Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Nakijin Castle Ruin

　　I drove down the west coast of the island under the bright sunshine. I had several sites to visit along the route, but didn't have enough time for them so we dropped in at one of those sites, the Basho-fu Hall(link), meeting my wife's wish. I didn't have so much keen interest in Basho-fu then, but seeing several people working to preserve and hand to the descendants the traditional procedures of making cloth from the plant called Basho, I was strongly impressed. As for the detail of the Basho-fu, see the link to the official website.
　　Today's main scenic site was Nakijin Castle Ruin, one of four castle ruins listed as World Heritage sites. As I expected, the magnitude of the castle ruin was great. I thought of the old days of the castle ruin, walking over the castle wall.
　　The hotel of the last day was on Hamahigajima Island, connected with Okinawa Island by two long bridges. It is gorgeous and expensiveoriginally, but we were lucky to be able to use discount coupons only for weekdays.
　　We drove down from the farthest north to near Naha, the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture today. What I was most impressed by was the difference of the standards of living between the northern and southern areas. Can we not say that the Governor should be involved in this matter first?

Daisekirinzan Hill

　　When I dropped in at Hedomisaki Cape yesterday, I saw a hill from the cape, which had an interesting rocky terrain, whose name was apparently Daisekirinzan on my map. It was not touristy around the hill, but I wanted to see if there were some treking routes to the summit and turned my car into a narrow path which seemed to lead to the foot of the hill.
　　After about 5 minutes' drive, I found a small unpaved parking lot. According to a person who worked there, the tourists were able to be shuttled to the sightseeing base from there. I decided to get on the shuttle bus. A considerable magnitude of creation of land was underway around the parking lot. It was for welcoming more and more sightseers. Lots of sightseers visit Okinawa, but only a few people visit the northern part of Okinawa. They were aiming for an increase of visitors to the north.
　　I found that Daisekirinzan was rich in nature. You can walk in the rain forest. The forest is so deep that it was used for shooting one of the famous Japanese films of "Gegege no Kitarou". I took a movie from near the summit and upload it below. You can see the land creation site, which would be the vast parking lot, and Hedomisaki Cape in the distance.　

(Vocabulary)
touristy (けなして・インフォーマル) 〈場所が〉 観光色の強い;観光客向けの
shuttle [他]通例受け身形で》 (短距離区間で) 〈利用客など〉を送迎する, ピストン輸送する
The passengers were shuttled to the hotel by bus. 乗客はホテルまでバスでピストン輸送された．

Asahiya Inn 2

　　"Asahi" of Asahiya means sunrise. The inn faces east and I could have seen the magnificent view of the sunrise the next morning, but a thin veil of cloud hindered us. A house lizard bugged my wife last night and she was short of sleep this morning. I went out walking around the inn alone. It was so serene and there was nothing civilized around. No car passed during my hour's walk.
　　The field where the inn's owner was raising crops for guests was just in front of my room. The crops must be safe and healthy to be harvested in such an uncontaminated soil.
　　Today's plan is to drive down along the west coastline from Hedomisaki Cape, the northern end of Okinawa Island, and we headed for it in the first place.

Asahiya Inn

　　Today's inn is really interesting whether in a good or bad way. Okinawa is generally divided into two parts; one is best for sightseeing and marine leisure activities in the southern half of the island, and the other is rich in untouched nature. Today's inn is located in the latter.
　　Our room was stark and equipped with the requisite minimum; no ornaments, no air-conditioner, though I found a tiny fridge. It was apparently built by amateur carpenters. A month before, I saw an article featuring this inn on the net, and chose it as the third inn in Okinawa. The article gave credit for the beautiful sunrise from the window. At least I agreed with that, for the inn stood on a cliff facing east. It must be beautiful, but the room was so shabby and my wife grew a little angry at me for my choice.
　　The owner's policy was to be nature-friendly in all respects and not to harm the environment as much as possible. Naturally, they don't use artificial detergent, fertilizer, transgenic crops, and avoid everything which seems to be unhealthy.
　　No TV, no internet access both in wired or wireless, no phone line, of course. No sounds without the sound of the continuous waves and unknown sound from the wood. We spent a leisurely night free from daily chores. The inn was acceptable for me, but my wife's scream might have interfered with the sound sleep of our neighbors. A house lizard intruded my room after midnight.

