Okinawa Diary

Shurei Gate

If you are interested in learning more about the places we visited or about Okinawa and Okinawan culture in general, we have made Okinawa Links. This will help you learn more about this fascinating place.

December 25

We arrived in Okinawa at about noon. This was my first trip to Okinawa, and one of the first thing that impressed me was all the orchids in the airport. They were all over the place, and they were beautiful -- the first reminder that we were in a subtropical place.

Ryukyu Lunch

We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel, and checked in, and then we took a taxi to Shuri, where we had lunch. Ryukyu cuisine is delicious, and we enjoyed it everywhere that we ate it, but this was one of the best meals that we had. We were introduced to some of the basic ingredients of Ryukyu cuisine, including pork and sweet potatoes.

After lunch, we walked up to the Shuri Castle complex. The road we walked on was an old, traditional one, paved with Okinawa limestone. Not many remnants survive from before World War II in Shuri, but this road does. Shuri Castle is at the top of a hill, so the hill was steep. On the way, we walked a little way off the road to see six old trees. There used to be many of these old trees in and around the Shuri Castle complex, but now few remain.

Shurei Gate

When we got to the castle complex, we saw Shurei Gate, which is a symbol of Okinawa. Shurei Gate was the second gate of the castle on what was the main road leading up to the castle. (The first gate no longer exists.)

Kankai Gate

There has been a castle on this site from the 12th century, but it became especially important when the three separate kingdoms on Okinawa were united in the early 15th century. The architecture shows a strong influence from China. During World War II, most of the castle buildings as well as the walls were destroyed, but in recent years, many of the structures have been reconstructed.

Rokokumon

The castle is entered through a series of gates. We first went through the Kankaimon. There was an open area, where we got a view of the surrounding area and also saw a sundial. Next we went through the Roukokumon and then the Koufukumon and finally the Houshinmon, which led into the courtyard in front of the "Seiden" -- the main hall.

Houshinmon

Seiden

The courtyard has stripes on two sides of an aisle. Based on the models that we saw, these lines were where the court officials lined up during ceremonies. We entered through the Nanden, which had displays about the castle and its history, and walked through to the Seiden, the main part of the castle.

Courtyard

Throne

We entered through the Nanden, which had displays about the castle and its history, and walked through to the Seiden, the main part of the castle. We saw the throne of the King of the Ryukyus on the first floor. On the second floor, we saw two more thrones, which faced an opening overlooking the courtyard.

Hokuden

This was where the king and queen sat during ceremonies that took place in the courtyard. Finally we went through the Hokuden. It had more displays, and also an audiovisual program which showed how the castle was reconstructed. They used the same techniques used by the original Ryukyu craftsmen, which did not use nails.

Ryukyu Dancing

After we explored the castle, we saw a performance of traditional Okinawan dance. It started with "Yotsutake," a tradtional court dance and also had various kinds of other dance. One thing that I noticed was that all the dancers were women, even those wearing men's costumes. I don't know if it is a tradition that only women dance in these dances or if men are not particularly interested in learning traditional dance.

Enkakuji

Benzaitendo

After the dance, we walked around in the castle park and saw some other structures, including the Sonohyan-utaki gate, from which the king departed the castle, and the main gate of the Enkakuji Temple. Also, we saw Enkanchi Pond, which has a small island with a shrine on it called Benzaitendo. It was originally built to house Buddhist sutras that were a gift from the king of Korea. There is a nice arched bridge that connects the island to the shore. We walked along the shore of the pond and then along the shore of Ryutan Lake, which was very pleasant.

Tamaudon

Tamaudon

We also visited the Tamaudun Royal Mausoleum. It was a building with three sections. In the center section, the body of the dead royal family member was left in the center part of the building until they decayed, and then the bones were washed.

Tamaudon

The bones of the kings and queens were stored in the room on the right, inside ceramic boxes, and the bones of the other members of the royal family were stored in the room on the right side. In addition to the building itself, there was a small museum which explained the use of this building and had some pictures of funeral processions.

