We had four days off work for the Columbus Day holiday and
took full advantage of it! Saturday we
spent the day at Peace Prayer Memorial Park, walking the grounds and
museum. In 1945 the Battle of Okinawa,
took the lives of over 240,000 (100,000 of which were civilian deaths). The names of the dead are carved into the stone
cenotaphs and the museum walks through the history of the war and
showcases video footage and stories from those who survived. It was a humbling experience to learn about
those who died in the battle.
On Sunday Jake had the awesome opportunity to participate in
the 42nd Annual Naha Tug of War.
The event is passed down from ancient Ryukyu Kingdom era and is one of
the biggest cultural events on the island.
Several hundred thousand people attend the event and approximately
20,000 participate. The event starts off
with a parade of 25 foot tall Hatagashira Flagstaffs presented by teams
representing the East and West, wearing traditional Okinawa clothing. A Royal Court is carried across the top of
the rope from each side to middle to challenge each other to the “war”. Each section of rope is 300 feet long and is
pinned together by a 10 foot wooden peg.
The rope weighs 44 tons! With a
30 minute time limit, the teams must move the rope 5 meters to win and if no
side wins, it is a tie. After the event,
people cut off pieces of the rope for good luck in the coming year. Jake had so much fun joining in the
excitement of the crowd yelling “Wa Shoi” and “Hai-ya” and pulling his best for
Team East.
Monday we headed to the north end of the island and spent
hours combing the beaches of Cape Hedo for shells, rocks and other
treasures. We camped for the weekend
right along the beach. It was our first
time camping together. The weather was
perfect, the sounds of the waves crashing at night, and the roaring campfire
made for a perfect day! Tuesday we
walked through a Mangrove Park, stopped to buy local pineapple we saw growing
along the road, went to Cape Zanpa, and visited Sea Seed a coral farm.
The best part of the weekend, besides having 4 full days
together, was that almost everything we did was free! There are so many adventures awaiting us in
Okinawa.
Until next time,
Natasha and Jake
Just started reading your blog...it's so neat to read about your life in Japan! I can't imagine what it must be like. Kudos to you for being daring enough to do it! BTW, I hope your pregnancy is going well.
ReplyDelete