(Vocabulary)
whether in a good or bad way 良い意味でも悪い意味でも
requisite minimum 必要最小限 拡張検索
transgenic crop 遺伝子組み換え作物
in all respects あらゆる点で
house lizard ヤモリ

Hedomisaki Cape

　　The next destination was Hedomisaki Cape, the north end of Okinawa Island. Needless to say, it is the nearest soil of Okinawa to the Japanese mainland. Now there stands a monument which commemorates the political strife for returning to Japan by people in Okinawa. Okinawa used to have been governed by the U.S. until 1972 since the end of the last war. Their struggle was recorded in the form of the monument.
　　The northern half of Okinawa, above Henoko, remains almost untouched and is rich in wild creatures. The signboard, which I found on the way to the cape, told us about the number of roadkills. Seeing it, I drove my car more carefully.

(Vocabulary)
roadkill　［米略式］道路上で車にひかれた動物の死体.

地球史探訪: 沖縄の祖国復帰を果たした県民の思い
http://melma.com/backnumber_115_6208362/

樺島有三、仲村俊子『祖国復帰は沖縄の誇り』明成社　H24
http://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/4905410053/japanontheg01-22/

Henoko

　　Henoko is a small and originally serene village located in the middle of Okinawa, though it holds Camp Schwab, one of the U.S. Marine bases. I wrote about MCASF (Marine Corps Air Station Futenma) in the previous entry and now its relocation plan to Henoko is well under way. It's the decided policy of the Japanese Government, but the Chinese communists dare a group of people to interfere with the plan. Almost all of them are recruited outside Okinawa and are engaged in various illegal activities in Okinawa with a respectable pay.
　　Off the coast of Henoko, the Government will build the Air Station with two long runways as the replacement of MCASF, and the seabed investigation has just started a few months ago. It must be a favorable plan for ordinary people to move the Air Station from the populated city to a deserted area on the sea, but it would be unfavorable for China to modernize the U.S. Marine base.
　　I wanted to see and talk with the activists, but I repressed the urge to get out of the car, following my wife's appeal not to respond to ugly jerks. They were violent like fierce animals. My wife's opinion was acceptable. I gave up taking pictures of them.
　　Henoko has a beautiful serene sea. I'd like to preserve it as it is, but I believe the construction of new runways is inevitable as long as China exists.

(Vocabulary)
decided
1 (利点・欠点などが) はっきりした, 目立った[同意] distinct
2 (意見などが) 断固とした, 確固たる[同意] firm
dare sb to do sth ～するようけしかける
respectable〈結果・成績などが〉まずまずの, まあまあの
jerk   someone, especially a man, who is stupid or who does things that annoy or hurt other people

Nakagusuku and Katsuren Castle Ruin

　　Four of the castle ruins in Okinawa were placed on the list of World Heritage Sites in 2000. I was going to visit all of them on the trip and the second and the third ruins are Nakagusuku Castle Ruin and Katsuren Castle Ruin. As I wrote in the entry about Zakimi Castle, the detail about these castles had been lost to history. No documented records! It's utterly regrettable.

(Vocabulary)
be lost to history 歴史に埋もれる

Kadena Air Base

　　The U.S.'s biggest air base in Asia is in Okinawa. It's Kadena Air Base, which I wanted to see on this trip. I was advised to drop in at the "Michinoeki Kadena" to view the overall appearance of the base. "Eki" of the "Michinoeki" means a station. Like a railroad station, Michinoeki offers drivers or tourists a rest stop across the country 24/7. Michinoeki Kadena was a 4-story building and its highest story was designed as an observatory, as I show you below.
　　There were several people on the roof with cameras and an earphone in an ear. They seemed to be listening to the radio contact between the control tower and military aircraft. When they pointed a camera towards the runway, airplanes took off or landed. I understood why they wore the earphone. In addition, I felt something curious in their behaviour as Japanese and they would be from China, I believed. I also felt uneasy about them and left there 10 minutes or so later.

AJ Onna Biru Resort Hotel

　　Our hotel was gorgeous today. More often than not, with strict security, we don't mind the grade of hotels . I'd like to save hotel fees all the time, but today, we had a special discount coupon, 60% off. It was off-season and Sunday night. Our room was spacious and the view from the balcony was nice. Its equipment was great. The buffet breakfast included in the hotel fee was also nice. I wished I could stay there in mid-summer and enjoy marine sports, but it would cost a lot.
　　Okinawa is undoubtedly the best place for marine sports in Japan, but it has another aspect, which is the island of the U.S. military bases. Okinawa is located at an important spot geopolitically. I was wondering where I'd visit on the next day over a glass of wine until midnight.