Awamori

Ryukyu Cousine

After going back to the hotel to rest, we went to a restaurant called Yotsutake, which has traditional Ryukyu cuisine as well as dances. The food was really good, as usual. (At this restaurant, they served "court cuisine," which is what was eaten by the royal family and courtiers.) Among the dishes we had were rafute (pork cooked for hours in soy sauce, ginger, and amawari, which is the traditional Okinawa sake), kombu (seaweed, which was a lot better than it sounds), beniimo (purple sweet potato), Jiyimami tofu (a kind of tofu with a strong flavor, made from peanuts), and fresh pineapple. We also tried awamori, the traditional Okinawa sake.

Ryukyu Dance

Ryukyu Dance

Among the dances, a couple were the same dances as we had seen at the castle, plus others. The dance called "yotsutake," after which the restaurant is named, was a traditional court dance. Dancers wear a yellow print kimono and large red and blue headdresses, so they look quite striking. The "peasant" dances were danced in much simpler costumes and were more lively than the court dances. It was a very enjoyable evening. (We ate Ryukyu cuisine for most of our meals, but I won't mention it every time. However, we did enjoy it very much. It is an interesting combination of Japanese and Chinese cuisines.)

One of the sad things about Okinawa was how ugly the cities are. Every city I saw was mainly made up of buildings that looked like they were put up quickly and cheaply after the war. I found it rather depressing, and as beautiful as the scenery was, I think I would have found it hard to live there.

Kenji's Corner

December 26

We took a bus to the city of Itoman, near the south coast, and then walked to the 1) tomb of tombs of the Kochibara and Akahigibara Monchu (clan). The area of this complex of tombs is the 5400 square meters, the largest set of tombs in Okinawa. Over a period of 300 years, some 2500 people have been buried there. (We noticed that tombs in Okinawa are distinctive. They are almost like small houses.)

Shiraume no To

Cape Kyan

We took a taxi to see some of the scenery and war memorials in the South. First, we went to Shiraume no To, which is a monument dedicated to 132 students and teachers from a girls high school who had been mobilized to assist battlefield nurses. Next, we went to Cape Kyan (Kyan Misaki), which has a monument called Heiwa no To.

Heiwa no To

The view of the cliffs and the ocean from the cape is very beautiful. However, the cliffs along here were scenes of a great deal of tragedy. The American military pushed South, and many people were trapped and committed suicide by jumping off these cliffs into the sea. We also went to another spot that had some monuments in memory of the dead from various prefectures.

Himeyuri no To

Next we went to Himeyuri Park, a sad place to visit. It is the site of one of the caves that was used as a medical facility. The Japanese army impressed high school girls into service as nurses. They were forced to care for sick and wounded men in caves under terrible conditions. Sometimes they went onto battlefields to help transport wounded men. When the army retreated, it left the girls behind but would not allow them to surrender.

Himeyuri no To

Some 200 of them committed suicide. We could see the opening of one of the caves that was used as a hospital, and one of the caves where the nurses committed suicide. This memorial is associated with a group of survivors, and one of them talked to a group of people who were visiting the museum about her experiences. It was very moving, and some of the people were in tears, listening to her.

Kenji no To

The museum had artifacts from the caves and reconstructions of the caves, as well as pictures of some of the girls. They were so young. As I said, it was a very sad place. The next place we went to was Kenji-no-to, which is a monument to 307 teachers and students who committed suicide.

We walked over a hill (with great views of the ocean) to the rest of the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. Included on the museum grounds were memorial monuments for various prefectures and rows and rows of marble slabs, with the names of people who died in the Battle of Okinawa from each prefecture. In the museum proper, we saw displays about what lead up to the Battle of Okinawa, the battle itself, and the aftermath, including controversies related to the occupation of Okinawa by the US military after the war. In one room, there were notebooks with eyewitness descriptions of the battle, especially its effect on civilians. The civilians of Okinawa suffered terribly during the battle, as much from the Japanese military as the US military.

Peace Hall

Peace Hall

But when the war ended, they had more suffering, since the US took over the island and often took land for bases and other military purposes without sufficient compensation. >From the museum, we went to the Okinawan Peace Hall, which has a great Buddha statue, a display of art, and stones that have been gathered from various countries as a symbolic foundation of the statue.

