected to the lower house of the Diet in 1948 as a Liberal and later served in several cabinet posts. In 1964 he became prime minister. Under Sato's guidance the country continued to grow as a major power. In 1969 he signed a treaty with the United States for the return of the Ryukyu Islands to Japan and removal of U.S. nuclear weapons from the region, but he was forced to resign in 1972 because he had allowed some U.S. forces to remain on Okinawa. He was awarded the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the conclusion of a nuclear nonproliferation pact.

Matthew Calbraith Perry(1794-1858)

2005-06-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Matthew Calbraith Perry(1794-1858), was an American naval officer, who commanded the expedition that established United States relations with Japan. Born on April 10, 1794, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the brother of Oliver Hazard Perry, he began his naval career as midshipman at the age of 15; he advanced to lieutenant in 1813 and to commander in 1826. He supervised the construction of the first naval steamship, the Fulton, and upon its completion in 1837 he took command with the rank of captain. He was promoted to commodore in 1842. In 1846-1847 he commanded the Gulf squadron during the Mexican War.

In 1853 Perry was sent on the mission to Japan, a country that had been closed to outsiders since the 17th century. On July 8, he led a squadron of four ships into Tokyo Bay and presented representatives of the emperor with the text of a proposed commercial and friendship treaty. To give the reluctant Japanese court time to consider the offer, he then sailed for China. With an even more powerful fleet, he returned to Tokyo in February 1854. The treaty, signed on March 31, 1854, provided that humane treatment be extended to sailors shipwrecked in Japanese territory, that U.S. ships be permitted to buy coal in Japan, and that the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate be opened to U.S. commerce. Perry's mission ended Japan's isolation, a prerequisite for its subsequent development into a modern nation. Perry died in New York City on March 4, 1858.

Yen

2005-06-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

In 1870 the yen was designed as a coin similar to the U.S. silver dollar and was minted in gold until 1888, and then in silver until 1914. Multiple-yen coins continued to be minted in gold until 1932. The yen was divided into 100 sen and into 1,000 rin. In 1949 the yen was assigned a fixed value of 360 to one U.S. dollar, and the sen and rin subsequently dropped out of usage, although they continue to be employed in financial calculations. The yen began to float in value in 1971; the exchange rate fell below 120 to the dollar for the first time in 1992. Today coins are minted in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 yen, along with banknotes of 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 yen. Notes of 500 yen are being phased out. The yen is one of the strongest currencies in the world.

Kanji,Hiragana,Katakana

2005-06-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Japanese writing uses two principal systems of orthography: Chinese characters and syllabaries, a system in which each written character represents a syllable. Japanese was strictly a spoken language before the introduction of Chinese characters, or kanji, in the late 5th century. The system of Chinese characters is generally considered the more difficult system to learn and use because of the large number of characters and the complexity involved both in writing and in reading each character. Each character has an associated meaning, as opposed to letters in alphabets, which individually have no meaning. There are tens of thousands of characters attested in the Japanese language, but in 1946 the Japanese government identified 1850 characters for daily use. In 1981 the government increased the list to 1945 characters and gave it the name Joyo Kanji List (kanji for daily use.) The characters in the Joyo Kanji List must be learned in primary and secondary schools, and newspapers generally limit the use of characters to this list. Most characters have at least two readings: the native Japanese reading and the reading that simulates the original Chinese pronunciation of the same character. If the same character came into the Japanese language at different periods or from different Chinese dialects, the character may have several Chinese readings that represent different historical periods and dialectal differences.

The second writing system consists of syllabaries, or kana, which the Japanese developed about 1000 years ago from certain Chinese characters. Each syllabary is a character that represents a syllable in the language, and, unlike a Chinese character, it represents a sound but not a meaning. There are two types of syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, each containing the same set of sounds. For example, the sound ka in Japanese may be represented by the hiragana or the katakana , both of which evolved from the Chinese character . Hiragana is often used in combination with a Chinese character. Katakana is used to write words borrowed from Western languages such as the French language, the German language, and the English language. Kanji, hiragana, and katakana frequently appear in the same sentence. Along with Chinese characters and syllabaries, the Latin alphabet is sometimes employed for such elements as names of organizations.

Ryukyu islands

2005-06-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ryukyu Islands, chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of mainland Japan, between Kyushu Island and the northern tip of Taiwan.

The Ryukyus consist of three major groups: the Amami Islands in the north, the Okinawa Islands in the central area, and the Sakishima Group to the south. The larger islands are volcanic with mountainous terrain, and most of the smaller islands are flat coral formations. The principal agricultural products are sugarcane and sweet potatoes, and manufactures include Panama hats, textiles, and pottery. The leading exports are black sugar and canned pineapples. Naha, on Okinawa, is the principal city. Okinawa, Kokusai, and the Ryukyus universities are located on the island of Okinawa.

