Okinawa Diary

Kochibara and Akahigibara Monchu Gaveyard
We took a bus to Itoman where we visited the largest monchu graveyard, where 2,500 people are buried for 300 years. The yard is very large and there are three main tombs. This graveyard is for two monchu (clans), Kochibara and Akahigibara. People visit the tomb for Sheemee which is based on the lunar calendar, but it is usually at the beginning of April. They make special dishes and put them in jyubako (square box and offer it to the tomb. After the worship, they have a party with those dishes and amamori and other liquor and sing and dance.

Itoman
Itman is one of the nine cities on the main island, the southernmost city. It is a base to visit many memorials and monuments for the dead of World War II.

From April 1 to July 2 in 1945, many Okinawans were killed or died around there. The tragedy happened when, at the end of May, the Japanese military decided to withdraw to the south from the Shuri headquarters, and took civilians with them as well, as they had many civilians working for the military. Their main strategy was just keeping the US military away from the mainland of Japan as long as possible, the human shield during World War II. They knew that they could not win and even that they did not have enough equipments and weapons to fight against the US military, but they engaged in guerilla fighting with their poor weapons and poorly trained people. Many people who committed suicide were forced to do so, and some were even killed by Japanese soldiers.

Many teenagers were working for the military and died around there. Not only boys but girls had to work for the military and for injured people during battles.

Shiraume no To, Heiwa no To, Himeyuri no To and others
We took a taxi and visited Shiraume no To and Himeyuri no To, which commemorate the high school girls who worked as nurses. In the museum behind Himeyuri no To, one of the survivors, who is 75 years old, told us about their experiences and what they did. Her story was really moving. Hearing someone tell their own experience in the first person is easy to understand and convincing.

Shiraume no To had a memorial and nokotsudo, where they keep bones of dead those girls.

Our taxi went on a narrow road through sugar fields to the Cape Kyan, where Heiwa no To is. It is on the cliff and we can see beautiful scenery. Almost 58 years ago, so many people were pushed back here and whoever survived committed suicide to throw themselves from here or around.

We visited another cape where Konpaku no To stands. This memorial was built by Okinawans with bones gathered all over around here. When the emperor came several years ago, they made this area a nice park with beautiful grass and trees around.

Whenever dignitaries came, they put some money and made improvements. That made things more beautiful and nice, but artificial.

Himeyuri no To is probably most famous and is best visited by tourists. I asked the taxi driver why, and he explained that is probably because of the cave. Girl nurses committed suicide in the cave since they were surrounded by American soldiers and not run away.

The museum had photos of girls in the Himeyuri group, medical equipment, etc., which they were using.

Peace Park
We took a taxi to Kenji no To, a memorial for teenage boys who were studying to be teachers. We walked up to the Peace Park from there. There were many memorials built by individual prefectures. It looked like almost all prefectures have memorials. They have different shapes and styles. After walking along the promenade of war memorials, we visited Peace Ishiji and the museum. This area is Mabumi Hill, where the Japanese military set up their headquarters after they withdrew from Shuri. They had violent battles around there. Commander Ushijima is said to have committed suicide on June 23, and that was the end of organized battles. Okinawans have a commemorative ceremony every year on June 23 across from Peace Memorial Hall in this park.

We saw Heiwa no Ishiji, which reminded me of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. There are more than 237,000 people's names are inscribed on stone walls. They are organized by prefecture, and we found the row for Kyoto, though we did not find the memorial for Kyoto Prefecture.

We visited the museum and Heiwa Kinendo (Peace Memorial Hall). The museum has exhibits and some videos. The videos were very good. We went up to the top of the building and had good views of the surrounding countryside.

We walked to the Korean Memorial for Koreans who died in Okinawa. Then we went to Peace Memorial Hall from the back door. It has a large wooden Buddha image. I think Japanese people are insensitive to religion, since all people who were involved in battles in Okinawa were not Buddhists. Also, Korean families who lost their members in Okinwa still have strong anti-Japanese feelings, and some of them are not happy about whatever Okinawans do for them even today. On every June 23, when the organized battles ended with Commander Ushijima's suicide, the commemorative ceremony is held across the field from this tower, using a memorial at the end of the square.

Since we accidentally sneaked into the hall by the back door, we went to the front after we realized what we had done and paid the entrance fee, which was 500 yen and which I felt was like paying donation for peace.

When I visited these memorials 35 years ago, there were only memorials and there was no museum or facilities for visitors. They certainly have built a lot of buildings, etc. According to a taxi driver, whenever an emperor, a high official, etc., visits Okinawa, things have become better. It is nice to make the site more beautiful etc., but things look more artificial and not real to me.

Gyokusendo Cave and Kingdom Village
We took a bus to Gyokusendo. This is a frequent bus route, but there was still only one bus per hour. Someone told us it is only a 15-minute drive, but it took almost half an hour and cost close to 400 yen.

We went into a cave and also saw the Kingdom Village, a kind of open air folk museum of the Ryukyus. When we entered the cave, it was very warm and humid, probably with steam from the springs, and I could not see anything with my steamy glasses, or take pictures, either. I was really worryied about my camera. Fortunately I could take some photosa later, as you can see.

It is a huge cave, and probably the largest one we have seen, in length, at least. Unfortunately, they cut some of the stalactites that were hanging down so we would be able to walk through the cave. We can see about 890 meters of the cave.

After going through the cave, we went up by way of the longest escalator in Okinawa to the Kingdom Village. They moved old houses and factories there and made something like old Shuri. We could see a Ryukyu glass factory, a pottery factory, a weaving place, a dyeing place, etc.

We had bukubuku tea, which was served to Sapposhi, the royal envoys from China to the Ryukyu Kingdom. It has a peak of foam on top that looks like shaved ice. It was served with a sweet cake.

We saw an Eisa performance, which is Okinawan drumming. It is very dynamic and vivid.

Seifa Utaki
One problem we had in the Kingdom Village was that we did not know how long it would take to get to Seifa Utaki and when it would close. We had to rush a little. We took a taxi there.

An "utaki" is a sacred place in a village, town or even in a castle. People prayed there. Usually they have a special tree, a pile of stones, a large rock, etc., which could be used as an altar. Saifa Utaki is the main utaki in Okinawa and the most sacred place. It is one of the nine world heritage sites.

Now there is a stone monument and the world heritage site monument at the entrance. There is no ticket place. You can just walk up to several sacred places. In the past, only the priestesses and royal people could go there, and ordinary people had to pray around what is the entrance today.

They use large rocks for the altars and prayed there. If you see those places for a while quietly, things look very sacred. There are six places for prayers. The king of the Ryukyus went there twice a year. It enshrines God Amamikiyo who started Okinawa, so this is kind of like Ise Shrine in mainland Japan.

We took a bus back to Naha, which took almost one and half hours and cost 860 yen.

For dinner, we went to Futan, a Ryukyu restaurant on Kokusai dori near Yotsutake. We had umibudo (sea grapes), suku dofu (tofu which has small, salty fish on the top), Okinawa okonomiyaki ("Japanese pizza"), Okinawa soba (noodles), and potatoes.

dinner

dinner

dinner