Gyokusendo

We planned to go to the Gyokusendo Cave, but when we got there, we found that it is associated with the Kingdom Village. You can go to the Kingdom Village only, or you can go to the cave and the Kingdom Village, but you can't just go to the cave, so we decided to go to both. We went through the cave first.

Gyokusendo

Okinawa is riddled with limestone caves, but this one is supposed to be the largest and most impressive. It is the most impressive cave I can ever remember seeing. The entire cave is about five kilometers long, and about 900 meters of the cave are open to the public. As you walk through the cave, you can see tens of thousands of stalactites hanging from the ceiling. (The entire cave has perhaps a million.) Most of them are small, but some are huge. There were also stalactites on the floor of the cave. Some of the stalactites and stalagmites had been given names, based on their shapes, or someone's imagination of their shape, anyway. It was a wonderful experience, walking through the cave and seeing all these structures.

Kingdom

Ryukyu Glass

After we emerged from the cave, we doubled back and when through the Kingdom Village. (As I understand, the cave runs under the village, so you walk under the village through the cave and come up on the opposite end, and then walk back toward the entrance.) The village features a variety of crafts, and we can see people working on the crafts as well as the products. We saw large buildings where craftspeople were doing glass blowing and making ceramics. The glass blowers made vases, chopstick rests, etc. The most common item made in the ceramics workshops seemed to be shisa (lion dogs).

Eisa

In houses more than 100 years old that had been moved from various parts of Okinawa, there were other crafts, such as weaving, dyeing, and paper making. In one shop, they made objects from snake skin. The traditional three-stringed musical instrument from Okinawa has snakeskin covering the body. We stopped for a little bit to watch the exhibition of traditional Okinawan drumming (Eisa), which also includes a dancing shisa (two people in a costume). It was very entertaining. We stopped by the brewery and learned a little about "habu sake," which is awamori made with a snake in it. (Not very appitizing, in my opinion. Kenji did try a sample, but I didn't.)

Sefa Utaki

Sefa Utaki

Next we took a taxi to Sefa-Utaki. (Utaki were sacred groves to the Ryukyuans, and the Sefa-Utaki were the most sacred of all.) At the foot of the steps, there were several small stones that served as altars. Since this area was so sacred, only the members of the royal court were allowed to go there. The people who were not allowed to go there burned insense or left offerings at the foot of the hill. We climbed up the stairs and followed a path through the forest. There were six sacred places. One was where they highest ranked priestesses were ordained. Another place was where prophesies were made. There is a triangular space between two rocks, and if you go between them, you can see a view of the ocean and Kudaka Island, which was believed to be the island of the gods.

Kenji's Corner

December 27

We walked from our hotel to Sogenji, which was once the temple where the Ryukyuan kings were buried. The temple itself no longer exists, but there is a triple arched gate in the wall.

Sogenji

We went on a tour of the northern part of the island. (Okinawa has a public bus system (no railroads), but there are four different companies, and getting to some places can be complicated. In addition, the bus system seems to be intended primarily for residents rather than tourists.

Ryukyu Mura

We mostly used busses and taxis, but this was an easier way to get to the places we wanted to see in the North.) On our way north, we drove by one of the US bases. (There are a number of them, we noticed, and they cover a substantial portion of the island.) One of the places we stopped was Ryukyu Mura, described as the Williamsburg of Okinawa, which had old houses, craft demonstrations, sata-andagi (a type of doughnut, which we sampled), etc.

sugar press

There was a windmill for getting the juice out of sugar cane, and, probably from an older era, a type of press powered by a water buffalo walking round and round.

Manza-mou

Another place we stopped was Manza-mou, which was a viewpoint where we could see some cliffs. It was a beautiful view (would have been better if it hadn't been raining).

Aquarium

We went to the Ocean Expo Park, but the only think we had time to see was the aquarium. I really enjoyed seeing the fish. There were brilliantly colored tropical fish -- one species was bright oragne what a bright fuchsia smear on it's side.