Before the conclusion of World War II, the islands formed the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan. During the postwar period the United States occupied and administered the islands, declaring the residual sovereignty of Japan over the islands in 1951. In 1953 the Amami Islands were returned to Japan and incorporated into Kagoshima Prefecture. Under an agreement reached in 1971, the remaining U.S.-occupied islands were returned to Japan in 1972; they now form Okinawa Prefecture.

The people of the Ryukyu Islands are related to the Japanese racially, culturally, and linguistically, and their history has been strongly influenced by both China and Japan. The Chinese first invaded the islands in the 7th century, and in the 14th century China established a supremacy that lasted for five centuries. Japan invaded the Ryukyus in 1609 and joined China in requiring tribute money. In 1879 Japan dethroned the ruler of the islands and annexed the Ryukyus as the Okinawa Prefecture; China protested, but the Japanese remained in control of the entire chain. In April 1945 the island of Okinawa was the site of a famous World War II victory of United States forces over the Japanese.

Human beings may have inhabited the Japanese island chain as early as 200,000 years ago. Very little is known about where these people came from or how they arrived on the islands. However, during the ice ages of the Pleistocene Epoch (1.6 million to 10,000 years ago) sea levels were much lower than they are today, and a land bridge temporarily linked the Japanese islands to the Korea Peninsula and eastern Siberia on the Asian continent. Historians theorize that successive waves of Paleolithic hunters from the Asian mainland may have followed herds of animals across these land routes. The Paleolithic culture of Japan’s earliest inhabitants produced rough stone tools and articles of bone, bamboo, and wood.

Okinawa shipwreck

2005-05-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

USS Emmons
The only known shipwreck off Okinawa that exisits to this day.

On picket duty off Iheya Jima in April 1945 as part of Operation Iceberg. It was a survivor of Operation Overlord and Operation dragoon in France prior to Its duties in Okinawa as a minesweeper. At 1630 On April 6th 1945 while assisting its sister ship, the burning USS Rodman, the Emmons was hit by five Kamikaze planes from the Japanese strike force in less than two minutes With the stern smashed and most of the superstructure gone, it drifted towards Kouri Jima where it was purposely sunk with ninety-six 5 inch rounds from the USS Ellyson. Of the 254 members of the crew, fifty were killed or missing in action and sixty-five were wounded.

The ship had three diffferent armament configurations, two as destroyer and her final configuration as high speed minesweeper in 1944. with 7 x 20mm. Six side-throwing "K" guns had replaced the "Y" gun. 3 x 5"/38. 5 x 21" torpedoes, 2 x twin 40mm mounts.

You can view more pictures of the USS Emmons at Fathoms diving.

Typhoon condition's explained

2005-05-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

TCCOR 4: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are possible within 72 hours. TCCOR 4 will be continuously in effect as a minimum condition of readiness from 1 June to 30 November annually. Now is the time to stock-up on food and Typhoon Supplies.

TCCOR 3: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are possible within 48 hours. Initiate a general cleanup around homes and office.

TCCOR 2: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 24 hours. Remove or secure all outside items.

TCCOR 1: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 12 hours. No school for DoDDS students. Staff and teachers will work normal hours, unless changed by DoDDS superintendent. Fill any containers you can use for water storage. If you live in low lying quarters, make arrangements to stay with a friend. Make final check of food and other supplies.

TCCOR 1 Caution: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 12 hours. Actual winds are 34-49 knots. All nonessential personnel will be released to their quarters at this time. DoDDS schools will close at this time. Staff and teachers return home or remain home. Base exchange, shops, Commissary, Shoppettes, Gas Station, Services facilities, Clubs, Restaurants, Recreational Facilities and Post Office will close. Movement about the base should be kept to a minimum. SFS will enforce "essential vehicles only"policy.(Reference Base O-Plan 32-1 "Base Disaster Operations Plan)

TCCOR 1 Emergency: Actual winds of 50 knots or greater. All outside activity is prohibited.

TCCOR 1 Recovery: Destructive winds of 50 knots are no longer occurring. Actual winds are 34-49 knots. Nonessential functions remain closed unless directed by the commander. All but emergency essential personnel remain in their quarters.

Storm Watch: The typhoon is moving away but the base is still feeling some effects. Hazardous conditions may exist due to storm damage. In some cases the storm could return to Okinawa, so stay alert. All military and civilian personnel will return to work within 2 hours or at normal duty hours unless otherwise instructed by their commander. The Commissary and BX will resume operations, unless directed otherwise by the installation commander.

All Clear: Hazardous conditions and winds are no longer present. Return to normal duties. All Clear is announced when all hazards have been cleared. DoDDS teachers, staff and students will return to school during normal hours. From June 1st to November 30th Okinawa will return to TCCOR 4.

