Okinawa 4/1/24

 

Okinawa, Japan

It will be exactly 79 years to the day when we arrive in port, that the Battle of Okinawa began, the last major battle of WWII and the bloodiest of the Pacific campaign. We did not make it to the battle site on this trip, which we were a little sorry we did not choose that option.

First up, a visit to Shuri Castle which is a Ryukysuan Castle, previously the palace of the Ryudyu Kingdom.  It was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.  After the war, it was repurposed as a college and is now a tourist attraction, while still undergoing significant restoration.

We continued our spelunking adventure with John and Mary Ann, heading to Okinawa World, a recreated traditional village with live glass blowing and weaving demonstrations along with its own brewery.  It also housed the entrance to  Gyokusendo Caves which stretches five kilometres from end to end and boasts a host of spectacular rock formations. It’s been around for 300,000 years or so, but it wasn’t discovered by us humans until 1967. Visitors access the cave via a long flight of stairs, descending into a world that stays at a constant 21°C all year round – often a welcome relief from the heat outside. A steel walkway stretches 890 metres into the cave, twisting and turning around the many bends and ups and downs, and squeezing through some narrow gaps.  An underground river runs below the walkway, passing over sandbars and down waterfalls. Water constantly drips down from above, very slowing growing the rock formations in the process, and already new stalagmites are beginning to form on the walkway. The sound of trickling water can be heard everywhere, but otherwise the cave is mainly quiet and peaceful.

Since Gyokusend Cave wasn’t discovered until 1967, it was not one of the caves used for shelter by Okinawans during WWII. But our guide told us that many of the caves were used by the residents of Okinawa to hide out during the bombing. Unfortunately, many of them still perished even after surviving months of hiding in the caves from bombs, only to be told by the Japanese government that they needed to commit suicide to avoid being captured, tortured and eaten by the Americans.   Yikes...

The caves were different than Ishigaki but equally fascinating.

Finally, having some free time at Kokusai Street to explore the local shops, restaurants, and cafes was a perfect way to end the day. we had a great lunch, and decided to do a sake tasting.  We had three offerings and all 4 of us agreed the middle one was the best of the three and was surprisingly good.  When we asked our waiter what it was - SURPRISE - it was snake sake only sold in Ishigaki.  We all howled with laughter as 3 of us would never have tried it - Mickey of course would have.  I think our waiter got a real kick out of showing us the jar - with the snake in it!!!

and of course local street art along with delivery scooters for McDonald's

As we were driving to our stops, we saw many farmers working their land....

At sea tomorrow and then on to our 3 South Korea stops, starting in Busan