Peace Park & Butterflies Paradise

In May I was invited to go to the Peace Park in Naha by my friend Diana whose son, James was visiting from the states. She had been once before with her husband so she knew her way around but wanted James to see it and was kind to ask me to tag along too. It was on my list of places to see so I was quite excited to get the invite. It's located on the lower tip of the island below Naha and we haven't done much exploring in that direction other than going to the airport. The day turned into a rainy one so we didn't get to explore as much of the grounds as I'd have liked to explore but I took  a few pictures from under the shelter at the Museum of areas it was too wet to walk to. I hope to return at a future date to see the rest.

We started at the Peace Hall which was basically an art museum with a giant "Peace Prayer Statue" in the middle of the room decorated with thousands of paper cranes (a symbol of peace). The statue stands about 40 ft high and is about 26 ft wide and is supposed to be a symbol of praying human beings. The hands put flat together is in commemoration of the war dead and a wish for world peace. It was created by the artist Shinzan Yamada and is made completely out of laquer imported from China (about 3.5 tons). Above the statue there is a group of lights that are meant to look like stars that represents cosmic space where the war dead rest peacefully. Seven pillars representing seven seas surrounds the statue and in it's basement are kept consecrated small stones of peace collected from all over the world (which I didn't get to see).The work began on the statue in 1957. The artist was 72 when he started the project and 90 years old when he completed the prototype. He lived through the war and lost his oldest and third sons in the Battle of Okinawa. There are a series of 20 paintings entitled "War and Peace"in the same hall that the statue resides painted by an artist named Keiyu Nishimura. They were beautiful paintings and each had a story to them that explained (in English too) his inspiration for each painting. There was a table in the back of the room with origami paper where you could fold your own paper crane. I used to know how to make them but I failed at following their obscure instructions. I asked Cory to refresh my memory on making paper cranes on our trip to the states and I can now make one again.  I always loved seeing the paper cranes at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. The story of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" touched my heart many years ago and ever since I read it I have loved paper cranes.

After leaving the Peace Hall, we went into Butterflies Paradise.....the highlight of my day. I must have worn the right color or smelled pretty good because they loved landing on me. Diana and James didn't have any land on them while I had up to five at one time on me. They definitely made me smile from the love they were showing me. The butterflies were called Ogomadara and are said to be the largest butterflies in Japan with a wing span of 5 inches. Their brochure says "Butterflies meaning 'soul' in Greek welcome all the visitors and tell them how precious life and peace are." I guess they were talking to me and I just didn't realize. They did make me feel peaceful though.

The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum

After playing with the butterflies we walked to the Peace Memorial Museum. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I can only show you the outside of the building. The Battle of Okinawa began in late March of 1945 and lasted for 90 days. Okinawa was basically sacrificed as a battleground for the war between the US and Japan. They lost upwards of 200,000 people in the battle. It was the only ground fighting fought on Japanese soil and was the largest-scale campaign of the Asia-Pacific War. The civilian death toll far outweighed that of the military. Some were torn apart by guns during the fighting, some died of starvation because their crops were destroyed and the military confiscated their food supplies for the soldiers. Some died from malaria and snake bites from living in the caves and tombs to protect themselves from the battles....and many were convinced to commit suicide with stories of what the Americans would do to them if they surrendered. I recently read a fiction book set in Okinawa during the war and it was so very sad to learn of all they went through during that battle. The museum basically tells the story of the battle, shares eye-witness accounts, replicates some of the battle scenes and displays many of the items found after the war. Like the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima it is quite sobering to walk through it. We've been fortunate to have never had a battle fought on our country's soil during our lifetimes and it's good to be reminded of how horrifying it can be to live through something like that. May their wish for peace on this island be granted.

When we exited the museum it was pouring down rain outside. There were several other areas I would have loved to have walked through. One that captured my eye was a large area of marble walls called "the Cornerstone of Peace" with the names of all who lost their lives during the war of Okinawa (regardless of nationality, soldier or civilian) inscribed on them. They are overlooking the sea on the Pacific Ocean side. I took a few pictures through the rain but I wanted to walk through them and say a little prayer for all those innocent people who got caught in the midst of a battle they didn't start. They trusted their government to be truthful with them and to protect them and they found themselves fighting for survival on their own.

I'll leave you with a few other pictures from the grounds of the Peace Memorials. The first is the Bell of Peace. It was donated by the Lion's Club and is rung on the memorial occasions of praying for world peace. There is an inscription on it that reads..."Calm the souls of the war dead. Swear the permanent peace of the world. From the Hill of Mabuni in all directions, sounds everlastingly the Bell of Peace, in solemn prayers of all people".