(Vocabulary)
spacious 〈家・部屋などが〉 広々とした, ゆったりとした

Zanpa Misaki Cape

　　Zanpa Misaki Cape, which extends westwards and was shown as the best point to see the sunset in my travel guidebook, was my next port of call. Most people there seemed to be tourists, but some were enjoying fishing. I wanted to see what kinds of fishes they targeted, but they were on a distant steep rock and I gave up accessing them. The view of the sunset was beautiful, but the wind became cooler and I wanted to take a walk around the hotel, so I left the cape before the completion of the sunset.

(Vocabulary)
port of call: one of a series of places that you visit:
My first port of call will be the post office.

Zakimi Castle Ruin

　　Thinking of the history of Okinawa, only the period of after around the war is emphasized and what had happened before 19th century isn't so well-known to people who live in Japan's mainland. Four castle ruins were designated World Heritage Sites recently, even that is not familiar to people from the mainland. I was going to visit all of them and the Zakimi Castle Ruin is one of them. It is located at the top of a hill, so anti-aircraft guns were instated during the war and the U.S. radar site was placed there after the war. The ruin, however, was renovated in 1980s.
　　The castle is said to have been built in the early 15th century, but neither the building itself nor documented records remain. The accurate appearance of the castle is apparently still unknown. Its stone walls and several stones which were used for the basis of the posts told me about the then flourishing culture. I came across a group of a guided tour and I walked in the grounds with them. I was lucky to be able to listen to their guide.
　　When I stood on the wall, I was able to see around the hill far away in the comfortable breeze of Okinawa, and the scenery reminded me of the next spot which I would drop in at. It was the Zanpa Misaki Cape which is well-known as the viewing spot of the most beautiful sunset in Okinawa.

(Vocabulary)
instate 〈人を〉〔地位などに〕任ずる，つかせる
to install sb in office; to establish

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, MCASF

　　After the last war, Okinawa was burnt to the ground. The U.S. occupied it and built their military bases across the island. The MCASF in Ginowan City is one of those bases. Lots of people sought for jobs in MCASF and settled around the station. Now its neighborhood has become a massively populated area and some people accuse the station of being dangerous for inhabitants. As you think, it is contradictory. MCASF, the first and then people gathered. It is said that those people are the agents of the Chinese Government who wants the MCASF to be closed.
　　We climbed up a hill where we were able to view the whole base. I wanted to see the osprey, naturally not the birds but military ospreys. Eventually, I saw several ospreys grounded in the distance. I wished I could have seen them closely. While I was climbing the hill, I found several remains of combats during the war like a pillbox, a cave, and so on. I'll upload pictures of them below.

(Vocabulary)
pillbox 　トーチカ (鉄筋コンクリートで固め，機関銃などを備えた防御陣地)

Sefautaki, World Heritage

　　Okinawa island had been ruled by the Ryukyu Dynasty until it was merged into Japan, so it has another cultural background. Naturally, Okinawa has its own myths. According to their myths, the Okinawan deities came into this world on Kudakajima Island, which is several kilometers off the south eastern coast. The holiest site on Okinawa Island lies in the deep forest facing Kudaka Island, which is called Sefautaki. I visited this site.
　　On the approach to the gate of the grounds, people were loud with the joy of sightseeing, but when they got into the grounds, they became silent feeling the solemnity of the area. I walked for some time on the narrow path through the subtropical forest and made it the point, where the priest had prayed in the period of the Ryukyu Dynasty. This place was placed on the list of World Heritage Sites recently.

(Vocabulary)
Ryukyu Dynasty 琉球王朝

Himeyuri Cenotaph, Himeyuri Peace Museum, Peace Memorial Park

　　There are lots of memorial establishments in Itoman City. I selected and visited three representative facilities from them, each name of which is put on the title of this article. The cave in front of the museum was the ruin of the third Surgical Department of Okinawa Army Hospital. The names of people who had been killed there were carved on the monument standing by the cave. I was lost for words for some time.
　　In the Peace Memorial Park numerous stone walls with the names of the departed stood prefecture by prefecture and country by country. I'll upload its picture below. The number of names is increasing even now, because they newly turn out to be killed by the war.
　　Peace... The Japanese Government was eager to achieve a peaceful world 70 years ago. A world without colonies, racial and religious discrimination was what Japan sought. Eventually many colonies were able to become independent.
　　Japan, however, had to pay a costly price for that. The bombing at Tokyo killed more than 100,000 unarmed civilians in a few hours, and two atomic bombs. Even in  war, unarmed people should be protected. Even soldiers, if they throw their weapons away and they have no intention of fighting, should be protected. The Allied Forces, who breached the Hague Convention, and Japan, who was stubbornly honest to observe international laws,,,,This visit gave me food for thought.