Botanical Garden

It looked like someone's idea of a joke. There was one huge tank with sharks, manta rays, and a lot of other fish.

We also stopped at the Southeast Botanical Garden. It was divided into two parts, the water garden, which has trees and flowers arranged around ponds, and the exotic art forest, which, believe it or not, is what it says it is -- a forest with exotic art in it. Kind of unusual, but interesting.

Kenji's Corner

December 28

Katsuren Gusuku

Katsuren Gusuku

We took a bus to Katsuren Castle, the ruins of a castle on top of a hill overlooking the sea. The ruins of the castle are being restored, but it looks like they are just beginning to do the restoration. At least there are arrows pointing the way up to the castle, but the way was just a muddy road.

Katsuren Gusuku

Katsuren Gusuku

We managed to get to the top, though. There are three enclosures that remain, and the first one is on the top. From the top, there is a great view of the bay and the surrounding countryside. (We thought we could see Nakagusku Castle across the bay, but we weren't sure.) Then we went back down to the second level, which once had a hall built on it. The bases of the pillars of the hall were still there. There was also a shrine on that level. It's hard to describe the effect of these ruins, except that looking at them, I could see that the castle must have at one time been very imposing and magnificent.

Katsuren Gusuku

Katsuren Gusuku

This castle was probably originally built in the 12th or 13th century. One of the reasons Katsuren Castle is famous is its association with a local ruler named Awamari, who held out longest against uniting the island. He attacked Nakagusku Castle and captured it, but when he tried to capture Shuri Castle, he was badly defeated. Archeologists have found artifacts on the site that indicate that there was active trade between this part of the Ryukyus and other countries.

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

After we left the castle, we took a bus part way back to Naha, and then we set off to walk to the next castle. On the way, we visited the Nakamura House. It was the home of the Nakamura family. They moved to the area in the 16th century to serve the lord of Nakagusuku Castle. but when Nakagusuku Castle fell, the family suffered as well.

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

Gradually, they rebuilt their fortunes. They became prosperous farmers, and the house was typical of that type of family. It was originally built with a thatched roof, like such a house would have in Japan, but later it had a traditional Okinawan red tile roof put on.

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

As you enter the property, you are confronted with a stone wall called a Hinpun. The purpose of this stone wall was to keep out evil spirits. Also, if you looked up, there was a shiso on the roof, a statue of a fierce head of a shi-sa dog, which was also intended to protect the property from evil. Beyond the hinpun wall is a courtyard, with a storage room on the left, and an annex of the house with two rooms (built to house younger sons until they could start branch families of their own) is on the right, and straight ahead is the main part of the house. The main house has eight rooms, including a guest room, a kitchen, a family room, and a dining room. Next to the house is a barn, with space for cows, horses, and goats, and a pig pen.

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

Nakamura House

Finally, we went to Nakagusuku Castle. It was built in the 1440s across the bay from Katsuren Castle. It is more sophisticated in its construction and a little better preserved.

Nakagusuku

Nakagusuku

It is divided into six "citadels" or enclosures. The West Citadel was an open area that ran along the length of the west side, and it was used for training horses. The main gate leads from a road into the West Citadel. The South Citadel is on the southernmost point of land. The First Citadel is above the South Citadel and is the highest and affords a beautiful view of the bay. After seeing the First Citadel, we moved down to the Second Citadel, and finally the Third Citadel. The North Citadel is below the third. There is a moon-viewing platform in the First Citadel, and I can imagine that it was a great place from which to watch the moon rise.

Nakagusuku

Nakagusuku

The mansion of the lord of the castle was also located in this citadel, and court ceremonies took place here. There is nothing left of the mansion itself, though I think we could see traces of the foundations. Even in ruins, the castle site is impressive. Commadore Matthew Perry visited Okinawa in the 19th century and was very impressed by it. I have to agree with him -- of the places we visited in Okinawa, this was the one I was most impressed by.