Near the entrance to the museum is the Peace Prayer Monument. It is inscribed with the words "My Opinion on Peace". There was a contest when it was first made for entries on the subject "my opinion of peace". The top three winners are inscribed on the monument to inspire others to consider their own opinions on peace.

Here's a picture of the outside of the building that houses the huge Peace Prayer Statue and the "War and Peace" art display. It was opened in 1978 and stands on the Hill of Mabuni. The Hall has a polygonal roof with septilateral pyramid which represents seven seas and the shape of hands joined in prayer.

Not sure what this one is. 

And lastly, some of the artwork and part of the paper cranes from the Peace Hall.

Summertime

Rainy Days in Okinawa

I knew when I began this blog that there would be times when there just wasn't much to post about. Spring has sort of been that way this year. We've had an unusual amount of rain. It started in January and by April, we thought we were just having an early "rainy season". The Okinawans warned us that rainy season would still come but we were skeptical. The monsoon season usually goes from mid-May through the month of June. They were correct when they said it would still arrive on schedule. The month of June brought rain almost every day and with it brought the humidity and mugginess which signifies the beginning of summer. Our temperatures average about 89-92 degrees daily with 100% humidity which makes it feel 10-20 degrees hotter. We laughed at our weather apps on our phones when they call this "the chill-factor". There is definitely no chill in our air. We can go through several changes of clothes within a day due to sweating too much from the humidity. So I blame the weather for my lack of posts. It was just too rainy to make exploring fun. I did get some scrapbooking done though so it's all good.

Most of our spring and early summer weekends were spent at our local beach areas. We could usually find a window of sunshine in between clouds that allowed us a few hours to read at the beach (one of our favorite things to do). There's something quite peaceful about sitting at the edge of the water listening to the music of the waves while reading a book. Plus, on the hottest of days you can almost always find a nice breeze at the water to keep you cool.  Russ has gotten pretty accurate at predicting when the weather is clear enough for a reading beach trip or a walk. He's done a lot of walking on the seawall this spring and has only been caught in the rain a few times. Our favorite beach is Igei Beach in Kin town. (a few miles drive from our apartment). Most weekends we have the beach to ourselves. There are restrooms and drink machines at the parking area so we can stay as long as we want. We usually bring a cooler, snacks and a lot of sunscreen. Sometimes there are kite-surfers at the opposite end of the beach and it's fun to watch them. The fish even put on a show every now and then. One day we were watching out into the water and and about five large fish dove through the air like a dolphin show. There were several men fishing on the dock right next to where they did their water dive and it was almost as if they were taunting them...."ha ha...missed us".  It was funny to watch the men's reactions as they saw the fish performing right in front of them when they'd been sitting there all afternoon fishing with no success.

I've taken my bike out a few times to enjoy the beauty of the day while Russ is at work. These days it's almost too hot to ride. I wear a backpack with my book and sunscreen, put a water bottle on the bike to keep hydrated and a beach towel to sit on to read. The seawall is great for riding because there's no traffic to worry about. Russ has been going out for bike rides in the mornings before work. Our balcony with it's beach view is where we spend most of our evenings. We usually eat supper on the balcony and then sit and read until the sun sets. I usually have breakfast out there too and do my bible reading before starting my day. There's usually a breeze on the balcony and our bodies acclimate to the heat after we're outside for a few minutes.

In the spring I planted flowers for the balcony. There was a lady on the main road selling big pots of impatiens, begonias and geraniums. I went to the local plant store and purchased enough soil to fill my big pots and filled them all with flowers and herbs. By early June I started noticing a fungus on the leaves that ended up killing just about all of what I bought from the sweet flower lady. It looked sort of like a mold had attacked them. After returning from our trip to the states I bought some new plants for the pots to start all over again. My herbs have done well. I have basil, rosemary and a mint plant that I started from a cutting. I planted one cucumber plant that didn't produce anything and one green pepper plant that gave me two green peppers. I went to the garden store to try to find something to spray on the fungus that took over my first plants but Google translate wasn't very helpful in translating the information on the bottles. I finally gave up. One downside of living in a foreign country is when you need to find a specific item and you can't read the labels to see how to use it or what it's for. I did manage to figure out which plant food to purchase for my plants and they are all looking very healthy currently.

