DRAGON DROOL

No, not a shi-sa dog. This was a dragon covering the pipe yielding the fresh water from a mountain spring. I tried it out, three times. Pretty good -- for dragon drool.

I do Love Shi-sas

These handsome shi-sa dogs are to be found on Kadena Air Base.

Shi sa's in the Neighborhood

Neighboring Shi-sa

Post Eisa - Orion Beer Festival

All that Eisa dancing and performance watching works up a powerful thirst, and many of each category was to be found at the Orion Beer Festival grounds adjacent to the Kozo Sports Park where the dancing was held.
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As the afternoon wore on and evening approached the sight of young ladies in Kimonos increased.





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The beer garden was an extremely popular destination, and the combination of beer, and very, very !! loud music promised to last till the wee hours of the night.

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The young ladies wearing kimonos or other traditional garb were frequently also seen sporting the likes of the lovable, and everloving partier, the inflatable Pink Panther.

53rd Annual Eisa Festival-Okinawa City

Each year during August the Okinawans hold an Obon festival. This is a festival honoring one's ancestors, similar to the Day of the Dead in Mexico. Families gather at the family's tombs to clean the areas and to offer ceremonial food, beer and awamori to the dead ancestors.

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One of the highlights of these ceremonial festivals is the Eisa dancing. After the spirits of their dead ancestors are leaving for their spirit world, performances are held in memory of them.

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The music of the Eisa is performed on 3 stringed lute like instruments called sanshin, large barrel like drums, medium sized laced drums, and smaller hand drums. The dancing takes on many different formations. Not only men participate but women in kimonos dance as well as younger children, imitating and preparing for future roles in Eisa performances. Eisa is considered a modern Okinawan art form.

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There were hundreds of performers and hundreds of performance watchers on Saturday afternoon while we were there. Each team's routine was 15-20 minutes of continual dancing and drumming. The costumes were bright and colorful as were the drums and flags carried by performers.

Where am I? General Location

These are admittedly not the best maps, but the best I could find on the spur of the moment. Japan is just east of North and South Korea. The mainland stretches approximately 1400 miles from north to south, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Then another 400 miles off the southern tip of the mainland you will find the island of Okinawa. It is a 2 hour flight, minimum, from either Tokyo or Osaka, the main airports in the country.

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The island of Okinawa itself is approximately 67 miles long and ranges from 2 to 14 miles wide, east to west. It is subtropical weather here. In other words, HOT and HUMID. Take it from me, that's exactly what it is. It is also typhoon season right now. We are not currently seeing any typhoons in our near future, but I would be happy to experience a MILD one, just to get a little feel for one. Typhoon season lasts through September so it is still a possibility.

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Looking at the second map--if you look on the western side about 2/3 of the way to the south, you will possibly see the names of Yomitan and Kadena. Yomitan is the area near us here. Kadena is the Air Base a few miles away. And Ron's apartment is actually located on Cape Zanpa, or Cape Zampa, which is the most westerly point from the Yomitan area.

Sushi go round

So, last night Ron and I went out with a few of his friends to a 'sushi go round'. All Japanese food of course. The various food items are placed on different colored plates. The color of the plate indicates the value of the course. At the end of the meal the value of the pile of plates is totalled to make your bill.

The plates, the size of dessert plates, generally hold two of the same item. The food, usually rice and some sort of fish, is artistically shaped and draped on the plates. The plates are placed on a conveyor belt that is run in front of the customers at the counter. See one you favor, grab it.

During the meal I sampled shrimp, Yakitori, octopus, and fried arms of squid. All very good. Surprisingly. For dessert we headed to the Dragon Palace which had an ice cream stand with a few flavors most likely not found in your local Baskin Robbins. I decided against the orange sherbert, my first choice, which I could have back in Iowa and instead had two flavors, mango and sweet potato. I knew mango would be good but the sweet potato, purple in color, was a real taste surprise. Very good. But I still doubt I will be able to order it at the Dairy Queen any time soon.

Shi-sas -- Icons of Okinawa

The one item I see more of around Okinawa than any other is shisa dogs, or shisa lion-dogs, or shi-shi dogs. All the same bird, or guardian of the gates.

The shisa facing the right has the closed mouth and is said to keep the good spirits in the home while the shisa facing the left, with the open mouth, is said to ward off evil spirits. This pair of shisa are identical to a pair I brought home from Okinawa in 2000. Very colorful and very decorative.

This small pair of Shisa are at home on the counter between Ron's kitchen and dining room.

That's some view! East China Sea off Cape Zampa

This first view is from the upstairs balcony of Ron's apartment. Low tide. There were several snorkelers with this catamaran, but I have seen as many as 16 or 18 drop overboard from this same boat.~~~~
The second view is looking in the direction of Nago. Look closely for the rainbow. It was stunning to see it for real. It made a complete half circle with both ends in the water. Would have to dive for those pots of gold. Not too bad. The water is said to currently be 82 degrees. And there are lots of divers and snorkelers here. Okinawa is known for it's scuba diving.

Iowa State Fair-Aug 9, 2008

What would summer in Iowa be without the great Iowa State Fair? A summer without butter cows, and Snickers and pineapple, both fried and 'on a stick'. But my last Iowa adventure before leaving the States was indeed the Iowa State Fair. And it always ! lives up to it's reputation as the greatest Fair in the country.

Before leaving for Japan, Ron and I, along with his mom, brother, Ken and his wife, Jill spent the day at the Fair. We saw the largest steer, and we awed over the largest boar, the mighty Frieght Train, weighing in over 1200 pounds. That's a lot of bacon!

We listened to a gospel quartet and joined in at a hymn singing at the old church. We maneuvered our way down the Varied Industries Building, checked out the modular homes on display, watched swans, and ducks and turtles and fish in the Fisheries and Wildlife exhibit.

Lunch was at the incredible Iowa Pork Producers tent. I did vary my request a tad this year. Last time I visited and had an Iowa Chop I ended up performing a self Heimlick maneuver over the back fence when I choked on a bite while trying to eat and talk at the same time. Gracious, I never want to repeat that experience. So I substituted the Iowa Chop with a Barbecued Pulled Pork sandwich which was undoubtedly the best pork sandwich I have ever had!!

My favorite taste treat at this year's Iowa State Fair had to be the already mentioned 'fried pineapple on a stick'!! My mouth is watering with the memory. I intend to start trying to replicate that fabulous flavorful feat soon. I have been advised that the secret coating is funnel cake batter. I think I can handle that.


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One of the highlights of my time at the fair was seeing the Budweiser Clydesdale team. Simply incredible! And I loved the dalmation on the seat with the drivers.
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And as incredible as it may seem, I didn't buy anything at the Fair that I didn't immediately eat or drink. I can hear the many doubters voicing their disbelief! But if I had bought something, it might well have been the 'designated driver' T-shirt. But getting a photo was just as good.