(Vocabulary)
Cenotaph (戦没者の) 記念碑
be stubbornly honest 愚直に
convention  [C] (国・政府間の) 協定, 協約
the European Convention on Human Rights 　ヨーロッパ人権条約

Caves

　　There are lots of monuments to the dead and also caves in Itoman City. Lots of caves in which people hid during the fight remain unchanged. The first picture shows a monument for a Lieutenant General and his men, which stood by a big cave where they killed themselves to avoid being taken alive into custody by the Allied troops. They would have their families and want to get back home. What did they think at the last moment?
　　I eagerly wanted to visit one of those caves which was utilized as a field hospital. The monument in the second picture reads "The Monument of Okinawa Army Hospital". The hospital was evacuated from its original site to the south, near the sea. This monument was built by the cave. I stepped into the cave and wondered how the inside was at that time. They didn't have enough medicine like antibiotics, pain killers, etc and were also short of other medical equipment. Naturally no air conditioner and no flush toilet on the subtropical island of Okinawa.
　　Two poems describing young girls from the nursing unit were inscribed on the nearby monument, one of which says, "A nurse went out of the cave with four water bottles to get water somewhere for injured soldiers, but didn't come back." Another one was likewise. Though the sky was clear blue when I visited the cave, I became sad when I read the poems.

Scene of Mass-Suicide

　　I've already written about nursing units which were comprised of schoolgirls in their late teens. Most nursing students had lived their miserable days in the war, and the most miserable and heavily smashed unit was the Himeyuri unit, which is now sometimes called "Lily Corps".
　　They were chased up by the enemy to the seashore. They were lastly cornered here in the picture and killed themselves. A stone tablet, on which students' and their teachers' names were carved, was embedded into a big rock. They were also victims of the war. We observed a brief silence in honor of the students and teachers who had died there.

 

Kyanmisaki Cape

　　Several Capes on Okinawa Island are highly recommended to visitors in travel guidebooks. Kyanmisaki Cape is one of them, which is located at the southern end of Okinawa Island. There were no obstacles to my sight. In my hometown you can't see the horizon, and so this scenery and breeze felt refreshing. The cliff was vertical and high. The cape might be a famous suicide place, judging from some signs.

Gushikawa Castle Ruin

　　We were heading for Kyanmisaki Cape, but got lost on the way making a detour due to road repairs. We found the post in the first picture by chance, which read Gushikawa Castle Ruin. There are several sites called "Gushikawa" in Okinawa Prefecture, and we were in the southern end of Itoman City. We followed the sign and got into the ruin. The ruin was on our drive map, but it was small and not eye-catching. The ruin was built on a sheer cliff edge and was mysterious. I was lucky to be able to reach the ruin.
　　It seems like there are lots of castle ruins in Okinawa and four of them were recently placed on the world heritage list. We were going to visit all of them on the trip. I'm very interested in history.

 

Guest House

　　I'll write about our inn in which I stayed on Mar. 28th. Several types of hotels or inns are in Japan and the type of our inn was "Minshuku", which is B&B-like accommodations. It's B&B plus a simple supper to quickly describe "Minshuku". Ordinary households offer beds and two meals. Naturally the stay fee is lower than average, but it was to enjoy conversation with local people in Itoman City rather than for cost-saving that I had chosen "Minshuku". Now in Okinawa, several big issues on national defense are being discussed. I wanted to ask indigenous people on these issues. I was happy to know that the opinions of the owner couple were just the same as me. Its dishes were richly Okinawa's. We enjoyed them.
　　By the way, the title of "Guest House" might be a mal-translation of "Minshuku". I selected it as the English description of "Minshuku". Is that
right?

Okinawa Prefectural Office, Cave in Todoroki

　　Look at the following pictures. These pictures show a limestone cave, which was the Okinawa Prefecture Office that had been functioning at the last minute during the war.
　　The crucial task of the office was to evacuate citizens to the north and better still to other islands. The Governor and his officials stayed in the cave and managed to take as many citizens as possible from the island, taking the risk of their own lives. Their action was admirable.
　　The Governor ordered his men to abandon the office and be sure to survive the war on June 9th in 1945, and then, he went missing. It is said that he had killed himself. His body has been missing so far.

(Vocabulary)
limestone 石灰岩
limestone cave / calcareous cave　鍾乳洞
better still (それならば) いっそのこと
Check our website or, better still, come for a visit!  ウェブサイトをチェック，またはいっそのことご来店を！