We're currently in the midst of the typhoon (hurricane) season. It goes from June until early November.  So far we haven't had any warnings of impending typhoons this year. Our apartment building is solid concrete with steel bars inside so it should hold up well in a typhoon. It sits up on a hill from the beach and we are on the second floor so hopefully a tsunami won't come this high. (We have friends on the 5th floor if we need to go higher).Our building also has metal window covers that slide in front of the windows to protect them from the high winds of typhoons. (pictured here)
This is one of the things that attracted us to this apartment since we are so close to the ocean we knew the importance of having coverings over the windows.We have to move all our balcony furniture and plants inside anytime there is a warning that we are in the path of a typhoon. The winds will pick up and scatter anything left out. We also have a covered parking garage for our vehicles. We all drive small cars which can easily be tossed around during a typhoon. They have similar metal covers for all the open areas of the parking garage. We're told to have extra water stocked up and flashlights/candles for power outages. I'll be sure to let you all know if we experience a typhoon this year.

I'm thankful for the Farmer's Markets all over the island.  The vegetables are priced much lower at the markets than what they are at the commissary. Last time I bought spinach at the commissary it was about 4.99 for a small bag that you'd pay about $2 for at Walmart. I can find it at the markets for about $1.50 a bunch. Lettuce, green peppers, carrots and cucumbers are also much fresher and cheaper at the local markets. Fruit is much higher priced here than in the states so I'm missing the fruit stands near my old house. Small watermelons are about $18 here. Strawberries are about $7 for maybe 1/2 pint. Blueberries are about $5 for about a 1/2 cupful. Apples are about $1.25 each. I'm always amazed when I walk through the farmer's markets at the number of things I have no idea what they are. A former military resident published a farmer's market book in English for us Americans that tells where all the markets are located and has pictures with descriptions of what each odd looking vegetable/fruit is. Our apartment manager gave all of us a copy of the book several months ago. I'm not brave enough to try most of the odd things I see but I have tried the purple carrots and the purple sweet potatoes which were good. I'll end with a few pictures of what I consider to be odd items I don't recognize. Some of you farm folks may know what all of these are but this city girl is clueless on most of these.

Dragon Fruit

Renbu

Not sure what this one is.

Akebi

Spaghetti Squash (this one I knew)

Cacao

winter squash

Goya

Dragon Fruit

Yellow Cucumber

Goya

Dragon fruit blossoms

I thought these were watermelons but
they are not...they're winter squash

These look like loaves of bread but
are yellow cucumbers.

Syzygium

(Many of these pictures were taken from the Farmer's Markets of Okinawa facebook page as people write in with questions about what each item is. There are several taken with my iphone too)
Let me know how many of the above were new to you too.

In the News

Protest Article

I'm sure by now many of you have seen at least one newscast about the protests in Okinawa.  I've had several ask me about them so I'll share with you what's been going on in the news around Okinawa. As is usually the case, the news shows a limited focus on the full story which leaves everyone thinking that we're hated by all the Okinawans and they are ready to kick us off of their island. Although this may be the sentiment of some, it definitely isn't the sentiment of the majority. These protests aren't something new. They've been present on Okinawa since the 90's at least and probably longer. So, here's the most recent story making headlines..

The current uproar began back in early spring when a young Navy man raped a young Okinawan girl in Naha. He was arrested and sentenced for his crime but it brought out the professional protesters who began parking themselves outside of Kadena. There are full-time protesters who are regularly protesting outside of Camp Schwabb and Futenma bases against the relocation of a Marine base to the northern part of the island. The rape story activated a new reason to protest and they moved some of their protesters to Kadena. We've been told that whenever events like this happen there are professional protesters that are paid to come over from the mainland to protest so that it looks like there are more local protesters than there really are. I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard it from several different sources on FB.

Then....about a month ago a 32 year old ex-Marine Civilian Contractor employee at Kadena decided to take a drive and look for someone to rape. He found a young 20 year old office worker who had gone out for a walk near her home. He forced her into his car, raped and killed her and then stashed her body in a wooded area. Her cell phone helped to lead them to the arrest of the young man and he eventually told them where her body was dumped. You can read about this story here and here. Once the story hit the news we were all outraged by what the man had done. The Japanese were furious, as is to be expected and because of the act of two men who are not representative of the majority of the Americans living here it has fueled the protester's cause. They have been scheduling regular protests near the bases and held a huge protest in Naha over the weekend. We usually get notices about the upcoming protests so we can avoid the areas.

The military Commanders immediately enforced a curfew for all base employees and families both military and civilian. When someone dies in Japan they begin a mourning ritual to honor the dead for about 40 days. The commanders at the bases here in Okinawa decided to honor the tradition of mourning for this young girl and have cancelled any  base celebrations for 30 days. There is a strict drinking ban enforced for all the military and civilians. They are prohibited from drinking off base and have a strict curfew. All of this has come at a time when Americans typically have a big 4th of July festival on many of the bases. All festivities were cancelled for this year. Of course there are always quite a few stupid young military who think the rules don't apply to them so we had a few accidents occur from drunk driving even with the curfews and restrictions which continue to add fuel to the fire. You can read about the restrictions on the bases here.

