The Diamond Princess got into Naha port in Okinawa. It seemed that it was berthed at an unusual pier. I found another cruise ship was moored at the original berth in the evening, so the Diamond Princess might have given it up to that ship. Anyway, the first daily routine of this ship was the radio gymnastic exercises, which was well known to Japanese, but would be unfamiliar to international tourists. The gymnastic exercises to the sound from the radio started after the last war as one of the measures to keep the Japanese physical strength up. I think all of the Japanese had experienced it, at least during compulsory education. This exercise is now adopted at lots of Japan's companies. Some passengers told me that they knew about this ritual in Japan after the boarding.
I had two places which I wanted to visit in Okinawa; Maeda Escarpment, which is called "Hacksaw Ridge" among the U.S. soldiers, and burnt-down Shuri Castle. We took a shuttle bus service to a station of Naha Monorail and got its one-day pass. We would see around along the Monorail line. I'll show you many pictures of Maeda Escarpment and some pictures have descriptions of the background of this place.
Maeda Escarpment was one of the hard-fought fields in the battle of Okinawa during the Great East Asian War. I walked around the Escarpment imagining the harsh fight. I took a picture of its description and you would understand how fierce the battle was. I just prayed for eternal peace in front of the monument. I found several caves called "Gama" in the Okinawan dialect. Okinawa island is formed on the accumulation of coral and is abundant in limestone caves. People seemed to have taken refuge in those caves during the war.
The above place and monuments are located in Urasoe City. I had only passed through this city in the last several visits to Okinawa and I didn't know anything about the city, so Urasoe Castle Ruin also surprised me. I didn't even know of its existence. In the next opportunity to visit Okinawa, I'd like to stay at least one week and walk around the island.
Next, we came by Shuri Castle, which had been burnt down recently. As I saw via broadcasting, the scene was very catastrophic. It would take a long time to restore it. I'm not familiar with the history of Okinawa, but this monument is precious for native people without doubt. To my surprise, while wandering around the castle, I found the ruin of the Buddhist temple. The description says it was built in 1492, but was destroyed during the Great East Asian War. The temple was partially rebuilt and I felt it continues to make us aware of the misery of wars.
今日は沖縄那覇に入港 いつもの場所ではなく少し離れたところに着くようだ。夕方見ると別のクルーズ船が着いていたのでその船に譲ったのかも知れない。この船ではラジオ体操から一日が始まる。朝の日課だ。この船で日本のこの伝統的なラジオ体操を知ったという人もいた。
那覇では訪れたい場所が２ヶ所あった。浦添市にある前田高地（アメリカ人の間ではハクソー・リッジ）と首里城である。桟橋からシャトルバスで県庁前へ移動し、モノレール１日券を買った。今日はこのモノレール沿線で動き回る予定。前田高地は沖縄戦の激戦地。散策しながら当時を想った。ここにもガマと呼ばれる洞穴があった。戦闘時には隠れることが出来たのだろうか？近くから見たかった為朝岩には崩落の危険有りとのことで近づけなかった。浦添城趾の石垣が復元されていたが、沖縄には十分な歴史資料がないという。戦争のためだろう。残念なことだ。
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