The Tombs

The island of Okinawa is riddled with tombs. They are located on hillsides, next to beaches, in fields, next door to currently occupied homes. It is impossible to go very far without seeing them. They may be seen singley, in pairs, or small multiples, and also can be seen covering the landscape of a hillside by the dozens and hundreds.

The Okinawans do practice ancestor worship, as seen during Obon and the Eisa festivals. The individual tombs can be seen with small altars. The altars are usually placed directly in front of the tomb opening. The altars hold small plates and cups for the offerings brought to the ancestors.

The oldest versions of the tombs are called turtleback tombs or kamekobaka. These are modeled on the process of women giving birth. The rectangular opening is where the cremated remains of the ancestors, in their individual urns, are placed. Because the tomb itself represents a woman's womb the placing of the remains inside the opening represents the ancestor being returned to his or her origins.


The house shaped tombs are the more modern tombs and were reserved until recently for the nobility.



Families visit the tomb sites several times a year to pay respect and bring their food offerings.


The third photo was a tomb built into the back wall of a cave down by the Sea. Rustic it may have been, but there were unmistakable signs that family members had recently been in attendance.

This Kimono is a Keeper

The Marine Corp Gift Shop was the source of a major score last Saturday. No, not for me. But Ron found a stunning 'wedding kimono' with the above pattern. Gorgeous! Absolutely stunning! I told him that if he didn't buy it I was going to. He saved me from having to do so. He is planning to display it in the wide open, white space of his stairwell. When that is achieved I'll show it here.

Brazenly Blitzing Bird

Attack! Attack!

This was one unhappy mama warrior -bird yesterday.
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I dared encroach on her territory. She had babies hidden somewhere on the cliffs too close to where I was traipsing through a lava field. The bombardment was relentless. She was not to be ignored and I was her only and total focus.
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For half an hour I was shooting photos while she was shooting 'looks' and warnings at me.

Welcome - And Watching

White on White

Cape Zampa Lighthouse

This lighthouse is within easy walking distance. For 200 yen a person is allowed to climb to the top for an incomparable view. We are able to see the light from this lighthouse from the yard.

Contrasts

There is little open area in Okinawa. Land is used for closely packed houses and highrises. Next to these homes the land supports small agricultural plots. Sugarcane is a staple here in our neighborhood. With a growing season that is practically year round, the fields are not left fallow for long after any harvest.
Next to fields, and surrounded by fields, can be found highrise hotels such as the Zanpa Misaki Royal Hotel across from the beaches of the East China Sea. Also to be seen is the ultramodern look of the wind generators.

Sign of the Cape Zampa area

I may not be able to read the kanji here but I have no doubt as to what the message is saying. Pictures, the universal language.

Landscapes of Limestone and Coral

This is the coastline just down the way from Ron's apartment. Very rugged. Limestone and coral fields. Very little is able to grow on these grounds, obviously, but they are never-the-less quite beautiful.
The weather changes quickly here. There are frequent but short-lived rain squalls moving through, especially in the afternoon. Refreshing when they occur, they also do add to the humidity.

Grace on the Cape

A three sided monument was sited a short distance from the lighthouse on the Cape. Two depictions of military subjects scored little interest for me. But this graceful lady of the Cape, with her parasol to shield the elements, possibly gazing out to Sea, spoke quietly but untiringly to me.

Ditches and Denizens of the Mountains

Last Sunday we drove north up to Okuma and later to Hedo Point, as far north as you can go. On the drive I was frequently amazed at what I saw.

Along the winding narrow roads in the mountains are cement drainage ditchs. After all this is an area of monsoons and typhoons. Lots of rain. These drainage ditches are probably about 9 inches deep and 6 inches wide. Because small wildlife, such as turtles and salamanders can get into these drainage ditches and have a hard time getting out again, the Okinawa engineers have made frequent use of these small 'staircases' which would allow an animal ease of leaving the 'ditch' should he be otherwise unable to do so. They are cut into the sides of the drainage ditches at convenient distances. I surely would love to see one being used for its intended purpose.


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The second shot is simply of a picnic area. Turtles are supposedly 'lucky'. So are lots of things in the Asian cultures.

Okuma's Park Golf

Probably half my shots were totally out of bounds or were miraculously saved by hitting these out of bounds stakes and bouncing back in bounds. It was truly amazing how many times I, or Ron, was saved having to retrieve wayward balls when glancing blows to these stakes saved my shots.

Park Golf at Okuma

On Sunday Ron and I headed for a military resort in the north portion of Okinawa--Okuma. Beautiful area and home to a local Park Golf course. ~~~~~~

Now Park Golf is touted as a cross between regular golf and croquet but I really felt it was closer to golf and putt-putt. Luckily I have a bit of putt-putt experience in my far distant past. ~~~~~~~

The various fairways probably average 70 meters and a par of 3 to 5. I was totally shocked when on my fifth hole I was able to birdie ( one under par ) after my drive landed just about a meter from the hole. On the back 9 I birdied a second time, my tee shot landing less than a foot from the hole! I think I decided right then that I might just have to return and play this game again. ~~~~~~

Now granted that I was excited about the two birdies, but I do have to admit that probably half of my shots landed out of bounds and had to be 'let' back in. On occasion Ron guarded against my sending a ball into the lily pond. Thankfully I was only playing against Ron and he was very lenient about the rules for my first time. Of course he may have been thinking about my returning in the future as well.

Kadena AB Shi-sa

Ron has been very patient to pull over and allow me to get shots of some of the incredible shi-sa dogs on the island. These are the more traditional statues. They come in all shapes and sizes but these are the most recognizable.

One of the best pairs of shi-sa dogs I have found is this set on the Kadena Air Base.

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.