First Day in Okinawa

The morning after our arrival our host took us on a tour of the southern part of the island. We got a quite a lesson on Okinawan history and its role in the second world war. We were shown a few of the old style houses - although most every thing on the island was destroyed during the war. The stone on the very right (barely visible) - a lava stone fence is of original type.



I believe this is more of an old style house. About 1/4 of the population of Okinawa was killed in the war. The Okinawan people were caught between the Japanese and the Americans and suffered at the hands of both. At least 28 families were annihilated during the war. Their property lies fallow and many have shrines devoted to the memory of the families.



These lions can be found all over and are protectors.



This is a shrine to one of the disappeared families.



We next headed over to the Peace Park which is novel in that it has walls of commemoration for every person who died in the Battle of Okinawa. (Japanese, Americans and even British).



It was a misty day, but the view of the ocean was still quite inspiring.



A fountain with a map of the world in its base can be seen nearby.



It was reassuring somehow to see families playing peacefully in the fountain.



We walked out to the walls to see the memorial.





This scary little guy keeps watch over the exit.



THis is just a street scene on our way to our first meeting at a Denny's-like establishment.



Maybe you thought I was kidding about the supplies available for these pets!




We had our planning session for English camp.



We all worked hard and hoped things would go well.





One sees interesting things sometimes!



We also had to run an errand at the Seaman's Club (where the merchant marine meet and hang out.) here is the entry way.



This was a very nice little library.



Tomorrow would be a hard work day. It was good to relax for a bit.