During the Age of Discovery, Europeans sailed the world. Their ships often carried goats, which provided fresh milk and meat. Sailors often left a few goats on desert islands where they stopped for fresh water. These were intended to provide a means of sustenance for future shipwrecked sailors. Thus goats and islands have an historical … Continue reading Aloe Vera and Goats: an interesting symbiosis
This article takes readers to Iriomote, the second largest island in Okinawa Prefecture and a sparsely populated land of jungles, waterfalls and beaches. (Archived article originally published by Japan Today)
Ishigaki is the most populous of the Yaeyama Islands, the southern and western-most island group in Okinawa (just 250 km. from Taiwan). As with all Yaeyama Islanders, the people who live on Ishigaki celebrate their local culture and history at every opportunity. Visitors to the island have many opportunities to enjoy that, but for a … Continue reading Experience Local Culture at Ishigaki Yaima Village
On the morning of October 31, 2019, people in Japan (and perhaps the rest of the world) awoke to learn that Okinawa's Shuri Castle, the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 to 1879 and a World Heritage site, had suffered a horrendous fire. It took more than ten hours to extinguish the flames. The … Continue reading Shuri Castle: rising from the ashes
Okinawa is Japan's tropical paradise: sun, sand and palm trees. It's also one of Japan's rainiest places. Tourists can easily find themselves caught in a cloudburst...or days of rain when there's a typhoon in the vicinity. But the intrepid tourist needn't to be deterred by a little precipitation (typhoons, of course, are another matter). When … Continue reading Shuri Castle on a rainy day
This article describes various lessons one can take while visiting Okinawa (including karate, glass blowing and pottery-making) to get a real taste of the culture of the islands. (Archived article originally published by Japan Today.)
Particularly after World War I (perhaps earlier and continuing even now), it was not unusual for military forces to build underground facilities. The principal reasons were doubtless concealment--their presence was harder to detect--and protection--they were harder to be destroyed by the enemy if they were detected. Examples include the facilities of France's Maginot Line, Singapore's … Continue reading War goes underground: Japan’s former Naval headquarters in Okinawa
This article introduces a number of ideas for things to do and see in the Sakishima Islands of Okinawa. (Archived article originally published by Japan Today.)
Semi-tropical Okinawa is famously the first place cherry blossoms are seen in Japan every year. And they’re blooming now! One of the most popular cherry blossom viewing spots on Okinawa’s main island is Nakijin Castle Ruins. The ruins are on the Motobu Peninsula in the northern part of the island. There has been a stone … Continue reading Nakijin Castle – blossoms among the ruins
This article identifies a number of non-beach sites and activities not to miss in Okinawa. (Archived article - originally published in the ACCJ Journal, November, 2013)