Nakagusuku

Nakagusuku

After we got back to Naha, we went to a street where there were a lot of pottery shops. It was interesting to see all the different types of pottery. The mainstay of the businesses seems to be shisa statues, and they come in great variety. (Shisa are called "temple dogs" or "lion dogs" in English, and come from China. The usually come in pairs, a male [with his mouth open] and a female [with her mouth closed], and you see them on gate posts in front of houses, businesses, and other buildings, but sometimes on rooftops, fences, etc.) We bought a rectangular plate, with a fish design. We learned that the potters who made the objects in that store were nearby, so we went to visit their small factory and watched them work on some pottery.

Market

Later, we went to a market, which sold all kinds of Okinawan food and ingredients for fixing it. Theoretically, you can pick out a fish at one of the stalls in the market and have it taken up to the second floor to be cooked in one of the restaurants in the food court. We didn't do that, but we did eat more Okinawan cuisine at the food court.

Kenji's Corner

December 29

Kannon Do

Kannon Do

In the morning, we started at a Kannon Do in Shuri. The temple was not particularly unusual, but there was a wonderful tree on the grounds. It was some kind of old banyan tree, I think, and it had roots running down the trunk and from the branches.

Okinawa Museum

Afterwards, we went back to the Shuri Castle area. Unfortunately, the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, which we had hoped to see, was closed for the holidays. (Museums are quite often closed from about the 29th through the first four or five days of the new year. When Kenji asked directions, the man he asked told him it was closed and said he had written letters to the editor about museums being closed at a time when there are so many tourists in Okinawa, but apparently to no avail.)

Ryutan

We walked around the ponds again and Kenji took more pictures, and then we went to the "rest center," which had some displays about Shuri and other World Heritage Sites in Okinawa. There were some videos, including one which I think was the traditional court New Year ceremony, which is reenacted every year. There were also models of the castle area, one as it appears in modern times and one from the 16th century.

We walked back down the hill on one of the old roads and stopped by the shop of a man who does traditional Okinawan dyeing. He showed us the stages that cloth goes through as it is dyed.

Shikinaen

Shikinaen

After we left the Shuri Castle area, we went to Shikina-en, which was a residence of the Ryukyu royal family. It is a large garden centered around a pond with some buildings that have been reconstructed. (The garden was destroyed in World War II, and was reconstructed over a period of about 20 years, starting in 1975.)

Shikinaen

shikinaen

We walked along the paths and saw Itokusen Spring, which is the source of water for the pond. It has two monuments at the spring opening, both erected by the chief delegates from China to Ryukyu coronations, one in 1800 and one in 1838. The main buidling is the palace, which has been reconstructed using the traditional methods, without nails. (On one of the walls in the back hall, we could see how boards were held in place, using two wedges through a hold from opposite sides.) The building was simple and sparce, with open rooms with tatami mats.

shikinaen

shikinaen

>From the front of the building was a lovely view of the pond, which had two old stone bridges across it. There is also a tiny island near the opposite shore, with a small 6-sided building on it. It is connected to the shore with a small bridge, cut out of one block of limestone. We continued to walk around the pond, where we could see the outlet for the pond (which leads to a falls, but we couldn't see it from the angle where we were) and a place where boats used on the pond were stored. Then we walked away from the pond to a viewpoint. The famous thing about this viewpoint is that you can't see the ocean from it -- not a common situation in Okinawa. The King of the Ryukyus showed the view to some Chinese delegates to impress them with the size of his kingdom. (I don't know whether they were duly impressed or not.) This a beautiful, pleasant garden, one of the most impressive places that we visited.

ungerground tunnel

headquarter

After visiting Shikina-en, we went to the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters. It is a series of tunnels built by the Japanese navy in 1944 as their headquarters when the American forces planned to make it their "unsinkable battleship" for the invasion of the mainland.

where Commander Ohta died

tunnel

About 275 meters of tunnel are open to the public, which includes the staff room, the code room, the commanding officers room, etc. One room was identified as the room where Rear Admiral Minoru Ota committed suicide when it became obvious that the Japanese would be defeated in Okinawa. (Some 2000 other military men apparently committed suicide as well.) There was also a small museum with artifacts, uniforms, etc., from the tunnels.

We walked down to a park but decided not to visit it, and went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. We took a taxi to the airport and flew back to Osaka.

Kenji's Corner