Progress, or Concrete Jungle

The battle of Okinawa, in 1945, now 60 plus years ago, changed the landscape of the Island. The vegetation was burned and scorched and vaporized. Life as the native Okinawans knew it was forever destroyed. The familiar red roofed, or thatched houses that dotted the land, mostly in small villages, were for the most part annihilated. The one shown here was brought to the Ryukyu Mura grounds to show the architecture prewar. These original buildings can still be found but fewer and fewer are used for dwellings to actually live in. Many have been neglected and now serve only for storage. The concrete multistoried buildings grace the Island in great preponderance now.

It's a weekend. Note the laundry on the balconies.