NOTE: The wind speeds shown above for each TCCOR serve as a guide for decision making. The final decision on TCCOR declaration rests with the Commander, 18th Wing based on wind speed, weather forecast, safety and operational and mission concerns.

Source: Okinawa Area Coordinator Joint Standing Operating Procedure (JSOP) for Natural Disasters

2005-05-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

The names of everyone who died in the Battle of Okinawa, regardless of nationality, are engraved on tablets in Itoman City. One hundred and sixteen tablets stand at Peace Prayer Park to commemorate the lives lost in the battle. More than 220,000 people lost their lives in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, more than 100,000 were civilians.

2005-05-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

The Zakimi Castle overlooks the western coast of Okinawa and was erected in the 15th century by Gosamaru, the lord of Zakimi.

The 2nd Okinawa International Conference of Longevity - Home

2005-05-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

The 2nd Okinawa International Conference of Longevity - Home: "'Okinawa
Longevity/Ageing is uniquely a celebration of life'!"

Okinawa is known throughout
Japan as Longevity Islands

Okinawa Official Statistical
Data in Japan

Has the highest rate of living centenarians per 100,000 population.

Has the lowest death rates from top 3 killer diseases: cancer, heart disease and CVA.

Has the highest life expectancy for both male and female 65 years old and older.

Okinawan female has the highest life expectancy in all age categories: 0,20,40,65 years old and older, ranked # 1 in all of Japan.

May 8 was day for goya - JapanUpdate.com

2005-05-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

May 8 was day for goya - JapanUpdate.com

May 8 is known in Okinawa as a day honoring goya (go - five, ya - eight), a well-known and essential ingredient in Okinawan diet, especially during summer time. Goya is a vegetable that has been attributed with many advantages to human health. It has been a part of Okinawan culture for a long time.

The vegetable is called 'goya' in Okinawan dialect. In Japanese it is 'nigauri,' and it's English name is bittermelon, and that about sums up its taste. It is bitter to the extent that some people find it impossible to eat, and definitely can be called an acquired taste. With its gaudy green appearance and wart-like skin that resembles Gozilla's back, goya might not sit well for many non-Okinawans, including Japanese.

According to Okinawa Fruits and Vegetable Growers' Union, Goya accounts for the biggest cash crop in the prefecture. No less than 89.5 tons of this bitter vegetable was sold in the prefecture last year. And although the value of the crop was down from a year before due to a lower price, the goya still tops the statistics in value.

A mature-size goya, contains approximately 120mg of Vitamin C, equal to almost three times in a lemon and 260mg of potassium, four times the amount found in green tea. As apples keep the doctor away in the western world, goya keeps the cold away from Okinawans during summer. Even more remarkable about this green veggie, which usually measures up to 20-30 centimeters in length and 4-6 centimeters in diameter, is that its content is believed to not only lower blood pressure but blood sugar levels as well.

Goya is one of the staples in Okinawan diet. Most people eat this vegetable as a stir-fried dish mixed with egg, tofu, other vegetables, slices of pork meat, and almost anything else. The dish is called 'champuru.' Okinawan people say that they cannot stop eating this vegetable just because of its bitter taste. It may take several times before one learns to like the taste, but it is unforgettable. Mixing it with eggs can soften some of the bitterness.

Golden Week explained

2005-04-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Golden Week:
The Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days. In combination with well placed weekends, the Golden Week becomes one of Japan's three busiest holiday seasons, besides New Year and the Obon week.

Trains, airports and sightseeing spots get very crowded during Golden Week, and accommodation in tourist areas are booked out well in advance. Foreign visitors are advised to avoid traveling to Japan during the Golden Week.

The national holidays making up the Golden Week are:

* April 29
Greenery Day (Midori no hi):
April 29 used to be the birthday of Emperor Showa, who died in the year 1989. After his death, the day was changed into a national holiday for environment and nature, since the emperor loved plants and nature. From 2007, this national holiday will be renamed Showa Day, while Greenery Day will be moved to May 4.

* May 3
Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi):
On this day in 1947, the new post war constitution was put into effect.

* May 4
"Between Day" (Kokumin no kyujitsu):
According to Japanese law, a day which falls between two national holidays is also declared a national holiday, unless the "between day" is a Sunday, in which case it will be just a regular Sunday. From 2007, Greenery Day, currently celebrated on April 29, will be moved to May 4.

* May 5
Children's Day (Kodomo no hi):
The Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku) is celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power and success in life. The Girl's Festival, by the way, is celebrated on March 3.

2005-04-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

Lion Dogs on Okinawa

"Shi-Shi" lion dogs -- or "Shisa" -- can often be seen standing guard on the roofs or entrances of homes, shops and other areas in need of a little protection or good luck.