The gatherings that didn't make the news were those of local Okinawans who sat outside the gates with signs saying "Thank you US Military". We are happy to have you here. For those of us living off base, we see this sentiment displayed from most that we meet. They are friendly, sweet and genuinely happy to have us in their restaurants and stores. Most of them recognize that these two men do not represent the majority of the Americans here and we recognize that these protesters do not represent the sentiment of the locals in our community.

Naha Hari Festival - Dragon Boat Races

Every year during Golden Week, the city of Naha hosts a three day festival called the Naha Hari Festival. It's held at Naha port and has a carnival like feel with food and game booths and live entertainment. Dragon boat races are held in several locations around Okinawa but the Naha Hari is the largest race on the island. I was fortunate to be able to attend this year's festival with my friend, Leslie. One of our mutual friends was on the Kadena Air Force Shogun Women's Dragon Boat team. They were racing against two other women's teams for the Army and Navy. Erin has been practicing with her team since January with several practices each week of intense rowing. I was very happy we got to watch her race.

The Dragon boat front artwork

The steering team

The Dragon Boat races in Naha have larger more colorful boats than many of the other festivals on the island. The boats are painted with bright colored dragon heads in the front and dragon tails on the back. They hold a 32 person rowing team. Three boats are raced in each round. Each team strives to be the first to the finish line and also have a fast time so they rank high in the overall race statistics. A person with a drum usually stands at the front of the boat to set the pace for the rowers. He/she will play a rhythmic beat in an effort to keep the rowers in sync with each other as well as keep them moving quickly. There were several people in the middle of the boat shouting at the rowers to motivate them to keep digging in unison as a team. At the back of the boat is a two-person steering team and they use a long handled paddle to keep the boat in their lanes as well as direct the boats at each of the turns around the half-point buoys. I was told that each team doesn't know who will be steering their boat until race day. They say the steering team plays a vital part in the speed of the race because time can be either made up or wasted in the turn phase of the race.

Fun-loving Dancing Man

The Americans had several teams racing this year. There were men's and women's teams from each of the military branches there and some Americans raced on a few of the Japanese teams. The Women's dragon boat race was scheduled for 12:30. We weren't sure what to expect as far as traffic coming into the port so we got an early 9:45 start. We managed to find parking easily and had several hours to walk through the carnival booths, watch some of the entertainment and have our lunch. We enjoyed watching a children's musical show before lunch. There was a man that kept coming to the front aisle to dance to their songs. He was quite entertaining to watch. He seemed like a guy who enjoys life and enjoys having fun. I couldn't help taking a lot of pictures of him and once he spotted my camera he seemed to step up his dance routine and would smile in my direction. Some of the little girls in their kimonos were quite cute too.

We settled on yakisoba for lunch but each bought from a different vendor. My vendor had a man wearing a fish head that loved to pose for pictures so, of course, we had to take pictures with him to remember the day. After the race we had a shaved ice cream concoction that was quite refreshing on the hot day. Neither of us remembered to bring sunscreen but were able to find a lady willing to share hers with us. The weather was supposed to be rainy and we'd not expected to need it.

Fish-face Food Vendor

The Close Finish of the Women's Race

When we first arrived at the festival, we watched one of the early races to determine where the best photo-taking spot would be. For this race we stood at the starting point but we found that it was difficult to see the turning point of the race. For the other races we opted to station ourselves at the mid-point so we could easily see both the start and turn of the race. The women's race was equally matched because it was a close race. It was hard to tell who crossed the finish line first but I was very excited when they announced that our friend's Air Force Shogun Women's team won their race. I know how hard Erin worked to be on the team and so it was pretty cool to see her excitement at the end of the race when she found her family. I happened to get to them at the perfect time to catch a few shots of them celebrating the win. Those turned out to be my favorite photos of the day. It was a great way to experience my first dragon boat race when the team I was rooting for won. Erin said that they beat all the other women's teams and came in 4th out of 42 competing teams.

As promised here are some of my favorite pictures from the race. Of course, true to my photographer self, I have many more pictures than you'll see here but you might be able to find a few more on Facebook if you're interested. Hope you enjoy experiencing a little bit of Dragon boat racing through my pictures.

Leslie and I at lunch

Erin is directly behind the man squatting
on the left side of the boat

Cute little Okinawan girl at the carnival

Is that PeeWee Herman?