Greetings from Okinawa, where our day brought us a nice mix of the old, the new, and the natural. The old was the grounds of Shuri Castle, home of the Ryukyu dynasty for 500 years. The new was bustling Kokusai Street in downtown Naha, the island’s capital. And the natural was Gyokusend Cave, a limestone cavern southeast of Naha.
Let’s go with the last of the three first, because that’s where we started our day. Gyokusend Cave is part of the Okinawa World complex, where they have everything from dance performances to a snake exhibit to glass blowing and more. It’s enough to get you lost if you’re not paying attention to the signs. The cave is the main attraction though, so after brief stops to watch a few minutes of the dance performance and walk through the snake exhibit, we slipped out and made for Gyokusend.
Before I get to the cave though, a few words about the snake exhibit, which features the now infamous habu, or yellow spotted pit viper. Attentive readers may recall that yesterday on Ishigaki Michele and I wandered innocently down a wooded trail, utterly unaware that the area was infested with these deadly snakes. Fortunately we didn’t see one, and today I learned why that probably was. The darn things blend into the woods so well you could step on one without ever seeing it. The good news is that with Ishigaki and Okinawa now behind us, the chances of stumbling onto one are pretty much zero, as we’re leaving their range.
Okay, back to Gyokusend. I was a little skeptical about visiting a cave again after seeing one yesterday in Ishigaki, but I needn’t have worried. Gyokusend is much larger, with nearly a kilometer open to the public, and it’s really nice, with large, attractive chambers, a stream running along the raised walkway, and even a waterfall in one spot. The cave has a lot of history too, as many Okinawa civilians took shelter there from the devastating bombing and fighting that took place during the battle of Okinawa in 1945. More on the war in a bit.
After exiting the cave we spent a few minutes exploring the above ground exhibits, and then made our way back to the bus for the ride to Shuri Castle. The castle, or more properly the site where it once stood, sits atop a hill overlooking Naha, and the view from the grounds is very nice. For 500 years Okinawa was ruled by the Ryuku Dynasty, and the castle was the king’s seat of power. The castle, outbuildings and outer walls were all completely destroyed by allied bombing during the battle of Okinawa in 1945, but were subsequently rebuilt due to their importance as part of the island’s cultural heritage.
Alas, on October 31, 2019, a devastating fire burned the all wooden structures down again, and while there are plans to rebuild yet again, little has been done as of yet. Still, the ornate gateway is intact, as are the stone walls and a few outbuildings, and we enjoyed walking around the site and soaking up the history.
Then it was time for what turned out to be my favorite stop of the day, Kokusai Street in downtown Naha. I should point out that for a relatively small island, Okinawa is densely populated, being home to almost 1.5 million residents, and more than 300,000 of them live in Naha, a modern city completely rebuilt after being flattened by allied bombs and artillery shells in 1945. Of those 300,000, it felt like a healthy percentage were walking up and down Kokusai Street this afternoon. Simply put, Kokusai Street is crazy, and I mean that in the best possible way.
The primary reason to visit Kokusai Street is ostensibly shopping, but it’s just fun to jump into the maelstrom and be part of all that energy. Most of the shops are open to the air in the front, maximizing sidewalk shopping and making the shops themselves more a part of the experience. I haven’t a clue what many of them were selling, but most of them were prominently displaying tee shirts advertising Orion Beer, the big locally brewed suds. The stuff must be really popular, because you could buy the actual beer almost everywhere too.
The other thing that struck me is that Spam, of all things, is very popular here. Spam itself and Spam tee shirts were on sale everywhere too. I’m sure there’s a story there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes back to World War Two and how the population was fed after the battle, but that’s research for another day.
There were several places along the street where you could plunge down a side alley lined with shops, and often there were alleys off the side alleys. What I’m saying is that you could get yourself cheerfully lost in there if you didn’t leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind to find your way back out. We didn’t get too daring because we had a time deadline to get back to the bus, but we did enough exploring to find a couple bargains and mail a postcard home. Oh, one last thing I learned. A double cheeseburger at McDonald’s comes with onions and soy sauce, and is vastly superior to what they sell at home.
A final thought on Okinawa. It seemed clear as we traveled around the island and interacted with the locals that most people have put what happened here during World War Two behind them and moved on. The US turned Okinawa back over to Japan fifty years ago, and our two countries are great allies now. Still, the heartbreaking death toll will always be part of Okinawa’s story, and I found myself reflecting on it more than once during the day. If you’re unfamiliar with the numbers, the United States lost more than 12,000 killed or missing in action during the 1945 battle for the island. Losses among Japanese soldiers and Okinawan conscripts were a staggering 70,000, and civilian deaths were perhaps as high as 150,000. It’s not surprising that many Okinawans today are pacifists.
That’s it for today. We learned a lot and had a really good time on Okinawa, and I leave with some great memories. Tomorrow is a sea day, when we hope to get some rest after three straight ports of call. Then it’s off to South Korea. Can’t wait.
First stop of the day was at Okinawa World, where we got a good look at a habu, or yellow spotted pit viper. These are the deadly snakes that infest the forests on Ishigaki and Okinawa.
We watched these giant tortoises eat too. Amazing creatures.
How about these flowers hanging from a banyan tree.
Our second day in a row exploring a cave. This one was bigger and nicer than the one on Ishigaki.
No complaints about the long escalator that brought us back up from the cave.
Haven’t seen one of these since I was in Japan 53 years ago.if I recall, they’re omikuji, or strips of paper with fortunes on them. Gotta look that back up before our next stop in Japan.
There was a small cultural center on site, with some nice displays.
Another display in the cultural center.
Glass blowing too.
As with everywhere we went, there was Spam for sale in the gift shop.
I assume (hope) that says “Welcome to Okinawa World.”
The entrance gate to Shuri Castle.
Most of what you see was rebuilt after it was desttoyed during World War Two.
Entering the grounds of the castle.
There always seemed to be another level.
Guardian.
Getting up to the inner buildings that burned down in 2019.
Hopefully they’ll rebuild all this better than ever.
On to Kokusai Street, where we had lunch at McDonald’s. My double cheeseburger with onions and soy/teriyaki sauce was much better than what they sell in the US.
Kokusai Street is busy, but really fun.
No idea what they were selling inside, but the outside of the store was very cool.
Orion beer is very popular in Okinawa. Here we have Orion shirts displayed on the wall, an Orion shirt on a mannequin of some sort, and a girl sizing an Orion shirt. Never got around to trying any.
Spam shirts are just as popular.
You can see almost anything on Kokusai Street.
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