Legend has it that the Shi-Shi came to the Okinawa region many years ago as a present for a Ryukyuan King. The Shi-Shi then became famous for protecting the villagers of Madanbashi from a terrible dragon who lurked in Naha port bay. According to the legend, when the king had the Shi-Shi confront the dragon, the Shi-Shi roared like a lion -- causing a huge rock to fall from the sky onto the dragon, thus turning the dragon into present-day Ganna-mui island.

Shisa are connected with the Shinto religion. They were originally used as guardians to entrances of residence, shrines, and used singularly on rooftops. One type of the creature is sometimes seen poised with a golden sphere under one paw -- symbolizing a concentration of goodness, wealth, and bountiful crops.

2005-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Okinawa, Japan

History and Geography

2005-04-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Okinawa, «OH kuh NOW wuh», or in Japanese, Okinawa «AW kee NAH wah», is the largest and most important island of the Ryukyu Islands. The Ryukyus are a chain of islands in the North Pacific Ocean that are part of Japan.

Okinawa covers 465 square miles (1,204 square kilometers). It is the largest island in Japan's Okinawa prefecture (district), which has a population of 1,318,220. The Okinawa prefecture also includes the southern Ryukyu Islands. Almost all of the prefecture's population lives on the island of Okinawa. Naha, the capital and largest city of the Ryukyus, is on Okinawa.

Okinawa was under Japanese control before World War II (1939-1945). The United States occupied Okinawa after the war and administered it and the other Ryukyu islands until 1972. In that year, the United States returned the islands to Japanese control.

Okinawa has had great military importance for the United States because it lies within easy flying distance of China, mainland Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The United States built air bases and other installations on the island and continued to maintain them after returning control of the island to Japan. But in the mid-1990's, growing dissatisfaction among Okinawans with the U.S. military presence prompted the United States to agree to give up part of the land it administers.

Government. Voters elect a governor to head the prefecture of Okinawa. The prefecture's legislature, the Prefectural Assembly, consists of 48 members. The prefecture's voters also elect five representatives to the Diet (national parliament) in Tokyo.

People. Okinawans look like the Japanese, but Okinawans are shorter and have darker skin. The Okinawan language belongs to the Japanese language family. However, most Okinawans speak only Japanese.

Many Okinawans live in urban areas. Naha and other cities in Okinawa have modern buildings and traffic-choked streets. A few Okinawans still live in small villages of red tile-roofed houses. Their main food is rice, but they also eat much pork. Most village people farm or fish for a living.

Land and climate. Okinawa is 67 miles (108 kilometers) long and from 2 to 16 miles (3 to 26 kilometers) wide. Mountains and jungle cover the northern part of the island. The southern part has low, rocky hills. Most of the people live in the south.

Okinawa has a subtropical climate. The average daily temperature in Naha is 72 °F (22 °C) the year around. Rainfall averages about 83 inches (211 centimeters) yearly, most of it falling in the typhoon season, from April to October.

Economy. Before World War II, Okinawa was a poor agricultural island. Today, it has one of the highest per capita (per person) incomes in East Asia. Its chief crops include pineapples, rice, sugar cane, and sweet potatoes.

Tourism has become the island's main industry. Most of the tourists come from other parts of Japan to enjoy Okinawa's warm climate and natural beauty.

Okinawan craftworkers make ceramics, lacquerware, and woven and dyed cloth. A pottery kiln in Naha has been operating since the 1600's. Okinawan arts and crafts are prized by art collectors, especially in Japan.

History. Japan and China both claimed Okinawa and the rest of the Ryukyus until 1874, when China recognized Japan's rule.

One of the bloodiest campaigns of World War II was fought on Okinawa between U.S. and Japanese troops. The Americans landed on the island on April 1, 1945, and conquered it in late June. During the fighting, more than 90 percent of the island's buildings were destroyed.

The peace treaty that ended the war gave the United States control of the Ryukyu Islands. In 1950, the United States began to grant some self-rule to the Ryukyuans. It returned the northern Ryukyus to Japan in 1953 but kept Okinawa and the southern islands. The United States built military bases on Okinawa after the Chinese Communists gained control of China in 1949 and the Korean War broke out in 1950.

During the 1950's and 1960's, many Okinawans demanded that the island be returned to Japanese rule. The United States returned the island to Japan in 1972. Under an agreement between the two nations, U.S. military bases remain on Okinawa, but nuclear weapons may not be kept on the island without Japan's consent. In 1996, the United States announced that within the coming years it would return to Okinawa 20 percent of the land held by the U.S. military

Contributor:
• David L. Howell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Princeton University.

2005-04-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Prefectural Symbol

The outer circle of this symbol represents the ocean. The white circle symbolizes a peace-loving Okinawa and the inner circle symbolizes a globally developing Okinawa. In short, the mark symbolizes "Ocean" "Peace" and "Development."
It was decided on the symbol of okinawa prefectural in 1992.